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“photo submitted
ALL HIS EREFOR ET concentrated on leaning into the tucn) one legged shiracer Phil Chew shows his winning style

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Disabled skier
a winner

IN A MODEST bachelor apartment near the foot
of Lonsdale Avenue, lives a North Vancouver man
who may some day become a world ski champion.

His name is Phil Chew and
if you’ve never heard of him,
here’s a hint as to the likely
reason why: He often refers
to other skiers as ‘‘ten-toed
freaks’.

You see, Phil Chew does
his skiing on one Jeg.

Chew is one of the many
top-calibre athletes in and
around Vancouver such as
wheel chair marathoner Rick
Hansen and blind swimmer
Yvette Michel who toil in
relative obscurity because
they are disabled.

The problem has to do
with a lack of consciousness
on the part of the general
public, says the 32-year-old
Chew, who lost his right leg
to cancer at the age of 25.

‘“‘The image of the poor
disabled skier is still pretty set
in people’s minds, although
the attitude is slowly starting
to change,’’ he says. ‘‘I still
get people coming up to me
at parties saying how
wonderful it is that I’m out
there participating. They
don’t realize | could ski them
off the hill any day of the
week!’

Chew isn't boasting, he's

IM JAMIESON

merely stating a fact.

During the season, Chew
trains with the Whistler (able-
bodied) ski team and has no
trouble keeping up with any
one of those ‘‘ten-toed
freaks’’. In fact, Whistler
director of skiing Dave Mur-
ray — the former national
team racer and ‘‘Crazy
Canuck’’ — recently said of
Chew: ‘‘Without a doubt,
he’s one of the most ag-
gressive skiers I’ve ever met.
He's a natural athlete and has
a lot of guts. Now that he’s
getting his technique down
and is more consistent, he has
the potential to win it all.’’

‘AMP’ is the world disabled
skiing championships, held
every two years and Chew is
in an excellent position to
challenge for that title. In on-
ly his fourth full year of com-
petition, the former tugboat
worker had a breakthrough
year on the slopes in 1984.
After showing flashes of

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