Woodward Park City hosted the first annual Wheelfest with Wasatch Adaptive Sports on Saturday, where organizers emphasized the importance of helping wheelchair users expand ideas of what’s possible.
Many people were at Woodward for an average day of fun, but had their minds opened with their first exposure to adaptive sports.
“You see kids who are here, who don’t have disabilities, just having a rad day at Woodward, coming up to our tent saying ‘What’s that?’ and then learning about hand-cycles,” May-West said. “Watching a group of kids here skateboarding, (their) jaws dropped watching some of the kids in wheelchairs at the skatepark. It was really cool.”
Saturday marked the expansion of the former Wheelchair Palooza event to include more biking and wheelchair motocross, also known as WCMX, in line with a mission to celebrate all wheels.
“The goal we’re always pursuing is to see a community where anyone can recreate whenever and wherever they choose,” said Eileen May-West, program director for Wasatch Adaptive Sports.
Aaron “Wheelz” Fotheringham demonstrated wheelchair motocross riding in the Woodward skatepark. Fotheringham, from Las Vegas, was born with spina bifida, leaving him without use of his legs. He started using a wheelchair when he was 8 years old, around the same time he started going to skateparks with his brother.
Fotheringham eventually tried riding at skateparks in his wheelchair. Now, he’s a professional WCMX rider with several sponsorships, touring with action sports entertainment brand Nitro Circus. He’s been involved with Wheelchair Palooza since Wasatch Adaptive Sports started the event in 2019, and Fotheringham said he looks forward to continuing with Wheelfest.
“There’s something about Utah that’s got such a good community for wheelchair sports. Anything (for) disabilities here is so much better than Vegas,” he said.
Part of that is because of healthcare services, like those he received at Primary Children’s Hospital, Fotheringham said.
The Wasatch Back recently expanded its efforts to become an accessible area through continued work at the National Ability Center and Park City’s partnership with Wheel the World.
The Park City Chamber/Bureau has emphasized its commitment to being an accessible tourism destination with the recent certification with Wheel the World. Through the partnership, many businesses and recreation areas are working with adapting services to become more accessible to a wider range of disabilities, including developmental disabilities, sensory disabilities and differing physical disabilities.
Camille Kramer, an ambassador for Wasatch Adaptive Sports, said she was particularly excited for new people to experience Woodward through Wheelfest.
Kramer pointed out that Woodward can come across as an intimidating place, but that couldn’t be further from her experience. The trails are wide enough and groomed well for a hand-cycle bike to ride safely. And Kramer said she doesn’t feel like other riders are annoyed or frustrated by her presence as an adaptive rider on the trails.
“You feel like you belong here,” Kramer said. “I’m excited for (new people) to have that experience here, too.”
Toward the end of Wheelfest, Fotheringham and other WCMX riders took to the indoor megaramp to show off jumps and flips.
“I’ve just been having fun. It’s something that brought me a lot of joy, so to come out to these events and see everyone just having fun and trying stuff with their wheelchair they maybe never thought of doing, it’s cool to see how it shifts the way people see the wheelchair and what you can do with it,” Fotheringham said.
One of the younger riders was Damian Munoz, a 13-year-old from Los Angeles. Munoz’s mother, Sophie, said Damian has been inspired by Fotheringham to try WCMX and was very excited to have a “Wheelz Chair,” a WCMX chair designed by Fotheringham.
Munoz said she’s always been supportive of her son’s interests, though she is sometimes nervous — as most moms would be if their kids were involved in action sports.
“I never doubted him,” Munoz said. “He’s very limited at what he can do, why limit him more?”
Damian tried adaptive mountain biking at Woodward, something he’s always wanted to do. Within minutes on the bike, he could be seen ripping around the park, though he never flipped or fell.
“Everyone (at Woodward) is awesome, supportive and helpful,” Munoz said. “They cheer you on and encourage the chaos.”
Just like Fotheringham, Damian is always looking to help people try out new things. On Saturday, he got someone to try WCMX for the first time.
Munoz said people around Woodward were disappointed to hear that Damian lived far away because they wanted him to visit and participate in more events.
“We’re stoked to bring him back,” she said.