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As a newcomer to the Sanuk team, Ronnie Dickson brings a unique element to the table. You see, Ronnie lost his leg above the knee almost six years ago.  Amputation required Ronnie to search for different ways to engage himself. Two years later and determined to stay positive, he found his new passion- Climbing.

We hooked up with Mr. Dickson through a series of fortunate events and soon found out he’s a rad dude with a big smile and even bigger dreams. Recently, the Sanuk Squad made their way out to Joshua Tree for an amputee climbing clinic hosted by Ronnie and his friends.

Today we’ve brought Ronnie to the blog to share some words on his story and the clinic. The following words are from the happyhead himself:

I started climbing four years ago as a recent above the knee amputee. I found climbing by chance, and have been hooked ever since. It brought together the traveling and adventure that I enjoyed with my life and also got me set with a new challenge to pour all my energy into. Climbing was cool because everybody has to learn the way their body works on the rock, and it didn’t matter that I had one leg.

I used to do all my climbing without a prosthetic leg, but over the course of the past four years I have rigged up some adaptive equipment and adapted my style to where I almost exclusively to all of my climbing with my leg on. I have accomplished things that I never thought were possible and have met many amazing people along the way.

It has always been my belief that climbing is an accessible sport for people with disabilities, so it has been my goal over the past two years to introduce as many people with disabilities to climbing as possible. I have been very successful in this, introducing hundreds of people with disabilities to climbing through various indoor clinics around the country.

My vision finally came to fruition on April 9th in the So Cal desert at Joshua Tree National Park. We were able to introduce 13 persons with disabilities to their first outdoor climbing experience. Everybody made it up to the top of the wall and was able to enjoy the mostly sunny day out in Josh after the weather settled down.

I have to say that it was wild, encountering a fifteen minute bout of snow in the fifty degree heat out in the otherwise cloudless desert, but I suppose stranger things have happened.

The clinic was made possible by many people and it was great to have the crew from Sanuk come out and join us for the day. The prosthetic foot that I have cannot be set up with sandals so it has been nice to finally find a pair of shoes that feel like sandals. There is nothing like going from a pair of climbing shoes into footwear that feels like walking on clouds.

I am already looking forward to next year. My vision has been to make this a series of clinics that travels around the country. It has been great to take my passion and be able to pass that onto others. Bottom line: If you have something that you are really excited and psyched about…

Check out the video from the event:

http://sanuk.mobilerider.com/tv/2354/media.php?mid=44327

Smile…pass it on!

To follow Ronnie on his incredible journey visit www.takealegoff.blogspot.com

http://sanuk.mobilerider.com/tv/2354/media.php?mid=44327

Motocross
Extremity Games Motocross will be broken out into two divisions: Limb Loss (i.e. amputee, etc) and Limb Difference (paraplegic, quadriplegic, etc). Riders will race a Two-Moto format during Baja Acres’ Memorial Day race weekend. Athletes will be competing for a cash purse.

Main Event
Extremity Games Main Event includes competitions and instructional clinics in skateboarding, speed rock climbing, wakeboarding, sit-boarding, kayaking and cross country mountain biking. Exhibitions include motocross and mixed martial arts.

A full-day of instructional clinics and Athlete Sign-in are set for Friday, June 24 from 9 am – 3 pm at the Texas Ski Ranch in New Braunfels, Texas, which will be followed by the Athlete Sign-in and Welcome Reception at the host hotel from 6-9 pm.

eX6 Main Event Competitions run on Saturday, June 25 from 8 am – 5 pm. Extremity Games concludes Saturday evening with an award ceremony and BBQ at Texas Ski Ranch. All are welcome to join the BBQ awards celebration. Tickets are available on-line or at the door.

Elite and Novice competitions are available at eX6 Main Event. Elite competition athletes will compete for cash prizes, while Novice competition athletes will compete for prizes. Cash prizes will be determined by the amount of participants in each competition/division.

Organized to raise awareness of the abilities of individuals living with limb loss or limb difference to compete in extreme sports, Extremity Games Main Event allows participants to demonstrate skill, persistence and passion while competing for prizes.

This event is made possible by the generous sponsorships of Wright & Filippis, College Park Industries, Ohio Willow Wood, FUL Bags, ResMed, Foresters, Ossur, Freedom Innovations, Aristo-Cast, O&P Business News and Harmonie Network, among dozens of other sponsors and partners.

About Athletes with Disabilities Network
Extremity Games is organized by Athletes with Disabilities Network (ADN). ADN’s mission is to promote a better quality of life by creating opportunities for athletes with physical disabilities. ADN organizes Extremity Games, as well as Athletes with Disabilities Hall of Fame, which recognizes and honors men and women who have overcome physical challenges to become elite athletes and superior role models.

For Extremity Games competition details, locations, accommodations and event schedule, please visit http://www.extremitygames.com or call 248.829.8353.

http://www.extremitygames.com/pdf/eX6Flyer_v4.pdf

The two new WWA adaptive divisions are gearing up to hit the water this upcoming season. Click here to read the previously released article about the debut of the WWA's two new adaptive divisions.

"The WWA is looking forward to our new partnership with Extremity Games and expanding our divisions at the 2011 Nautique WWA Wakeboard National Championships," comments WWA President Shannon Starling, "The level of wakeboarding that the riders in both of our two new adaptive divisions are able to accomplish is fascinating."

"We look forward to providing the opportunity for adaptive athletes to compete at the next level," says Beth Taylor, Executive Director of Athletes with Disabilities Network, organizers of Extremity Games, "While you can brace a limb or replace a limb, there is no replacement for the competitive spirit. It's great to see the athletes pushing themselves further every year."

at Extremity Games 6

Author: Corey Bixby, BIG Multimedia
 

History was made this Memorial Day weekend when two past champions made their return to motocross racing after years of struggle and hardship. Both paralyzed from the chest down, Doug Henry and Justin Weeks mounted their custom-fitted motorcycles and raced against some of the fastest amputee and paraplegic racers in the world at a challenging Baja Acres Motocross track in Millington, MI for the 6th annual Extremity Games on May 28, 2011. 
 

For the racers and fans in attendance, Extremity Games was an incredible sight to say the least. In spite of their "disabilities", athletes like Justin Weeks and Doug Henry put down some of the fastest and most exciting laps the Baja Acres track had ever seen. Families and fans, young and old, lined the fences to cheer on their favorite riders as they battled a sandy and rutted Baja Acres track that received a considerable amount of rain the week leading up to the event.   

"With heavy rainfall earlier this week, some racers were reasonably concerned," said Jim Wazny, director of Motocross for Extremity Games and amputee racer. "In spite of the weather, Baja Acres groomed out an awesome track, and everyone had a great time."  

With two exhibition motos, and another two Extremity Games motos, the Limb-Loss (i.e. amputee) and Limb-Difference (i.e. paraplegic) riders had a full day of racing ahead of them. The 1st moto had both classes dropping together, with newcomer Nick Mardis grabbing the holeshot, followed by Mike Schultz, Doug Henry, and the rest of the field in tow. With the green flag out, Schultz had the lead, closely followed by Mardis, and then Wazny and Henry close behind. Meanwhile, Weeks was beginning to learn some fast lines and started closing quickly. In the end, Schultz finished 1st, followed by Henry, Weeks, and the rest of the field. 

With the 1st exhibition moto in the books, and all the racers comfortable with the track, both classes lined up for their first Extremity Games race. The Limb-Loss class dropped first with Nick Mardis grabbing another holeshot and Joseph Abbott close behind, and then Mike Schultz and Chris Ridgway. In the second drop, Justin Weeks came through the first corner on the inside, securing the holeshot and the lead. He was followed by Doug Henry, Nick Pappas, and the rest of the Limb-Difference class. The rest of the race saw Schultz in the lead with Ridgway only several bike-lengths behind. Weeks and Henry gapped their field considerably, with Weeks securing the win after Henry went down late in the race. Henry was helped back up by a fast-acting Baja Acres track crew, who proceeded to finish second in spite of his fall.

After the first moto, a happy Justin Weeks reflected on his win over motocross legend Doug Henry. "I knew that Doug Henry was going to be here, and I knew that he was probably going to be my main competition," says Weeks. "I used to watch him when I was 5 years old!"   

 While some riders opted out of the second exhibition moto, the final Extremity Games moto had everyone gunning for top positions. Off the start of the second Limb-Loss moto Schultz grabbed too much front break and dumped his bike in the first corner while Ridgway and the rest of the class raced off into the distance. Schultz remounted and, with a 15 second deficit, began to chase after the rest of the field. Meanwhile, the Limb-Difference class motored into the first corner with Weeks grabbing another holeshot, only to be passed by Henry a few sections later. The two swapped positions over the next two laps until Henry fell while in the lead. After being helped up and going again, Henry made an incredible charge and in the last lap closed in on an unsuspecting Weeks. At the finish line, Henry swept the outside and nearly passed Weeks for the finish, coming up short by only half a bike length. In a similar fashion, the Limb-Loss class saw a surprise finish as Schultz charged back to the lead while a disappointed Ridgway was forced to concede with a mechanical failure. With the win, "Monster" Mike Schultz ended an impressive 4-year gold medal streak for Ridgway.

 In the end, the overall went to Schultz in the Limb-Loss class with a 1-1, followed by Nick Mardis in second and Jim Wazny in 3rd. Justin Weeks took the overall win in the Limb-Difference class with a 1-1, followed by Doug Henry in second and Nick Pappas in 3rd.

To find out more on Extremity Games, please visit http://www.extremitygames.com or http://bajaacres.com/events/extremity-games-baja-blast/.

 For more photos, please visit http://www.facebook.com/extremitygames.

It is amazing to look back on your life and think that one event, something so simple, can change your life forever. On June 28^th, 2005 my left leg was amputated above the knee; believe it or not this was not the life changing part. Adaptation was relatively easy, I was no longer in pain and my deformed left leg was gone and replaced with a mechanical one that worked. I was fortunate, I CHOSE to have my left leg amputated, not everyone is this fortunate.

Unfortunately along with my left leg I had lost something else also, my competitive spirit. From the time I was 10 until I finished high school soccer was my passion. My life was my family and soccer. I played competitively until my deformity was so painful that I could not play at a high level anymore. Soccer in the Paralympics is played on crutches. It is not the same game that had given me so many great experiences. I knew that when my leg was amputated that I would leave my years as a player behind me, as a fond memory. I’m glad it was there, but it was time to move on. I coasted through my first year of being an amputee; I had a great time at college with my friends and was succeeding in the classroom. I had gotten comfortable enough with my amputation that it felt like my real leg now.

Everything was going as planned, but I still did not feel right. Something was different. One day I was sitting in the chair at my prosthetist´s office reading a prosthetics magazine and I saw an ad for an event called Extremity Games. It immediately sparked my interest. Upon scanning through the list of events, one in particular stood out at me, Rock Climbing. That same night I went home and searched more about the topic. I found out that there was a climbing gym nearby and soon after went to go try it for the first time.

Climbing was difficult, simply put. It is hard for people with two legs to climb, we are not as physiologically adapted as monkeys, let alone someone with one. I only made it to the top of one or two climbs that day, but I knew that I wanted more. The feeling of reaching the top was invigorating. Something changed that night, it felt like a fire had been lit and that I had the competitive spark back in my life.

I trained really hard for five months and competed in my first Extremity Games in 2007. The whole experience was surreal; I was surrounded by people just like me. There was an immediate sense of camaraderie with everybody and I met people that I am still proud to call my friends to this day. The caliber of the athletes was impressive and it showed me that we are only as limited as the boundaries we put on ourselves.

Extremity Games introduced me to climbing, a relatively obscure in comparison to others sport that I would have otherwise probably never tried in my life. It has taken me amazing places and given me life experiences all across the world most notably Colorado, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Chile, and Italy. Climbing has done incredible things for my self confidence and most of all it has replaced was soccer was in my life. It made me feel whole again as a person, for the first time in a long time. To this day I can honestly say that I can attribute most of my success to what the extremity games has done for me as a person. Anything I do in my life will be because of the inspiration through the personalities and sport that the extremity games introduced me to. We all have unique challenges, some people more than others, but we can overcome anything with a positive attitude, Extremity Games didn’t just give me back the competitive spirit in my sport, it gave me back my competitive life.

It turns on I had the passion all along, all I needed was for the seed to be planted, everything else was there.

In December 2008, “Monster” Mike Schultz was a professional snocross rider at the top of his game—an X-Games competitor with five national podium finishes in the previous four years. While racing in the Super Stock class of the Amsoil Championship Snocross event in Ironwood, Michigan, he lost control of his machine on the side of a mogul and wiped out, damaging his left leg so severely that he chose to have it amputated four days later rather than live with the mangled, low-functioning limb it had become.

On July 28, Schultz proved that he was back in the saddle—this time, the saddle of a motorcycle—when he took first place in the 2010 X Games Moto X Super X Adaptive Final, his first gold in a major competition. “It feels great to come back and compete after my injury at Winter X Games one and a half years ago and showcase an exciting track like this one at the Coliseum,” Schultz told DirtRider magazine. “I wasn’t able to stand up on my prosthetic side so I lost a few places, but we pulled it off and ended up in the lead so it’s good.”

Todd Thompson followed just 1.555 seconds behind Schultz, capturing a silver medal, and Beau Meier pulled in seven seconds later for a bronze.

http://www.asylum.com/2010/09/02/paraplegic-daredevil-completes-first-double-backflip-in-a-wheelc/

Golfers participated in a free clinic with Sean Allen, Remax's World Long Drive Competitor, prior to the 12:30 pm shotgun start of 18-hole scramble play. The golf tournament concluded with dinner, Rockstar Lifetime Achievement Awards ceremony and a live concert by The Julian Pavone Experience, featuring Julian Pavone, "The World's Youngest Drummer!"®.

Recipients of the 2010 Rockstar Lifetime Achievement Award were chosen for their incredible commitments and contributions to their communities and include Judge Wade McCree, Judge Peter Maceroni, Judge Ken Kosnic, Judge Herman Campbell, Judge George Caram Steeh, Judge George Steeh, Sr., Judge Richard Caretti, Dr. Craig Oster, Tom Celani (Entrepreneur), Andrea Isom (FOX 2), Charles Davis (of The Contours), Jorge Avellan (TV20 Detroit), Vic Faust (WXYZ-TV), Eric Smith (Macomb County Prosecutor), Conrad Mallett Jr. (President, Sinai-Grace Hospital), Grand Master Willie Adams (10th Degree Black Belt) and Lynn Brimer (attorney).

Music guest, Julian Pavone is not only "The World's Youngest Drummer!"®, but is ADN's Honorary Global Ambassador. Julian has appeared on more than 100 Television and News shows, including "The Oprah Winfrey Show", "Good Morning America", "Martha Stewart", "Inside Edition", "The Maury Show", "Fox News", MSNBC, and starred in a Korean documentary. He plays a 22-piece custom drum set with 17 cymbals and has received worldwide media coverage with more than 10,000 newspaper and magazine articles published about him. Most recently, Motown music icons, The Contours with Joe Billingslea, best known for their 1962 hit "Do You Love Me," added Julian to their group. The phenom will be joined by Motown legend and Contours member Charles Davis.

This charitable event was made possible through the generous support of premier sponsor, ROCK ME! (Made with love in the USA™) – reinventors of the classic children's romper, as well as ePharmacy, Batey Law Firm, PLLC, Brian Legghio Law, Strobl & Sharp, P.C., Divinity Home Care, Mini Mix Concrete, SAS Basement Waterproofing, Gary Deschenes, Wright & Filippis, Marketplace Promotions and TCF Bank.

On Friday, June 18, the Opening Ceremony and Athlete Sign-In welcomed athletes and fans while officially kicking-off Extremity Games 5 Main Event at the Courtyard by Marriott River Village in New Braunfels, TX.

Down the street from the host hotel, Saturday’s events started off with wakeboarding at the Texas Ski Ranch (TSR). Athletes and fans were welcomed by azure skies and warm air making the mornings water events a perfect start to the day. Extremity Games veteran, Billy Tonis owned first place with insane air and tricks above the wake. Mike Schultz landed some smooth wake to wake maneuvers and pulled out a second place finish. Newcomer, Brandon Robins held and landed the longest layout to take third.

The wakeboarding sizzle carried over to the street style skateboarding competition as Stephen Shope grinded every rail on the course with flare to grab first place. Oscar Loreto aired off a funbox to snag second place. While the youngest athlete at the event, Alex Miller, sit skated his way to third place.

Early afternoon brought a welcome stop back to the lake for kayaking, where Mike Schultz and Kelly Allen took first place (men’s and women’s respectively) by creating human powered wakes that could put some power boats to shame. Jim Wazny and Brooke Artesi propelled themselves like human-powered machines through the water and collared second place. Third place was a hard fought contest that netted awards for newcomer Jeff Waldmuller and Amy Purdy.

The final competition for the day was on TSR’s rock wall. Climbers Jeff Waldmuller and Brooke Artesi scaled the walls with speed that could cause altitude sickness to take first place in men’s and women’s divisions respectively. Alex Miller and Kelly Allen grabbed the men’s and women’s second place finishes with the grace of seasoned climbers. Horst Behner snuck up the final route to hold on to the third place finish in the men’s competition.

In addition to Extremity Games 5 Main Event, Extremity Games hosted the eX5 Motocross competition May 29, 2010 at Baja Acres in Millington, Michigan. In partnership with Adaptive Action Sports, Extremity Games Motocross served as the qualifier for the Super X Adaptive races at the ESPN® Summer X Games 16. Newcomer Todd Thompson won the X Games qualifier in the Limb-Loss class followed by Mike Schultz in 2nd, Beau Meier 3rd, Dave Turner 4th and Jim Wazny 5th. South African favorite Sampie Erasmus won the X Games Qualifier in Limb-Difference followed by Shane Shipley in 2nd, Jesse Gildea 3rd, Ranel Cox 4th and Darius Glover 5th. The Super X Adaptive Finals will be televised on ESPN July 30. Be sure to watch!

These events are made possible by the generous sponsorships of Easter Seals – Michigan, Wright & Filippis, College Park Industries, Plastics Make It Possible Campaign, MDRT Foundation, Aristo-Cast, Ohio Willow Wood, ResMed, FUL Bags, Foresters, Julian Pavone, Harmonie Network, Freedom Innovations, Ossur, O&P Business News, Adaptive Action Sports and Inspired Communications, CWB Board Co. Evolve Sports & Designs, BuyWake.com, BuySkateShoes.com, Riverside Kayak Connection, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Texas Ski Ranch, among dozens of other sponsors and partners.

Extremity Games is organized by Athletes with Disabilities Network (ADN). Established in 2009, ADN’s mission is to promote a better quality of life by creating opportunities for athletes with physical disabilities. ADN organizes Extremity Games, as well as Athletes with Disabilities Hall of Fame, which recognizes and honors men and women who have overcome physical challenges to become elite athletes and superior role models.

For more information on Extremity Games or Athletes with Disabilities Network, please visit www.extremitygames.com or call 248.829.8353.