Saskatoon
“It’s never too late to try something new,” 95-year-old Harley Welsh said when he was asked if he wanted to try sit skiing for the first time.
‘You only live once,’ Harley Welsh says
Aishwarya Dudha · CBC News
· Posted: Mar 22, 2024 8:57 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 hours ago
Harley Welsh, centre, is blind. The 95-year-old Korean War veteran went skiing for the first time in 80 years Friday at Optimist Hill in Saskatoon. (Aishwarya Dudha/CBC)
Harley Welsh, 95, was excited to try sit skiing for the first time.
“It’s never too late to try something new,” he said.
Welsh, who is blind, spent more than a decade in the army and served in the Korean War.
On Friday, he went down Optimist Hill in Saskatoon.
“You only live once,” he said before going up the hill.
WATCH | 95-year-old blind Korean War veteran yodels his way down ski hill:
95-year-old blind Korean War veteran yodels his way down ski hill
Harley Welsh, 95, a war veteran, enjoys the thrill of Optimist Hill in Saskatoon on a sit ski. The blind senior hadn’t been on a ski hill since he was a child.
Welsh said the ride was thrilling. He yodeled the entire way down.
“It was great. I was trying to concentrate on the yodeling so I wasn’t scared. A little bumpy but OK,” Welsh said after his first run. He went down the hill at least seven more times after that.
Welsh was supported by Jaimie Smith-Windsor, president of the Saskatchewan Adaptive Snow Ski Club.
Smith-Windsor said that helping Welsh and others from the Sherbrooke Community Centre ski is one of the highlights of the year at the club. It’s part of an annual event where the club tries to introduce as many people as possible to the joys of downhill skiing.
Harley Welsh went sit skiing for the first time Friday, with support from Jaimie Smith-Windsor. (Aishwarya Dudha/CBC)
“To go down the hill for the first time with a new skier, to hear their joy, to hear them yodel, to see their smiles, and to hear everyone cheer, I think that’s just such an amazing thing,” Smith-Windsor said.
“One of the questions we always ask new skiers is did you ever picture yourself doing this? And they embrace it. And I think that’s just such an amazing thing.”
Eric Anderson, communications lead for Sherbrooke Community Centre, said putting the event together is a blast.
“It provides so much joy and wellbeing to residents, and I would say to staff and to family members as well,” Anderson said.
Welsh and Smith after doing their first run down Optimist Hill in Saskatoon. They did it at least seven more times. (Aishwarya Dudha/CBC)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Aishwarya Dudha is a reporter for CBC Saskatchewan based in Saskatoon. She has previously worked for Global News and the Times of India. She specializes in social justice issues and elevating voices of vulnerable people. She can be reached at aishwarya.dudha@cbc.ca
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