We were lucky to catch up with Carley Turner recently and have shared our conversation below.

Carley, appreciate you joining us today. We’re complete cheeseballs and so we love asking folks to share the most heartwarming moment from their career – do you have a touching moment you can share with us?

There is! Fortunately, in my field, there are many each day. One that will always stick in my head was the day I was with a little boy with down syndrome during my first year of teaching. He had been to the top of the chair lift before, knew how to make his turns with assistance, and was so excited to ride it. However, we got to the top, and he broke down. He was scared, nervous, and refused to move from his spot. My volunteer and I sat there with him for an hour, trying to encourage him that he could do it. The chairlift just kept going around and around the entire time we were sitting there.

His mom came up with her friend, and helped reassure him with a friendly face and kind heart. With her help and lots of teamwork, we all started to help him slide down the mountain on his skis. But, the coolest part aside form him overcoming his fear and nerves, were the people around us. Everyone had seen us by the chair lift for the past hour, and once they saw we were going down and he was smiling, everyone started to cheer. The entire slope was routing for him. That is the only time I have ever seen all-mountain support like that in my career. It made the boy so excited, and put smiles on all of our faces. Skiing is a team sport, and the team definitely came through that day!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Carley Turner, and I have been in the adaptive sports field since I was 16. I began volunteering with a program in Phoenix, Loving Connections, in high school and fell in love with working with people with disabilities. Then, when I moved up to Flagstaff for College, I discovered Northern Arizona Adaptive Sports Association (NAASA), an organization that provided ski lessons to those with disabilities. I figured that volunteering was one of my passions and skiing was another, so I would give it a shot and combine the two!! Well, let’s just say it all worked out…I changed my major to Parks and Recreation Management and Administration with an emphasis in Outdoor Education, and have been with the program since! I began leading lessons that first year, and five years later am now leading the winter programming! I believe that I am meant to be teaching, and teaching skiing has provided me with a way to make one of the things that I am personally most passionate about, accessible to everyone.

We have also made the transition from NAASA into High Country Adaptive Sports, and provide skiing, mountain biking, rock climbing, and kayaking to those with any kind of disability! Throughout the winter, we provide group and individual Adaptive Ski and Snowboard lessons, including the disciplines of two track skiing, three track skiing, four track skiing, snowboarding, Tetra skiing, Bi-Skiing, and Mono-skiing. There is something for everyone. We have a variety of equipment and experience to accommodate any participant and promote the most independence as possible. During the summer months, we offer various excursions in climbing, biking and kayaking, all within our own backyard. We also hold a variety of events around the state in partnership with other adaptive recreation partners. There are scholarships available year round to promote athlete participation.

I have been so grateful to watch the growth of our staff, students, volunteers, and overall programming over these past five years! I am so proud of our talented instructors providing safe, effective, and impactful lessons to everyone, and showing the world their compassion as they do so! We are a true community here, and it has been an incredible journey to see the impacts that our community can have around Arizona.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

I believe the most successful people, in any field, are with care and concern for the people around them. Staff, students, volunteers alike. That’s what it’s all about! If you don’t prioritize the staff/volunteers, who will provide the successful lessons for your students? And if you don’t do everything with the students’ safety and benefit in mind, then how will the program succeed? We strive to create a community where are staff, volunteers, and students feel cared for, valued, empowered, autonomous, and happy; and it has made the world of difference in the work environment for our organization, and in turn, the success of our students. Success is any industry is just about caring for people!

If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?

I would 100000% choose the same career path. Throughout my career, I have met the most incredible people, and their families, who have taught me life-long lessons and have helped me develop into the person I am today. It has shown me the importance of connecting with people around you, and sharing the things you love most with anyone you can. Not to mention, it’s all so fun and I get to be outdoors!

Contact Info:

• Website: highcountryadaptive.org
• Instagram: @highcountry_adaptive
• Facebook: High Country Adaptive Sports
• Linkedin: High Country Adaptive Sports
• Youtube: High Country Adaptive Sports
• Other: HCAS Athlete or Volunteer portal link: https://HCAS.accountsx.com

Image Credits
HCAS Volunteers and Staff took all photos.