Wounded Soldiers Find Reprieve at Vail With Program Introducing Veterans to the Joys of Snow
As a diverse group of wounded soldiers gather at Vail ski area this week, they will find solace in the sunshine and reprieve in the powder. They will bond over their unexpected journeys launched by bullets and bombs.
“I love to watch when we get some of our older vets meeting some of our younger people and it’s like they’ve known each other their whole life, and they’ve never met,” says Cheryl Jensen, who 21 years ago started bringing injured soldiers to Vail for a week on snow.
More than 4,700 wounded U.S. soldiers have visited Vail for skiing or summer recreation through the Vail Veterans Program, which Jensen formed in 2004 to help the injured returning from the Gulf War. The program has evolved to include summer visits and care from doctors at the Steadman Clinic and physical therapists at Howard Head Sports Medicine at Vail Health Hospital.
