Israeli veterans recover with Aspen ski vacation
- Details
- Created on Tuesday, 08 March 2011 16:44
- Written by Nathan
Photo by Nina Hawn Zale, Special to the Aspen Times
By STEWART OKSENHORN, THE ASPEN TIMES
ASPEN — The Hebrew language has no specific word for “skiing.” The word used — “golshim” — literally means “to slide,” and is also used to describe surfing, even surfing the Internet. Which does not mean skiing is nonexistent in Israel. Located in the country's extreme north is Mount Hermon — pitched as a “magical winter wonderland,” even if the snow is mostly ice, the lift lines are predictably long, and the roads to get to the slopes are usually clogged.
There is, though, a Hebrew word for tranquility — “shalva” — even if that state of mind can seem in even shorter supply in Israel than ski mountains. So a group of injured Israeli veterans came to Aspen this past week in search of world-class skiing, and just as significant, a break from the place where they suffered their injuries and the routine of recovering from them. For the fourth winter, Aspen's Chabad Jewish Community Center, assisted by UJA Aspen Valley, Challenge Aspen and a group of local volunteers, is hosting Golshim L'Chaim — “Skiing for Life.” This year, the program brought eight disabled Israeli vets to the valley for adventure on the slopes, as well as bowling, dinner parties and more. A three-person crew from Israel has been in town to film the events.
Among the vets in Aspen is Shahaf Segal. In January 2009, a 20-year-old combat medic at the time, Segal was shot while fighting in the Gaza War between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. Trying to recover the body of his sergeant, Segal was shot in the arm and had several major bones shattered. In addition to the physical effort to save his arm — “The doctor told me he had to cut off my arm. I said, ‘You cut off my arm, I'll cut off your head,'” he said — Segal has had to fight for his peace of mind.
“From the second you're injured, your mind goes, thoughts, thoughts, thoughts,” Segal, who still his arm, though with diminished use, said of his anxious state.
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