Monoskier wins medals

WASILLA — Gregory Peck truly believes everything happens for a reason.

Shortly after graduating from Burchell High School in 2005, the Wasilla native was badly hurt in a car accident, paralyzed from the waist down.

That accident changed his life forever. And in many ways, it’s changed it for the better. Peck has emerged as a top athlete in paralympic alpine skiing, an adaptive sport that has allowed Peck to compete on the slopes and succeed.

This week, Peck has scored two of the biggest wins of his career. He captured a pair of bronze medals during the U.S. Adaptive Alpine Championships at Alyeska Resort in Girdwood.

Peck competes on a monoski, a single, wide ski fixed with a seat. Earlier in the week, Peck earned third place and the bronze medal in the Super G. On Friday, he followed with another bronze in the Super Combined.

Peck said by cellphone from Alyeska Saturday he’s excited about medaling, but also thrilled to be right with the top competitors in his event.

“I’m right there,” Peck said.

Peck said his bronze medals earned this past week rank amongst the top honors in a skiing career that was kick-started with a move to Colorado in 2008. He won a pair of silver medals during a meet in Canada last year. He’s also finished second in the monocross at the Winter X games and finished sixth this year.

Skiing has taken Peck all over the world, to places like Italy and New Zealand. And that all started when Peck heard about a program called Challenge Alaska after his accident.

“I had no idea what it was about,” Peck said.

Peck, who grew up snowboarding at Hatcher Pass, got involved with Challenge Alaska, a local program that presents individuals with physical and developmental disabilities the opportunity to participate and compete in adaptive sports.

“Challenge Alaska is what saved my life,” Peck said. “I say that all the time.”

Peck got his start in the sport on the very same Alyeska slopes he medaled on this week.

“It definitely makes it sweet,” Peck said of earning the medals at Alyeska. “I wanted to take the podium at my home mountain.”

Peck took to the sport very quickly. Growing up on a snowboard, Peck said it was a fairly natural transition to the monoski.

“I used to snowboard all of the time,” Peck said. “I got on the ski, and it felt the same.”

It wasn’t long before Peck was very active in the Challenge Alaska program. Peck said he found out about a camp at Mount Hood Ski Resort in Oregon.

“I trained with them for eight days and progressed so much more,” Peck said.

As Peck became more and more involved in the adaptive sport, he began to seriously consider making the move Outside in order to have more opportunity to train.

In 2008, Peck moved to Frazier, Colo., and has since settled in nearby Winter Park.

Peck now trains year-round with his sights set on earning the chance to compete in the 2014 Paralympic Games in Sweden. He said his third-place finishes should also be enough to land him a spot in the World Cup.

Peck said he feels fortunate. He did suffer life-changing injuries, but is happy making the best of it.

“I definitely feel lucky,” Peck said. “(After the accident) you can sit there and piss and moan when your hand is dealt or you can play your cards to the full advantage.”

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.