Kirsten Atkins
Recreation/Development | 2016
Hometown: Crested Butte, Colorado
School Name: Adaptive Sports Center Crested Butte and University of Denver
Kirsten Atkins’ Hall of Fame story begins on the slopes of Killington, Vermont where she got her first season ski pass at the age of seven. Living in Connecticut, the Atkins family would travel to ski virtually every winter weekend. After graduation from high school, Kirsten moved to Killington to work part time and ski full time. She then decided to enroll at the University of Denver. However, the Colorado slopes proved too much of an attraction so Kirsten took several winter semesters off to hit the slopes.
Kirsten eventually ended up in Crested Butte where she responded to an ad in the paper for volunteers for the Crested Butte Physically Challenged Ski Program, the precursor program of the Adaptive Sports Center. That program was born in February of 1987 and Kirsten joined the fledging organization that November. What followed was over 30 years of adaptive ski instruction, innovation and development, not just for skiers but also instructors, families and volunteers.
The Adaptive Sports Center programming wasn’t limited to the Crested Butte Ski Resort. In the summer months, ASC would take their instructor training program to Argentina to train local programmers and leave seed equipment for start-ups. Training also was provided to instructors in Scotland, Austria and elsewhere. Programming expanded into the summer with camps for burn victims, youngsters with learning disabilities and other under-served populations.
Never one to rest on her laurels, Kirsten and her husband have bought 73 acres and are in the process of working to develop the Crested Butte Horse Park. Their vision is to create a safe facility for horse and rider, to promote equine lessons and services.
