Bobby Palm
Recreation/Development | 2008
Hometown: Ruidoso, New Mexico
Bobby Palm’s pathway to working with the disabled in outdoor recreation was very serendipitous. A forestry worker at the time, the seasonal nature of his job left him with lots of free time during the winter season. He ended up volunteering two days a week as an instructor at Ski Apache in southern New Mexico. Back then, he was somewhat uncomfortable around people with disabilities — he wasn’t sure how to relate — so working with emerging adaptive skiers was a good opportunity to overcome that uneasiness. Before he knew it, he was hooked on teaching disabled kids how to ski.
Bobby was critical to the development of adaptive snowboarding as a recreational and competitive sport for individuals with disabilities in the United States. Bobby, a nationally-recognized adaptive sports expert, taught people with disabilities adaptive skiing beginning in 1975 and snowboarding beginning in the 90’s. He began as an instructor for kids with impairments and moved to getting disabled veterans on the slopes. He was also instrumental in the expansion of new adaptive snowboarding teaching programs throughout the country, including the development of the Rocky Mountain Chapter PSIA Snowboard Teaching Guide. Accordingly, adaptive snow sports centers across the U.S. and beyond began offering lessons, equipment rentals, and designated slopes and woodlands to keep snowboarders happy.
Bobby later became a PSIA examiner and trainer for Challenge Aspen in Colorado. He traveled across the nation and internationally — to Spain, Argentina, Korea, and Chile — to present adaptive snow sports clinics and teach instructors. His Colorado clinics included sessions at Crested Butte, Telluride, Vail, Aspen, Steamboat, and Breckenridge. Bobby was able to witness the growth of snowboarding where most adaptive skiing programs expanded to include snowboarding. He was also instrumental in the development of prototype adaptive snowboarding equipment and technology that facilitated the inclusion of many more snowboarders with disabilities.
Bobby and his colleagues were able to develop a safe methodology for snowboarding that could offer instructors and students the same options that were available for skiing. They designed lessons to accommodate both the student’s disability and the adaptive equipment available. As a result of Bobby’s efforts, countless people with disabilities learned the love of snowboarding.
