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[orchestral music playing]
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[narrator] Once… a person was severely injured.
So severely in fact… that the person suffered motor paralysis
and the loss of many body functions
normally taken for granted.
Furthermore… the injured person faced a lifetime in a wheelchair
experienced catastrophic disruption of personality
was extremely fearful of future relationships
with family and friends
and had no means of support.
One dilemma was obvious.
To cope… or not to cope
To cope meant to work and play
and live and love as if nothing had happened.
But something had happened.
We are the spinal cord injured.
We're all badly hurt
and many of us don't know what to do about living this way.
It's a very good thing therefore
that the world is full of people with injuries like ours
who have coped… who are glad they are coping
and who give to the human race in full measure… for what they take.
[wheelchair squeaks]
[wheelchair brakes click]
[tram running]
[Anchor] Welcome everyone to the top of Corbet's
absolutely stunning up here.
For anyone that has skied Jackson
you look around at the Valley, you look at the mountains
you're like okay I've arrived.
You walk out of that tram, and I have to tell you
this place is absolutely breathtaking
and just to be part of this event is truly special.
[male announcer 1] Let's talk about Corbet's
here at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort
one of the most iconic features at any mountain.
What an amazing venue this is.
[male announcer 2] Yeah regularly rated and voted
one of the steepest, gnarliest, most extreme runs in all of America
possibly even the world.
[male announcer 1] We have got 24 athletes out here.
It's a two run format.
They don't have to take both runs
- [male announcer 1] if they don't want to. - [male announcer 2] No.
[male announcer 1] We've got nine women, 15 men today.
And it's a mix of skiers and snowboarders on both sides
and all of the competitors
are competing together, so women separately from the men
but the skiers and snowboarders together.
There are no judges, this is a rider judged event.
But let's get underway with this.
- Let's get to the top of Corbet's here. - [male announcer 2] I'm excited.
[male announcer 1] Because we're ready to kick this off
Kings & Queens of Corbet's.
The Kings & Queens of Corbet's
is a unique event on Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.
It's a skiing and snowboarding competition
to celebrate limits.
[fans cheering]
Corbet's is the icon of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.
It's the Everest for a lot of skiers and snowboarders.
When you ride the tram
you go up 4,000 vertical feet in 12 minutes.
[man] You know you're getting up there
and then you crest that cliff.
And there's a hanging snow field, and oh here comes Corbet's
and you go by and you're looking at it
and it's just like, "Wow."
[Travis] I mean it's so nasty
there's massive boulders, super sharp rocks.
[Jess] It's so steep that when you look down
it looks like you're standing on
the second floor of a building.
[Travis] Within this death laden cliff area
there is one route through, and it's Corbet's Couloir.
[Jeff] It's for real.
Anybody who says that they're a really good skier
you take them up to the lip of Corbet's and be like
"So do you want to ski this?"
Almost everybody is like
"Yeah no, I'm good."
[athletes and crew talking]
[Jeff] I just had never seen the kid before.
I didn't really know what the deal was like
"Oh, they're gonna… he's gonna come and watch."
[Trevor] I just wanna get over to that
- [Trevor] where that shovel is. - [Jeff] And then
[Jeff] I see him talking to some people
and I'm like, "Oh no, he's competing"
you know like, "Oh okay cool."
Next thing I know
I'm employed to help push him up the hill.
[Jeff] When you saw how far he was getting pushed up
before he was going in
[pauses] it was like, "Oh he's really going in."
- [people cheering] - [Jess] Before the competition
Trevor and I hopped on the phone, and he said, "Jess
I am going to send it off the nose of Corbet's."
[sighs] And I was like
"Right, how far do you plan on going?"
And he was like, "At least 100 feet."
And I was like
[inhales sharply] "Okay."
You know?
You know what might be helpful too
is if I give you a little push.
[Jess] As an athlete I was like
[whispering] "That would be so freaking rad."
Like, "let's do this."
As the event organizer, I was like okay
what happens if things go wrong?
It can go terribly wrong for anyone.
[intense music plays]
[Travis] People have broken their back in Corbet's Couloir
just from cartwheeling down the mountain.
[Jess] I was really, really nervous. He did just
have a huge spinal cord injury.
Was I gonna allow him into the competition
to watch him… die doing this?
[wind howls]
[Travis] At that point, I had my own personal doubts.
I decided to go up and talk to him, kind of wanting to give
my own assessment of like
should I try to talk this guy out of this right now?
[Travis] And I said, "This thing's pretty gnarly
do you got this?"
He looked me straight in the eyes without any hesitation
and he said, "I got this."
"Alright… how can I help?"
[chuckles]
[Trevor] Hey Travis?
That's the one I'm gonna hit.
- [Travis] This one? - [Trevor] Yep.
[Travis] I can help you line up speed.
[Trevor] Ok cool. Thank you.
[Travis] When you take speed into Corbet's Couloir
it's totally blind.
[Jeff] He can't see
what Travis and some of the other athletes could see
because he's in this recumbent position.
[Travis] I mean the trick is like
you know you come in and you're kinda looking out at the
- [Travis] that mountain. - [Trevor] Okay.
[Trevor] So I want to land like right there
- [Trevor] you know what I mean? - [Travis] Yeah.
[Travis] Here let me give you a full…
[Travis] If you watch any of the skiers or snowboarders
milling about prior to their runs
you'll see everybody walk up to the lip
and walk back.
Walk up to the lip
look down at the landing, walk back.
'Cause you don't want to be surprised by that view in the air.
[Travis] I'm gonna, I'll give you speed, I'll make sure you don't go over
but it's nicer to have speed.
[woman] Yeah Trevor.
[Jeff] Travis would push him and then stop him right at the very end.
The whole thing kind of was… unseemly you know?
[Wade] As I was watching Trevor do the practicing run
[chuckles] I just started getting more and more nervous.
'Cause it was obvious he was gonna hit it
straight on, full bore.
[Travis] That was it, the stage was set.
He was about to air into this.
[Trevor yelling] Three, two, one, dropping!
[Travis] Pointed his ski downhill.
[exhales] I remember thinking he was slow.
[people cheering]
[Trevor gasps]
- [Travis] I think it was a good call. - [Trevor] More speed, more speed.
- [Travis] I agree. - [Trevor] Way more speed.
[Trevor] Yeah I just need more speed than that.
- [Trevor chuckles] - [Jeff] Right on, cool.
[Jeff] It kind of brought the
collective anxiety of everybody back in again.
Oh shit, okay.
No he's gonna do it, it's gonna be fine right?
Okay maybe.
[Travis] You know we brought him back up
to a starting spot that was even higher.
Probably higher than anyone went.
I remember saying something like
"Trevor, are you sure that you really want to do this?"
[Travis] You know nine times out of ten
if someone doesn't believe that they're gonna land it
they're not gonna land it.
[Travis] And then um…
you sure you want to send that thing?
[Trevor] Yeah.
[Travis] You know, it was like a genuine place of
I need to do this.
[orchestral music playing]
[Jess] It is dead silent.
I am down there with the Vice President of Operations
and our Risk and Safety Director.
And I'm nervous.
They're all looking at the easiest way
and I'm thinking, "Nope
he is gonna go right off the nose."
- [Travis] What do you think? - [Trevor] Uh…
[Travis] Can't remember exactly what I said
but I think it was something like
you know, "Have fun" and
maybe, "See you on the other side."
[Travis] It actually was like, see you on the other side
of this paradigm shifting thing
that you're about to do.
[sighs] So you know he reset.
[Travis] Called the drop.
[Trevor yelling] Three, two, one, dropping!
[Travis] The rest is kind of history.
[crowd gasps]
- [crowd cheers] - [man] Oh my God.
[man yelling] Yeah!
That was insane.
[Jess yelling] Yeah buddy!
[Trevor laughing] Yeah!
- [man] That was insane. - [Trevor] Wow.
[Jess] God everyone wanted to just
touch him, you know.
Just to have a piece of the magic that just happened.
[Trevor laughing]
[Producer] Can you… tell us
how did Corbet's get its name?
Well refresh my memory 'cause um…
Was he the one that first rode it?
You know I guess over time people forget.
There's so much lore about Corbet's Couloir
within the Jackson Hole community.
But I don't know a ton about Barry Corbet.
I grew up riding on Jackson Hole Mountain Resort
but no I don't know what happened to Barry.
Well you want the real story
or you want the story that we spun?
[acoustic guitar plays]
[man] Jackson Hole was
we thought Vail was great until we saw Jackson Hole.
[chuckles] It just… was a beautiful, charming place.
[woman] I met Barry in August 1959.
When I first met Barry, he was teaching skiing
on the town hill in the winter.
[Muffy] Paul McCollister, who started the resort
was a friend of Barry's and mine.
The day that I went up with Paul and Barry
was an absolutely gorgeous bright blue day
and the snow was wonderful.
And we looked at the study plots… and had a picnic
looking up at what became Corbet's Couloir.
And Barry looked at it and said
"Someday, somebody's going to ski that."
"Someday, somebody's gonna ski that."
"Somebody's gonna actually ski that."
And ever since then it's been known as Corbet's Couloir.
[man] I didn't know about all his accomplishments
until someone said, "Hey do you know who you're talking to?"
um… I said, "Yeah Barry Corbet."
[chuckles] "Do you know about him?"
[Bob] He was this larger than life human being.
[woman] He did first ascents on Mount McKinley
he did first ascents on the highest and second highest peaks
in Antarctica, Mount Vinson, Mount Tyree.
[chuckles] Among others, shall we say.
Yeah he for his time
was definitely a very badass mountaineer.
[Bob] He was literally the Camel man.
[Muffy] He could never get away from that picture
I mean it's all over the place.
[chuckles] I've got one in the bathroom here.
[upbeat instrumental music plays]
[man] When I met Barry, it was on Everest.
The major goal of the expedition
was to get the first American up Everest
it wasn't to climb a new route.
But Barry and I… really had this similar passion
to do something on the mountain that was unknown.
[Roger] Most climbers would love to have a first ascent
and the West Ridge was just that.
It was the biggest mountain in the world and that particular part of it
had not been climbed.
[Dr. Hornbein] At the time of the summit bid, Barry said
"I think it should be Hornbein and Unsoeld.
You guys are just about over the hill
and I'll be coming back someday."
[Roger] And Barry humped loads up to the next camp
while they moved on and went to the summit.
It was the first ascent of the West Ridge.
[audience clapping]
[man] I want to on behalf of all the
[camera shutters click] people of the United States to express our
great appreciation for this wonderful effort
by our fellow citizens.
We're very proud to welcome… these men here to the White House.
[Roger] He was a very creative guy, and climbing around the rocks
was his passion but he needed something more
and film was that something more.
When Barry got back from Everest I said, "Barry look me up
maybe we can get together on some films."
And we made the first Jackson Hole film.
[soft piano playing]
[Bob] What got me into freestyle skiing
were these two iconic ski films
Ski the Outer Limits and The Moebius Flip.
[Roger] Barry went up there
and they did the first big flips into the Couloir.
And that excited a lot of people.
Because nobody was even ready to ski it
no less do a flip into it.
[Roger] It made our career.
[narrator] These then… are the outer limits
A flight into space.
Reaching to regain his shadow.
[Bob] There's poetry in the way it's shot
and what the narrator is saying.
And they were doing things that nobody in the world had seen.
For a kid like me and all over the world
it just, it captured the imagination of yes
I want to do that, I want to fly, I want to
I want to ski the outer limits.
[orchestral music with choir swells]
[narrator] What was impossible yesterday
is today's absolute limit.
Tomorrow's common place.
- [woman] Is that the guy? - [Trevor] What's up?
[dogs bark]
[woman] You got it?
[woman] There's you and Ashley.
With his Momma.
This is a great picture right here.
- [Trevor] Me and Ash. - [woman] There's Trevor.
[woman] With his father.
- [woman] And his onesie has got-- - [Trevor] Athlete's Corner.
[woman] Athlete's Corner on the butt.
[Trevor] Sports shop my dad had growing up
my Mom and Dad.
[Trevor] And then it turned into a skateboard shop
and snowboard shop.
[woman] Trevor loved snowboarding.
You would see nothing but… white teeth.
in the little goggles when he was a little kid.
He wouldn't even go inside to get something to eat.
"Nope, I gotta do it again."
[woman] Growing up, my parents were super busy
running their stores, training for marathons.
So my parents were extremely absent.
[man] I was running two businesses.
12 hour days, sometimes six days a week.
Yeah it was very challenging.
There was a lot of challenging moments.
[woman] When my parents separated, Trevor was about five years old.
I think Trevor
emotionally took the divorce and my Mom leaving… super hard.
[Ashley] From the time that we were in third or fourth grade
we moved probably every six months.
[Trevor] You know, I knew we didn't have a lot of money
so we had someone rent the third room basically
so we could get more rent.
Looks pretty good though.
And it looks just like cleaned up and
you know it's decorated and shit.
Looks like an actual family lives there.
[Trevor] I guess all these houses we lived in
it was just so like short.
As a kid, I didn't know any better
I didn't know what a normal family relationship looked like.
[reflective piano plays]
[man] In high school, he'd never had
a ton of support from his family
He was our brother pretty much
I mean, bouncing around between houses
um… sleeping on couches and stuff.
Weren't in any after school clubs, so it was
let's get drunk and high.
[Olga] At first I did not know that
Trevor was abusing painkillers.
But then he said to me, "Mom
I have an issue, I have this problem.
I keep taking these pills because I'm very depressed."
[Trevor] I was just at the time in my life
I just didn't know what to do.
I couldn't go to school, I couldn't apply to Keene State
they didn't really want me, I could
probably do the community college around here but like
I didn't know what to do in life
I didn't know where to live, I didn't know what to do for work.
[Max] Growing up in Keene, everyone's idea after high school was
to get out of Keene.
[Olga] There was nothing here for Trevor.
And that's when Ashley went to Colorado.
When he saw Ashley moving
and seeing how happy Ashley was and she's in Colorado
the mountains and snowboarding.
He's like… "I'm out of here."
Ashley goes, "Trevor… get a plumbing job."
[Ashley] And Trevor came out to Colorado
and was like, "This is what I'm gonna do.
I'm gonna pursue plumbing, I'm gonna get my plumbing license."
And he was shortly on his way
just before his accident.
[helicopter blades whir]
[Roger] Barry had finished shooting
the Ski the Outer Limits film.
And we had a contract to shoot the
International Ski Instructors Association meeting in Aspen.
I remember very clearly
that he was going up there.
And then I got very nervous, something really bothered me.
And I just stared at the phone
for maybe two or three hours, and the phone rang.
There's been a terrible accident.
[sighs] It's Barry.
[Jennifer sighs]
Dad never talked about how he got hurt.
My mom didn't really talk about it either.
I think those were… pretty dark days
so people didn't really want to revisit that.
[ominous music plays]
[Roger] Barry was filming the skiers
and it was in the middle of the day
so the undulation of the terrain
was not… completely clear to the pilot.
It's all blasted by sun.
Barry had the seatbelt loose
so he could turn out the
to the side of the helicopter and shoot.
The helicopter pilot clips a knoll
and starts to bounce.
And on one of those bounces Barry
breaks the seatbelt, takes out the door, and goes out the door.
[Roger] We were all going nuts that
Barry was gonna die, we thought surely he was dead.
And they got him into Denver to Craig Hospital.
And they kept him alive.
[Muffy] I did go down to see him when he was still in the hospital.
He had some of those elbow crutches.
And he asked me to bring them when I came, so I did.
[sighs] And I remember a nurse looking at them and saying
"What are those doing here, he'll never use them."
[Dr. Hornbein] That's when his life as a paraplegic began.
[somber orchestral music playing]
[Trevor] This is the first time I've been here since my accident.
And… I was definitely scared to come back here.
This spot is super important in my recovery.
Getting closure, you know being okay and accepting with my injury.
You know I lost everything up here.
Being back here is something I need to do
to move forward to accomplish a lot of my goals
and one of those goals is skiing here at Vail Pass.
[dark instrumental music playing]
[wind howls]
[truck engine rumbles]
[piano plays softly]
[man] So the day that Trevor got hurt
my brother, Trevor, and I
decided to go up to Vail Pass.
So we got to the parking lot, got our gear out
and started hiking up next to the snowmobile track.
And hiked up about 100, 150 yards.
And we saw a guy coming down on a snowmobile that
stopped and let us know that there was a jump up further.
When we got to the jump, it wasn't anything too crazy.
I wasn't really worried about any of us hitting that… size jump.
I hit it first… then my brother
and Trevor hit it last.
End of the day, it's dark.
[Trevor] And I drop in
and come down this cat track.
And I saw him, as soon as he took off the lip
he just kind of went off a weird angle.
And I was flying through the air like a superman.
And I didn't want to land on my neck
so I tucked my neck, landed on my back
my board and boots compressed like a taco
and I just heard a loud, loud pop.
[man] A person called me
um… and I was doing a car deal.
I was in the middle of negotiating, so I would never answer my phone.
[pauses] I happened to answer it.
Trevor's hurt, he can't feel his toes.
I said… put Trevor on the phone.
"Trevor get your ass up.
Don't be faking this shit."
Um… he said, "Dad I can't move my toes."
[Ernie sniffling]
[Trevor] I just remember laying there.
[pauses] You know thinking about
my girlfriend, my sister, telling my parents, telling my boss
not being a plumber anymore, not doing the things I love anymore.
And I looked at my feet, and it was just like
I knew right away.
[wind blowing]
[Miguel] We call search and rescue.
They said that they're gonna send a team up
but since the storm was… hitting pretty hard at that point
they said it was gonna take at least an hour
and then one of us needed to go down and meet them.
[snowplow rumbles]
[Trevor] My adrenaline started to wear off and
my back… was killing me.
[Trevor] Time was just going slow.
I was scared
no one was gonna find me, I was scared I was gonna freeze to death.
No one was coming for me.
From when he crashed to when search and rescue was on scene
was roughly two and a half, three hours.
The search party was on just snowshoes.
My brother called me twice.
"Trevor's really cold, he's in pain." I'm like, "We're coming.
I'm not gonna leave you guys, we're coming."
[Trevor] I remember thinking to myself
just don't close your eyes Trevor.
Don't close your eyes.
Because I feel like if I did
I didn't think I was gonna wake up.
[narrator] Listen.
Something hard has happened to us both.
And neither of us likes it.
[ambulance engine running]
Despite the inexplicable fact
that you'll encounter lots of us
who say our lives have been improved by our accidents.
- [buckle clips shut] - [narrator] Strange.
Still and all
I don't think it takes much heavy thought
for anyone who's broken a back or neck
to realize that big changes are coming.
And that nobody is giving anybody
much choice in the matter.
[Ashley] I… had a friend drive me to the hospital.
When I got there, we were waiting
and I asked the receptionist
I was like, "Hey you know
there's this kid coming in from Vail Pass
do you know what the ETA is?"
[sighs] And she said, "Oh well it's a code whatever
it's pretty serious.
They're probably gonna be here in about an hour and a half."
And… I said, "Okay well I'll just wait.
Can you just let me know when he gets here?"
And I remember… when he got there
I saw him and
he grabbed my hand and I looked at the X-ray.
[voice breaks] And he said, "It's gonna be okay.
Everything is gonna be okay, I love you."
[Trevor sniffles]
I don't remember saying that to my sister
or grabbing her hand and looking at her
and saying, "It's gonna be okay."
But it made me tear up
you know hearing that now, and it you know
I'm just showing her every day
that it's gonna be okay, and my family
[sniffles] and people that love me or close ones around me.
You know it sucks what happened to me but it's gonna be okay.
And I just feel like I keep proving that every day.
[sighs deeply]
[solemn orchestral music plays]
[Olga] To see Trevor in the hospital
[voice breaks] laying there… was a really difficult thing.
It was just hard for me to see my boy broken.
As a parent… you never want any of this stuff
to happen to your children.
And I was afraid… and fearful of what his future would be like.
[Trevor] I shattered T11, T12 of my vertebrae
I punctured my spinal cord, and dislocated my back
90 degrees into my stomach.
I got two 12 inch rods and 12 screws in my back.
And they basically told me, "There's… no way.
There's no way you're even
gonna move again, walk again
anything like that."
[Dr. Butt] At Craig… the most common question for people is
"Am I going to completely recover?"
There are people who come into the facility
who feel truly that their lives are over.
[Trevor] Alright toesies move.
Move.
Come on, move toes.
Move toes.
Move toes!
[whispers] Come on big toes, you got this.
[Dr. Butt] This is a family affair.
And the research is very clear… that people with better support system
tighter families, have better outcomes.
[sighs] We were a little distant at that point in time.
And I think… maybe I put up a wall, I was--
I withdrew… when I was around him.
[Ashley] My Mom… she struggled to watch Trevor in his PT.
She was just like, "I can't be here"
and would get up and walk away.
I think that really took a toll on Trevor.
[man] When you're inside recovery or a rehab facility
every single day matters.
At Craig… you've got nearly 100 people
with very similar injuries that all have different outcomes.
But you're all… fighting together
to have the best outcome for each other.
[Trevor] You have six months to two years to get nerve return.
And our whole goal was for me to walk.
[Trevor straining] Come on, come on baby.
[Trevor groaning]
Kinda tough for me to do that.
[Trevor exhales]
One day at a time.
[driving instrumental music playing]
[Ashley] I think that was the first time I had
genuinely seen Trevor… motivated to do anything.
He was looking for new ways
to challenge himself every single day.
[Trevor struggles]
Yeah there's the left leg… see?
Now I can lift it too.
Ready right leg.
[Trevor groans]
That's as far as I can get it, but left leg's pretty good.
Cut it.
[Trevor] I took all these things that I learned
playing sports as a kid, it was like
alright how can I make this a game?
[people lifting weights]
[Dr. Butt] I remember meeting Trevor for the first time at Craig Hospital.
Therapists would come to me and say
"This guy's going in fifth gear.
It's premature, he needs to be in second gear.
And how do we slow him down?"
[machine whirring]
[Trevor] What's up camera.
[woman chuckles]
[Therapist] Walking into the sunshine.
[Roy] One of the biggest things that happen
with a spinal cord injury
is the first goal people set is… "I want to walk."
And yeah we all want to walk.
But recovery has to be built on smaller goals.
What happens if that's your only goal and it doesn't… come true?
[narrator] It's only fair to warn you
that many of us have found
the first weeks or months after the escape
to be the most difficult ones of all… hard times.
While the institution
was toilet training you, and teaching you mobility
it was also becoming your sheltering mother
who loved you in spite of your flaws, real or imagined.
That comfortable shelter can be difficult to abandon
for the ragged, jagged edges of real life.
Ask yourself whether you want to live or die.
Many folks with spinal cord injuries
have told me that they once contemplated suicide.
Usually soon after their accidents.
They were all of course… still alive when I met them.
[Ashley] A month after Trevor left Craig Hospital
he hit a pretty low point.
My Mom told me that Trevor
drove the car off the road on purpose and
she was really concerned.
For a little while I was very nervous for his future.
because I knew he would be needing… pain medication.
[Max] I was very worried that he would just
fall back into using prescription drugs.
[Trevor] The pills definitely numbed me to
just like a lot of life.
I was just trying to forget
all the stuff I used to be able to do.
And once I started using drugs and partying and
you know I just felt numb.
I didn't care about anything anymore.
[Ashley] We were genuinely concerned about him.
I was no longer in the picture, my parents had gone back home.
He had no one else.
[Trevor] I ended up moving back to Max's house
and lived on his couch for a couple months.
[Max] This house was not meant for somebody with a disability
especially one that involves a wheelchair.
[Trevor] The only bathroom was on the second floor.
Every other day I would climb the stairs
scooting up one step at a time on my butt
just so I can go to the bathroom.
I was definitely not in a good state.
I think I was at my lowest, lowest point there.
[Max] It was probably the toughest time mentally for him.
Right out he's like, "Dude I'm gonna walk again."
When in reality that… just wasn't his situation.
He could put in… as much work as he wanted to
towards the goal of walking again and
that wasn't necessarily gonna happen, no matter how hard he tried.
Reality would set in and he just… wasn't adjusted to it yet.
[Ernie] How are you gonna support yourself?
Where were you gonna live?
I mean his plumbing thing was going great
but after this accident… you're not gonna go be a plumber.
So what are you gonna do?
That was a big concern of mine. Huge.
[Producer] Did you talk with him about that at all, or was it too--
I did.
[Producer] How'd that go?
Not good. Not good at all.
[acoustic guitar plays]
[Dr. Hornbein] It wasn't an easy beginning.
There were some rocky times that Barry
was trying to get his shit together.
[Roger] He couldn't ski, he couldn't climb.
He couldn't do anything.
So here he is stripped of the core of his life.
[Dr. Butt] In the '60s
there were disincentives to be in the community.
People felt truly that life is over.
A trauma is a change.
Life is change.
And if you don't evolve with that change
you remain stagnant… and static.
And that was not Barry.
Barry was the epitome of fluidity.
[Jennifer] Dad was amazing that way.
He would come into the fire and come out
forged in whole new ways.
He always found a way to find strength
and find a way to cope with changing circumstances.
In 1980 my Dad published a book called Options.
He decided to interview people all over the country
who had spinal cord injury.
And so the book brought together
the stories of all of these people
interlaced with his own stories.
[Dr. Butt] In my interactions with patients
I would give them this book.
And I'd say, "When you've read a few of the narratives
let's get together and talk.
Let's see how this helps you re-envision
who you are and where you're going."
[Bob] He essentially wrote the book
on living and thriving with a spinal cord injury.
It had a huge effect on people.
[Dr. Butt] It really is foundational in terms of the beginning
of people writing about disability
and what it's like to live… and thrive with spinal injury.
[Jennifer] In tandem with Options
he created two companion films
Changes and Outside.
[Barry] In this film
I wanted to show new cord injuries
how old cord injuries live.
Three years
five, ten, twenty
As much as 35 years after their accidents.
I wanted to visit people all over this country.
People with injuries like mine
and much worse than mine
and see what their lives were like.
So a journey was begun.
A journey in search of spinal cord injured America.
[orchestral music plays]
[Jennifer] He had so many people that
had done incredible things despite their spinal cord injury.
[Dr. Butt] The communality was that
every single person… to have a creative, meaningful life
had to reinvent themselves in some way.
I like to think that before I was paralyzed
there were 10,000 things I could do.
And now there's 9,000.
So I can either dwell on the 1,000 that I've lost
or I can concentrate on the 9,000 that's left.
And of course the joke is that… none of us in our lifetime
are gonna do more than two or three thousand
of those things in any event.
[narrator] I don't want to tell you
that life will become easier
or the choices simpler
or that spinal cord injury is in any way beneficial
to one's mental and physical health.
Because those things aren't true.
I do want to tell you
that this monumental inconvenience
can be lived through
lived with, loved with, laughed with
surmounted, shared, transcended
and that you have not been deprived of choice.
You do have a lot of options.
You can be okay if you choose to be okay.
The future… however unfathomable…is yours.
I have heard, I can't tell you how many people
that have said, "The spinal cord injury
was my epiphany.
It was my start to reprioritize my life.
Who am I?
Who am I now?"
[woman] I was Trevor's first ski instructor
at the Adaptive Sports Center in Crested Butte
when he came with Craig Hospital in February 2016.
Trevor's stoke and lack of fear
stood out above anyone else I've ever taught before.
He had goals before I even knew his name.
The first day Trevor was talking about
sit skiing in the backcountry on Vail Pass
catching air, jumping cliffs.
"Where can we go jump this?" and
"What about that box over there?"
We don't typically allow people to do any kind of jumping
but you know every chance I looked away
there he was, jumping something off the side.
[Trevor] That trip changed my life.
It's just like, "Oh boy"
you know you get excited.
You're like, "Alright well what's next?"
And you're just like, "Oh can I do that?"
[Ashley] He was stoked and that was the first time
I'd actually seen him happy in a while.
[Trevor] Well since I got hurt snowboarding on the mountain
about a year and… three months ago on the top of Vail Pass
I sat there for three and a half hours in a blizzard at--
from 4 to 7:30 at night so
I never really thought I could
be back where I am today.
And so… what this means getting back on the mountain is
there's no words that can actually describe the feeling.
This will be a huge part of my life for the rest of my life.
I went on that trip and you know I realized that
I'm not gonna wait around my whole entire life
to just see if I'm gonna have a chance to walk.
I'm gonna go do and attack other things.
[Dr. Butt] Post-Traumatic Growth
is the ability of a person to… experience trauma
and craft it into a positive means for themselves.
How does tragedy
transform itself into opportunities?
[Ashley] High Fives invited him
to do a ski camp in Lake Tahoe
and that's when his relationship with Roy really blossomed.
[Roy] High Fives is a
national nonprofit organization
with a mission to prevent
life changing injuries
and provide resources and hope
if they happen in the outdoor sports.
[cheering]
When High Fives gives a grant, you've gotta set goals
so that we see how our grant funding
is helping you progress, and you keep achieving
a better quality of life.
[Ashley] Trevor's biggest goal
once he started getting into sit skiing
was to make the Paralympic team.
- [man 1] Come on Trevy. - [man 2] Let's go.
- [crowd cheering] - [man] Push, push, push.
[Max] Seemingly within three or four months
of starting his training
he was already competing for spots on the team.
[Roy] With the silver medal, from the USA
baby Trevor Kennison!
[man] Baby Trevor.
[Ashley] So he ended up moving to Winter Park
and started out his third winter
and then decided to quit ski racing.
A lot of us were wondering why.
[Trevor] I quit ski racing because
I had a passion for hitting jumps and cliffs
and rails and everything else.
- I just wanted to ski the whole mountain. - [Trevor] Yew!
[Roy] When Trevor gave us his list of goals for our grant
there was more on there than just making the Paralympic team.
He wanted to do a backflip off a rail
he wanted to jump into Corbet's Couloir
he wanted to compete in the X-Games
he wanted to sit ski at Vail Pass
and do the first ever sit ski double backflip.
[Ashley] I told him, "Stick with ski racing
there's money there."
But he was… doing his thing, he was gonna freeski.
[Trevor] My Dad and my sister and even Roy were like
kind of chuckled when I was like
"Yeah this is what I want to do, I want to
try to make a living off this
I want to get sponsors, I want to do this for a career."
And I said, "Honey
let's get a solid career… and go forward
because this is short term."
[Producer] What was his response?
His response to that was
he didn't say anything.
My thought was… "Go fuck yourself Dad 'cause
I'm gonna do it."
[Anchor] It is the video taking the ski world by storm
a sit skier launching off the top of the mountain
at Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Trevor Kennison happens to call Colorado home.
Join Kennison on the slopes
and see what he's doing with all that newfound fame.
I'm sitting there watching ESPN.
[Anchor] This is Trevor Kennison, who is unable to ski
except in this contraption that he has.
[Ernie] Trevor Kennison?
That's my kid!
Holy shit!
[Trevor] After Corbet's, everything in my life changed.
People just recognized who I was.
[Anchor] Trevor started going bigger and bigger.
- [Trevor laughing] - [Anchor] He's using his daredevil persona
to inspire others, able bodied or not.
[Trevor] I love learning, I love pushing it
and learning, and learning and learning.
[cheering]
[man cheers]
[man] Hell yeah Trev!
[Roy] Trevor was starting to set a bar
that others hadn't seen.
He was progressing so fast in a sit ski.
[man] Oh my God!
[Anchor] This is Trevor Kennison
and he is with us here today.
He's pretty much a pro, you're pretty much famous at this point.
You've made some pretty big strides
these past couple of years.
- [Anchor] No one's ever done this before right? - [Trevor] No.
[Anchor] How has that impacted you?
[Trevor] Over the past two, three years, it's just given me hope in my life
and to move forward with it.
And to live life to the fullest.
[crowd cheering]
[Miguel] His attitude and his spirit is always
just so positive.
That first time I rode with him, he hit like a 20 foot jump.
I remember that day very vividly, he said
"I want to be able to hit 90 foot jumps
like the guys do in the X-Games."
[Anchor] Now to the X-Games, and a major first ahead today
Trevor Kennison will become the first adaptive athlete
to hit the big air jump at the Games.
- [Roy] Let's go! - [crowd cheering]
[Announcer 1] A tale of pure will and determination.
Pushing boundaries… pushing the limits
and he is set to do it again.
[TV] Three, two, one!
[Announcer 1] Trevor Kennison looking to make history out here today.
The first ever adaptive athlete
to hit the big air jump here in Aspen!
[Announcer 2] Straight off the jump, huge balance, he's going massive!
Oh! So, so close.
I mean took it to the bottom line and just
just not holding on.
[ominous instrumental music plays]
[Producer] You okay?
[Receptionist] Yes just in case.
[Nurse] What brings you in?
- [Nurse] Just like a follow up? - [Trevor] Uh no…
[Trevor] I'm trying to… get an MRI on my back.
[Bob] Sit skiing is a great sport.
Like any form of skiing… when you start taking it to its extreme
the danger level goes up.
When you're standing up, you have the full shock absorption
of your knees which is about three feet
and you add a couple more feet bending at the waist.
The best sit skis have maybe
six to eight inches of travel.
If you bottom that shock out
it transfers directly into your spine.
That can blow out a vertebrae.
Myself and I know other people that have had
secondary spinal injuries sit skiing
and it's due to bottoming out of shocks.
[Ernie] I gotta be a parent.
The jumps… that bothers me.
I mean, he could come down and
land on his neck and… no more Trevor.
[intense instrumental music plays]
[man] Oh, shit.
[narrator] Goals come in two forms.
There are take one day at a time goals.
And there are the goals we perceive
way out there in the future murk
which we will work toward with consuming passion.
Your goals can open doors for you.
You don't have to go through the doors
but they do ease the passage if you're bumping into walls.
[Producer] You okay?
[narrator] So pick a goal.
Manufacture one.
Pick anything you haven't been doing but can do
Then do it.
The identification of realistic goals
is the keystone of all rehabilitation.
No goals... no free lunch.
[Producer] Have you hit a rail like
- [Producer] have you hit this rail before? - [Trevor] No.
- [Producer] In the park? - [Trevor] No.
But I'm going to right now.
[radio] Five, four, three, two, one
Trevor dropping.
- [man 1] Fucking laced it. - [man 2] All day baby.
- [Trevor] Hell yeah. - [man 1] That was perfect.
[Trevor] Yo can someone radio down
to see if I should just
[Trevor] backflip it right now?
[man] Well you can see what you wanna do dude.
[radio] Trevor says be ready for the backflip.
[Trevor exhales]
[Producer] Let me know when ten seconds buddy.
[Trevor] Alright ten seconds.
- [radio] Alright ten seconds. - [Trevor] Yeah boys.
- [man 1] Let's go dog. - [man 2] Yeah G.
- [radio] Ten seconds to Trevor. - [man 1] Let's go.
[radio] Five, four, three, two, one.
[Ashley cheering] Yeah!
[Trevor] Let's go!
Let's fucking go!
- [Trevor] Let's go! - [man] Oh my God!
[man] That was so easy dude!
- [Trevor] So sick. - [Ashley] That was sick.
[Trevor] Thanks.
[Ashley] Nice work, you crushed it Trev.
[Trevor] It's just wild
three years ago ski racing and you know
Ashley, Roy, my Dad
kind of chuckling at my face
and then it's just like actually doing it.
Now it's like I've had this idea
I don't even know how long ago
maybe a year ago, but like...I just like
I would tell people and people would be like
"Oh yeah that's kind of a… kind of like a
- [Trevor] crazy idea." - [Producer] Pipe dream man.
- [Trevor] But it's just more so like-- - [Producer] But then you--
[Trevor] Coming into reality and making it like
a dream come true.
Which is pretty cool.
[Producer] Yeah it's more than pretty cool.
[Trevor] It's kind of wild that…
And then maybe we'll put
the box in there tomorrow.
We'll backflip onto a down box.
[Trevor laughing]
[shoveling snow]
[Trevor] Yeah it's definitely bigger than last year
by a few feet I'd say.
[Producer] Why are you nervous?
[Trevor] 'Cause I'm gonna flip to a rail.
Rail to a rail.
[Trevor] I didn't commit on that one.
[man] Shit's rowdy dude.
[Trevor] Where did I land though?
[man] Dude you landed right in line with the
orange dots there, on the right.
[Trevor] I'm gonna do honestly another
same speed just rip it a little harder.
[man] Yep, yep.
[Trevor] Dude that was so money.
'Cause that's basically how I want
to land on the rail is like basically here.
That was it dude.
I say we put it in.
[man] So many things that are out of your control
- [man] like on that rail. - [Trevor] Yeah.
[man] That it's like
- [man] it's so gnarly. - [Trevor] For sure.
[man] And you're landing literally on four inches.
[Trevor] I know.
[Trevor] I think this is gonna be
the scariest thing in my life.
I don't know, like scary but I feel comfortable with this.
- [Trevor] You know what I mean like-- - [Producer] Yeah.
[Trevor] And I just need to
once I get on the rail just… I just need to rip my backflip.
[ominous instrumentation grows]
[Trevor sighs]
Jeez boys.
I'm fucking nervous.
[Trevor exhales]
- [man] Yeah Trev. - [Trevor] Alright let's get it.
- [man] Yeah Trev. - [Trevor] Dropping.
[instrumental music builds with excitement]
[Trevor cheers]
[Trevor] Let's fucking go!
[Trevor laughing] Let's go!
[Trevor] Oh my God.
[man] Yeah baby.
[Trevor] Holy shit.
Oh my God.
I did it!
Let's go.
[Trevor] I've been dreaming about doing this for two years.
- After doing the backflip-- - No way.
Last year on that rail, here it is a year later.
- Let's go. - Rode it out.
Honestly it's one of the best feelings.
One of the best feelings, let's go.
Yew!
[cheering]
- [Producer] Dude! - [man] Right on bottom of your ski dude!
[Trevor] Thanks for all the help everybody.
[Jennifer] Dad did reinvent himself in a lot of ways.
You know after his accident, he couldn't ski anymore
he couldn't climb anymore.
He sought out new conquests.
So in the early '70s Dad was filming a movie with Roger Brown
called The Edge and they did several weeks in the Grand Canyon.
[Bob] No paraplegic had ever tried kayaking.
And as he's shooting this movie from a chair
he noticed, "Hey
everything they do is the upper body.
That's what I've got.
I think I'm gonna try that."
[Dr. Butt] He learned
against all the admonitions of all the people at Craig
for fear of skin sores, decubitus ulcers.
For fear that he would die on the river.
[Roger] He was paralyzed in the legs
and a lot of kayaking is in the hips
'cause if you get knocked over
you have to twist your hips and paddle at the same time
on one side or the other to get yourself back up.
[Dr. Butt] Indeed there was a point where
he almost died on the river
because he couldn't sufficiently roll given the current.
[Bob] So Barry spent months with some of the best instructors
and created a way to Eskimo roll a kayak.
[Dr. Butt] He developed techniques
he found ways to hitch three kayaks on the side of his van.
One of the old monikers that I love about Craig Hospital
is redefining possible.
And when I think about Barry
that's what I think about in many ways.
He redefined what was possible.
[Bob] Barry being Barry, as a paraplegic kayaker ran
all the most extreme rivers in the West
including the Grand Canyon.
[Roger] It meant a lot to him
because he had been cut out of all the things
he really liked to do, the great adventures and
kayaking gave him back… adventure.
[Jennifer] He found a way to have his fun no matter what.
And it wasn't the way he did it before but it was a way that worked for him.
[Bob] Essentially, Barry said
"I'm not gonna let my wheelchair define me.
I'm gonna define myself through athletic endeavors
that go beyond what people perceive a wheelchair user can do."
[wheels cracking on gravel]
[narrator] As you and your injury mellow through a little time
you'll find that you don't think much about walking.
Nor will you think wistfully about whatever you used to do.
You'll start to think with interest and pleasure
about the things you can do now.
There are more than enough
things you can do after a broken back or neck.
And some of them you'll like so much
that you'll be unable to contain your joy.
[helicopter engine turns on]
[man] And we're firing up.
[Trevor] Yeah baby.
[man] Yes Trevor.
[instrumental music builds]
[Trevor] Yeah boys!
Yeah boys.
Let's go baby.
[radio] Trevor's gonna ride this
main chute just beneath us.
Alright three, two, one, dropping.
[man] Get it dude.
[Trevor] Oh my goodness!
Sit skiing gave me that freedom
being out of my wheelchair.
I could go anywhere on the mountain.
I could be just like anyone else.
Having that freedom back it gave me such a purpose to life.
[Trevor laughing and cheering]
[Trevor giggling]
Here's the thing, when I'm in my ski
I feel free, I feel whole
and I feel extremely happy.
Just sliding on the snow literally soothes my soul.
Oh my God, let's go.
Yeah boys!
[Trevor laughing]
That was a good one.
[Trevor] When you go skiing or snowboarding, you have to adapt.
When I do it now I just have to adapt a little bit more.
[Heavy drums]
[Trevor cheering]
[man] Every turn he just gets so pitted.
He just disappears.
[man] Yeah doggy!
- [KC laughing] - [man] Yeah!
[KC] After a spinal cord injury it's
it feels like you can't take anything for granted.
That's the thing about
being in the mountains with Trevor here is you see it in him.
You know, he's in a sit ski but
not bumming about the fact that he's in a sit ski.
[radio] Three, two, one, Trevor dropping.
[KC] He has something about him
he's just kind of glowing when he's out there.
Just like this pure stoke that comes out of him.
And it's pretty special.
I don't think that he's just inspiring people that are maybe adaptive
or have anything that's limiting them.
He's inspiring people that are just like me and you, they're just
you know they got ten fingers, ten toes that work.
Two breaths and a heartbeat.
And they're looking at Trevor thinking "There's no way I can do that."
He's not just an adaptive athlete
he's just an athlete.
The thing is if you want to
up the game and hit stuff like this
just take it one turn at a time.
[Trevor exhales]
- [Trevor] Okay. - [KC] You good?
[Trevor] Yep.
[KC] Alright if you copy
Trev dropping in ten.
Trev in five, four, three, two, one.
[cheering]
[Trevor] Holy.
That's by far the biggest cliff I've done!
- [man] Dude the GoPro is like-- - [KC] Dude look at where you landed!
[Trevor] Yeah dude.
[KC laughing]
[KC] Yes!
[narrator] I've had glorious days.
Days when everyone and everything I encounter
dances to some tune I know well.
On those days
confidence and good cheer flow out of me
and infect total strangers.
And on some days
the wheelchair becomes a rolling ghetto.
A chrome cage that blocks communication absolutely.
Period. Don't bother me
I'm crippled today.
I have never felt despised for being in a wheelchair.
I have felt pitied.
I have despised myself.
The first is the other person's problem
and the second is mine.
[Trevor] Having a spinal cord injury, it sucks.
A lot of people look at you and they just see a wheelchair.
And that's fine. But it's way more than a wheelchair.
The wheelchair is just a part of you, you know those are your legs.
People come up to me and they're like, "Oh what happened?"
"Oh… I broke my back snowboarding" and they're like, "Oh I'm sorry."
And that's all they say.
Then I'm like "Why are you sorry?"
You know, it's like "Alright that's fine."
But you should be sorry about the real things that really get to me.
Those things, that you should be sorry about.
But people don't know.
[Jennifer] So after Dad finished filmmaking and went into writing
he became editor for a rag called New Mobility.
[Dr. Butt] When Barry became the editor
he could reach people in ways that he was never able to prior.
[Bob] Barry and the magazine covered really difficult topics.
Drug use and or abuse in spinal cord injury
spinal cord injured people in prison, sexuality
there was no subject that was taboo.
It was this edgy Rolling Stone for wheelchair users.
[Dr. Butt] He was speaking the unspeakable.
Bowel programs, bladder management
all things that are kind of verboten or forbidden
in the able bodied community.
[Ashley] When he first got injured
I wondered if he would be able to date again.
Trevor has always wanted a family
that's something that's particularly important to him.
[Trevor] I can get hard, but I can't get a girl pregnant.
It's all those things that
you don't think about getting injured and all those things that happen after.
That's real life.
I deal with that.
[Bob] Barry and the magazine's understanding is look
life with spinal cord injury is life
life with disability is life.
So we're gonna cover all facets of it.
[Jennifer] How refreshing for people who thought
that part of their lives was over.
Dad brought it out into the open
he highlighted it, he addressed
the good, the bad, the ugly, and the beautiful
about sexuality when you're injured.
[Trevor] Alright so this is where I do my business.
This is an adaptive sex chair.
Basically I transfer in here and then I just go back and forth.
After my injury, not being able to ejaculate
like I used to… this like gets me
that feeling again and so…
the upholstery is a little, you know worn down.
[Trevor laughs]
I think I need to get this a little tightened, reupholstered.
[Trevor laughs]
It makes me feel like a man again
I'll tell you that.
[Roy] Spinal cord injuries there's
things that you're not prepared for.
And we'll just be honest, bowel and bladder are those.
[Dr. Butt] When people have injuries
at a certain level and above
they have dysfunction of their ability to control the flow of urine.
So it can occur at any time.
[Trevor] We're about to drop in on this little cliffy and
Light's a little flat but
just gonna punt her and feel her good.
[Trevor sighs] God I totally just pissed myself.
- [Producer chuckles] - [Trevor] I didn't mean to.
Okay. Three, two, one dropping!
[Producer] Drop!
[cheering]
[Bob] Accidents are gonna happen
and you have two choices.
It can be devastating, which it is.
It can also be a funny story later if you choose it.
[Trevor] Can you grab a catheter out of the zipper
in my GoPro backpack?
[Roy] If you're staying properly hydrated
that means you're gonna pee eight to twelve times a day.
[Producer] What are you doing over there Trevy?
[Trevor] Taking a pee.
- [Producer] Yeah? - [Trevor] Yeah.
[Producer] Why are you behind the dumpster?
[Trevor] 'Cause there's no bathroom I can get to.
[Roy] And every time you have to use a new catheter.
Every time that you want to go pee.
If you're paying out of pocket
a single catheter could cost you up to 18 dollars.
And so you could pay up to 250 dollars a day
just to go pee.
It's just, it's not fair.
[Trevor] Yo, you should take a picture of this
the tube hanging out.
[man chuckles] It's pretty full on, it's like--
[Trevor] It's just the truth. The hard truth of it.
[Dr. Butt] Barry talked about how a gal wrote to him
saying it was mind boggling to her
to even see advertisements
about bladder management and caths, catheters.
And how she felt that there truly was a community out there.
[Ashley] I didn't know anything about
using catheters, suppositories.
It is just, it's the simplest things
going to the bathroom is new.
It's hard… it takes forever.
It's not an easy road.
[Dr. Butt] A bowel program is a routine
hopefully each day around the same time.
[Roy] You have got to put on a rubber glove
take a suppository, put it up inside you
and then you've got to wait a minimum of an hour
to make sure that your bowels completely empty.
[Dr. Butt] People use what's called digital stimulation
where a finger is inserted around the anus
and it creates peristalsis and evacuation of the bowels.
It can be, in the beginning embarrassing
time consuming… it's one of the many
inconveniences inherent in the spinal injury.
[shower running]
[Bob] Learning how to live with a spinal cord injury
is like scuba diving the rest of your life.
Am I sitting on a soft cushion?
Is my bladder full?
You constantly have to check these things
that you can't feel.
[Trevor] Living with a spinal cord injury is hard.
I mean definitely I get isolated and I definitely have my ups and downs.
Seeing people going for hikes or doing anything like that
you know, sometimes it'll bum me out.
Sometimes I do wish like I could have that normalcy.
[Roy] Trev and I talk weekly a lot of times daily.
And you can tell when Trevor's off
because he becomes very silent.
And I think one of the things that
I really recognize is when Trevor's like that is like
we gotta get him back outside.
We gotta get him back out doing the things he loves.
[machinery operating]
We do some custom projects like Trevor
but for the most part we design skis for disabled skiers.
Help people get back on the mountain
or find it for the first time.
[Trevor] Dude so my idea is gonna be genius.
I'm telling you.
[Bobby] I kind of understood it on the phone which scares me.
[Trevor] I know right?
[Bobby] So we'll just tie like a
- [Bobby] Six inch pull loop so you can-- - [Trevor] Just something to my mouth.
[Bobby] To your mouth?
[Trevor] Dude, well here's the thing
if I do it to my hand--
[Bobby] Yeah you gotta be one handed coming in.
[Trevor] Right and I don't want to be doing that.
[Bobby] So you basically want this to your mouth?
Well that's what I'm saying, you know what I mean
we're adapting over here ok?
[engine starts]
[Bobby] Some skiers use a motorized winch
to get speed on flat ground.
Able bodied skiers use two hands to hold on to the rope
but Trevor needs his hands to hold on to his outriggers.
So we're building a quick release system to attach that rope to his sit ski.
[Trevor] And the string is like this short to release.
Does that make sense?
- [Bobby] All we can do is try. - [Trevor] Yeah.
[Bobby] We're in new territory.
[Drill sounds]
[Trevor] Okay you ready?
Dude this is exciting stuff.
[Producer] What's going on Trevor?
[Trevor] I'm sweating, I'm all nervous.
[Producer] You'ver never jumped over a couple fences before?
[Trevor] Nuh uh.
[Producer] Why are you gonna do this?
[Trevor] 'Cause it's never been done
and I want to.
I'm gonna get towed in
I'm gonna pull the quick release with my mouth
and then I'm gonna jump that jump
and then the landing's right there.
Even though I'm paralyzed, you know you only see
able bodied people hitting street or urban.
And you know, me being in a wheelchair it's like
"Oh wait, you even ski?"
And it's just funny 'cause people have no idea.
You know I just want to keep evolving it
and keep pushing the boundaries, and keep progressing
And I think this is one step in that direction.
[winch motor running]
[Trevor] Yeah Cody!
Woo!
[Trevor laughing]
[Producer] How does that look?
[music intensifies]
[Trevor] It's getting caught.
Yo this thing is getting caught.
Can we do this one more time?
[Trevor groans]
[man] Got it? Feeling good?
- [Trevor] Yeah. - [man] Yeah?
[Trevor] Okay. Just hold on as long as possible.
Hold on as long as possible baby.
[man] Here we go!
[muffled cheering]
[man] Holy cow, dude.
- [man] Trev that was fucking massive dog. - [Trevor] My fucking neck.
[Trevor] Honestly I just…
I know I have it, but I…
I don't know if my neck can handle another.
- [man 1] Yeah. - [man 2] For sure.
[Producer] Dude if you're not feeling it
the last thing I want you to do is go and try
[Trevor] I'm just pissed at myself
because I know I could have had it.
I know I just
I just know I could have had it, it just…
I'm not gonna be able to move my shoulder tomorrow morning.
[Roy] Is a sit ski meant to go upside down? No.
The purpose was to return people to skiing
not to go upside down
and flip a 50 pound piece of metal underneath you.
[Trevor] Last night at dinner
even like an hour after, I just couldn't really like
it just kept hurting and hurting.
I just literally cannot like lift my arm
it hurts so bad, right here on the
I think collarbone or shoulder, one or the other.
My shoulders are so important 'cause they're basically my feet.
And without them
I can't push my wheelchair so I can get around.
It's kind of wild when it's like
you're wheelchair bound and then you're just like
"Oh there goes one arm."
But transfer still independently, it's like
the rest of my, like half of my body doesn't work
now you're taking out another limb?
You know what I mean?
Then it's like dude
you're down to like one out of four working limbs.
It's definitely a wakeup call too I guess but
am I gonna stop doing what I'm doing? No.
[Bob] When I met Barry in the early '90s
his shoulders were already starting to go.
He was already starting to wear out.
[Dr. Butt] In his latter years
in spite of being in a power chair
he really was at peace with himself.
Not fighting the injury, fighting who he was
but… really so much more comfortable in his own personhood.
[Bob] Somewhere around 2003
Barry was diagnosed with bladder cancer.
The doctor told Barry
the toll it was gonna take.
That it was going to make his already frail body
much worse with the chemo.
And at that point, they knew it was pretty widespread.
He elected not to do further treatment.
And that was it.
Well…
What can I say?
I miss him… a lot.
You know meeting Barry
and going into business with him
and becoming close friends with him… is…
the highlight of my life.
He'd be pissed at me for crying.
Um… the wild thing is I got word of that
and about four days later my wife says
"You got this letter."
From Barry… startling… two weeks after his death.
[sniffles]
Okay. Dear friends
a very large part of my life is the friendships that develop over the years.
As many of you already know my life is now over.
The reason you're getting this letter is that
yours is… one of the friendships I've treasured
and I want you to know that.
[Dr. Butt] I'm a little saddened to be leaving a little earlier than expected.
but feel no sense of tragedy.
I've lived a lot longer than I ever could have or would have predicted
36 years ago after the helicopter crash.
I have no fears for my children
who are all embarked on their own roads
and doing it with astonishing style and grace.
[Bob] I've had love overflowing, impassioned careers
a life of adventure and everything I've ever wanted.
Nothing missed, no regrets.
[Dr Butt] My love to you all.
Signed, Barry.
Barry.
And that was him.
If I could have done it in his voice it would have been just casual
with kind of a smile in the background.
[Dr. Hornbein] In the obit that I wrote for The American Alpine Club Journal
I had to pause and wonder
what Barry's life might have been if he had not been paralyzed.
[Jennifer] Dad divided his life into two sections.
There was his first life which was pre accident
and his second life which was post-accident.
And wasn't until his later years
that he really considered it to be one life.
It was all as he would have said
"part and parcel of the same thing."
I did ask him one time which half of his life meant more to him.
And I mean he said it was the second half of his life.
He had learned so much and grown so much.
He gave hope to people with spinal cord injury
around the world and continues to.
He taught doctors, he taught insurance companies
he taught regular old people how to look at disability
in new ways that they'd never thought of.
[Muffy] It was never his goal to be a leader.
He became one.
The point for him was what he was doing.
He didn't announce himself as being a leader
follow me, but people did.
Among skiers, Barry's legacy lives in Corbet's Couloir.
But he left so much more behind.
[Jennifer] Ski The Outer Limits is so much about
pushing edges, and being willing to
reinvent things. And…
I think pushing limits was part of Dad's nature.
He really made people rethink disability
and I think the world will never be the same for that.
[Roger] Barry's legacy is taking a terrible accident and turning it into
a wonderful gift to everybody that has followed with a similar accident.
Giving them hope.
He gave them something they didn't have.
[Trevor sighs]
It's pretty crazy looking back at everything you know?
[sniffles]
I'm just so thankful to be where I am right now.
You don't know what you have until it's gone.
No one does.
But looking back on it
I'm injured and I'm in a wheelchair
and it's like dude, I do more than half the able bodied people do.
You know it is just it's a mentality.
It's just you go get stuff done.
I was definitely scared to come back here.
Very scared.
This place has taken so much away from me
and you know I want to come back here
I want to make myself whole again.
I want to close that circle
and make my heart not hurt anymore.
[Roy] Take that day that you had this injury
and then how do you grow from that?
What if you could get back to the sport you love in the place that changed your life forever?
How empowering could that be?
And I think that's just like
what Trevor took as an idea and took it to the highest level.
One of Trevor's biggest goals was to become the first person ever to land
a double backflip in a sit ski.
And Vail Pass was the place to do it.
[Olga] He said, "Mom…
this is…
my mountain. This is where I broke my back.
And I came back and I persevered… my injury.
I persevered what happened Mom.
I've accomplished…
and I'm back Mom.
I'm back."
[Olga] Nice job babe.
I'm proud of you.
[Trevor] Check the jump out Mom.
[Olga gasps] Oh my God.
Trevor… Jesus.
You've gotta be kidding me.
Where are you gonna land?
Oh my God Trevor… wow.
There's the jump… right there.
[Producer] Hey guys we're like two minutes out
from Trevor speed checking.
I'm gonna leave it up to you all to help Trevor get ready.
so I can shoot and get in position.
[Trevor] Push it in.
Alright, ready one, two, three.
[man] Where are you planning on taking off the lip?
When you hit it
where's your ideal spot you're looking to hit it doggy?
That's what I always like to do is pick out where I'm headed.
[Trevor] So I just have to be
when I come in, come in, come in… pop.
You know just pop and then just hold.
Once I see it, I just want to make sure I
[man] Have enough air time.
[Trevor] I will, I think I will but
I just wanna make sure you know?
[man] Boom yo! Yessir.
[Trevor] Alright, I'm ready for it dude.
[narrator] Your injury is an epic thing.
It reeks of mythic heroism.
Wanna be a hero?
The fact is you have little choice.
Having died to a portion of the past
having passed through the fires of initiation
and prevailed over all obstacles
the hero is ready to make visible his rebirth as a more complete being.
by returning to the world.
We are the twice born
we represent to humanity
its greatest fears of catastrophe
and its greatest hopes of transcendence.
We have embarked upon the hero's path and we have no choice.
To others, our transcendence is the proof
of our heroic energy and direction.
To ourselves… our energy and direction derive from the need to transcend
because there's no other way to survive.
[radio] Berman here can I get a status check?
Status check please.
[radio] Still holding up top.
[man] Just let me know when you're thirty or so out.
[Trevor] Alright.
[man] Ready?
30 seconds until drop
30 seconds then there'll be a five second countdown.
[Trevor exhales]
[man] You've got this dude.
Everybody is ready to go.
Everybody ready.
[radio] Copy.
[radio] Ready, ready, ready.
[radio] Ready down here.
[radio] Ready up here.
[man] Yeah brother.
Alright… dropping in five seconds.
Drop in five
- Four - [Trevor] Let's do this baby.
[man] Three, two, one, dropping in.
[upbeat instrumentals]
[man] Three, two, one…
[muffled cheering]
[heavy drums begin]
[Trevor cheers]
[Trevor] Let's go!
[cheering]
Oh my God.
Let's go!
Oh, let's go.
- [Trevor] Wow. - [Ashley] Nice job Trevy.
[Trevor] I may or may not have cried over there.
[Ashley] I'm so proud of you.
[Trevor] Oh my goodness.
Redemption Mom
- [Olga] Redemption. - [Trevor] Redemption.
[narrator] The last hot tip final admonishment
and parting shot.
Of course we don't often choose our adventures.
The best adventures befall us.
A parallel trick of living with a disability
is to see all and everything as an adventure.
One that endows every moment with all the most adventuresome qualities.
Uncertainty and risk, richness and joy
deliberation and daring.
We crystallize for ourselves and for others
the real fact and fear of calamity.
If we reinforce this image, we invite sympathy and sorrow.
If we proceed apace
we are inspirations… to everyone.
We should not be afraid to inspire.
The world needs it badly
and we need the experience of giving extravagantly.
Our gift to the world
is the world's gift… to us.
Everybody… able bodied and disabled alike
should take the money and run.
Barry Corbet, Lookout Mountain, Colorado 1980.
["Who I Am" playing]
♪ I am imaginary boundaries ♪
♪ I am peculiarly drawn ♪
♪ I am the cause for some discomfort ♪
♪ I am a need for public works ♪
♪ I need directions to the hospital ♪
♪ I need a 90's mini van ♪
♪ I need directions to the water ♪
♪ And I need a trailer in the sand ♪
♪ It's what I am ♪
♪ I am avoiding certain ironies ♪
♪ I am evolving in the night ♪
♪ I am awarding the authority ♪
♪ I am completely in the fight ♪
♪ I need a local anesthesia ♪
♪ I need a place to stay the night ♪
♪ I need an alternate reality ♪
♪And I need an incandescent light ♪
♪ I need a world that shows me ♪
♪ All of the reasons that it chose me ♪
♪ I need a world that shows me ♪
♪ All of the seasons of the old me ♪
♪ I need a world that shows me ♪
♪ A brand new way to give a damn ♪
♪ It's what I am ♪