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Muffy Davis: New Adventure Paralympic skier Muffy Davis has earned four medals for speed down the slopes, but her new-goal is going up. (May. 20, 2002)------Muffy Davis may be paralyzed from the waist down, but no way is she "confined" to a wheel chair. Olympics Specialist Shelley Osterloh reports. This weekend she plans to join three other paraplegics and do what has never been done: Climb California's 14-thousand foot Mt. Shasta. Utah's Muffy Davis has long dominated the sport of ski racing, using an adaptive piece of equipment called a mono ski. She earned three silver medals this year and a bronze in 1998. She uses another piece of adaptive equipment to water ski and frequently teaches other disabled people how they too can share her love for sports. Muffy often speaks to children, stressing that they can accomplish whatever they want and that they must never give up, no matter what the challenges. And it was to a group of Evergreen Jr. High students that she showed her latest piece of adaptive equipment: the snowpod. It's a device she plans to use next week for an incredibly strenuous hike up the volcano called Mt. Shasta. The snowpod was invented by Peter Rieke, the man who shattered stereoptypes in 2000 when he became the first paraplegic climber to summit Washington's Mt. Rainier. He assembled a group of four elite athletes, including Davis, and a support team of 20 for the four day journey up Mt. Shasta. DAVIS SAYS THEY WILL HIKE MOSTLY AT NIGHT UNDER THE FULL MOON, BECAUSE THE SNOWPOD'S WORK BEST ON COLD, HARD SNOW. Davis admits it will an incredibly difficult climb, sometimes attatched to safety ropes, but she has always overcome challenges. TO HOPEFULLY BREAK DOWN SOME BARRIERS, AND SHOW THAT THE ONLY BARRIERS ANY OF US HAVE ARE THOSE THAT WE PLACE ON OURSEELVES. AND IF YOU WANT SOMETHING BAD ENOUGH, YOU CAN REACH WHATEVER SUMMIT YOU WANT TO GET TO. What an attitude! The hike begins, Sunday night at 10pm, and if you would like to follow the team's progress, click on Mt. Shasta Project.

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