Founding winter 2026–27
Adaptive alpine skiing is an important founding initiative and a community gap Marquette Adaptive is working to close. The broader mission is year-round adaptive outdoor recreation throughout Marquette County.
Adaptive alpine equipment chosen from actual needs and qualified guidance — not from whatever a sponsor is willing to buy. Before anything is acquired we know who will use it, who can instruct with it, and how it will be maintained, insured, stored, and transported.
Enclosed equipment storage and a safe towing solution, sized from real loaded weights rather than preference. This is program transportation infrastructure, and it's a founding partnership opportunity.
General skiing experience is not adaptive-ski qualification. We invest in adaptive-specific training with qualified professionals: equipment, transfers, tethering, lift procedures, communication, participant-centered instruction, and emergency procedures.
Insurance and risk management are hard launch gates. Waivers, intake, assessment, incident reporting, equipment inspections, instructor assignment, and weather procedures must be in place before any participant programming, and appropriate professionals review them. Recreation always carries risk; our goal is responsible risk management, not a promise that it disappears. Safety beats schedule.
Our first-winter target is approximately 10–20 funded adaptive alpine experiences. The first year stays small on purpose so we can optimize for safety, quality, joy, participant experience, instructor development, and community trust.
Alongside alpine, we bring resources behind adaptive programs already creating positive impact — adaptive Nordic skiing is an important early opportunity. Their program, their expertise, more resources behind them.
Before we launch anything
If funding, qualified local delivery, or independent leadership isn't there, we don't launch it yet. That discipline keeps the work from becoming dependent on one founder or one ski program.
Program ownership test
Whether you're a potential participant or family, an instructor, an existing program, or a business that wants to help fund the founding winter — we'd like to hear from you.
Current status: In development. Adaptive Alpine is not operating yet — no lessons are scheduled.