June 24, 2022 • 45 mins
Tyler Carter is a 3x Team USA Paralympian who competed in Alpine Skiing. Tyler is a Berks County native, growing up in Reading, PA! After competing in three different Paralympics, we are thrilled to hear Tyler's perspective on disability and accessibility--not only in competitive sports--but in all activities across the globe.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Intro (00:02):
Welcome to Disability Talks, a podcast produced by
Abilities in Motion.
I'm your host, Ed Granger.
Join us to encounter uniqueperspectives on accessibility
and independence, and to hearstories from everyday people
living their most independenteveryday lives, where essential
conversations find their place.
Let's talk.
Ed (00:24):
Today, I'm honored to be speaking with Tyler Carter a
three time US Paralympian inAlpine skiing, who was actually
born right here in Reading, PA.
Tyler had the honor of carryingthe United States flag at the
opening ceremonies of theBeijing Paralympics in February.
Tyler currently lives inColorado Springs, Colorado,
where among other activities hedoes public speaking and
promotes an active and healthylifestyle.
(00:44):
Tyler, welcome to DisabilityTalks.
Tyler (00:47):
Thanks Ed.
It's really great to be here.
Ed (00:49):
So let's, let's just start out with that, uh, being chosen
to carry the flag in Beijing.
Talk a little bit about what anhonor that was and how that came
about.
Tyler (00:56):
Oh my goodness.
That was such a crazyexperience.
Um, a true honor, honestly.
Uh, you know, I think a lot ofathletes will dream about it.
It's like beyond their wildestdreams with they're like, oh, I
would be so cool to be flagbearer and to be able to do that
at opening ceremonies, I mean,oh my goodness, capping off my
career ending, you know, thislong, crazy journey carrying in
(01:20):
the flag, bringing in our team,like it's hard to explain how
special of a moment that was.
And opening ceremonies issomething that most athletes
will look at as like theirfavorite moment of the games.
Just one of the, you know,things that brings it all
together, unless you, you win amedal and to be able to do that,
it just, oh my, my goodness.
I I'm still excited.
I still get chills thinkingabout that moment.
Ed (01:42):
So, um, that story started, as we mentioned, you were you're
from Reading originally and yougrew up in Topton, PA.
That's not exactly a skiingMecca.
So how did, uh, how did TylerCarter and skiing come together
to form this, uh, amazingrelationship?
Tyler (01:56):
A lot of luck and random circumstances, I would say, but
no, like going more into that.
I started skiing at Camel backin the Poconos, through the
Pennsylvania Center for AdaptedSports.
Um, you know, I can credit themor my parents would say blame
them.
and all joke.
You know, an all joking ofgetting me into skiing, uh, went
(02:16):
to a, learn to ski camp for kidswith physical disabilities when
I was eight, fell in love withit.
And it just blew from there.
I was eventually recruited bythe National Sports Center for
the disabled out of Winter Park,Colorado, where I would train,
um, to get more into that racingside.
But, you know, I, I grew up inthe Reading area, grew up there,
(02:36):
grew up skiing Camelback, and,um, Bear Creek was kind of a
local 15 minutes from my housewhere, where I'd spend some time
when I was in school, but itjust skiing was such a cool
thing.
I mean, it allowed me to go outto hurl myself down these
mountains.
No one really knew or focused onthat.
I was missing a leg.
Cause I skied with both, both ofmy legs or skied with my skiing
(02:57):
prosthesis, but it just, it wassuch a different experience than
anything else.
I had the opportunity to checkout or try at that point.
And I just knew it was somethingspecial and eventually grew a
lot more than just me, you know,skiing for fun into, you know,
turning into a, I'd say an okayracer, you know, somewhat decent
.
Ed (03:16):
It sounds like you were a, a kid who was active.
Right.
So the skiing was that becamethe passion, but you were, uh,
sounds like you were active inother sports and other
activities at the time.
Tyler (03:25):
Yeah, I, I tried a lot of different things, thankfully
skiing stuck, but um, I triedswimming a little bit terrible
swimmer.
I mean, I can, you know, swimwell enough so that I don't, you
know, sink, but I, that is notmy forte.
Thank goodness that wasn't thesport I decided to pick up
because man that would be kindof a miserable to watch me try
to try to swim at the games.
You know, I biked a little bitjust for fun, like around with
(03:48):
friends, did basketball,hand-eye coordination with ball
sports, not really my thing.
So again, you know, that onedidn't stick too much, um,
skateboarded for a little bit,but I preferred the, the two
different boards for me, I'ddance for 10 years, which was
kind of fun.
I always joked, it was fun beingthe only guy in a class of all
girls, but you know, it was justa fun way to be active and move.
(04:10):
And I'd say the only other sportthat kind of connected as
closely to skiing was tennis.
I had a lot of fun and mostlycuz of how athletic you have to
be like any sport, you have tobe athletic, but there's so much
moving around in tennis that I,I really enjoyed that.
But again, skiing had my heartand passion and through all
these, you know, I love beingactive.
I love being outside and kind oftesting my body in different
(04:31):
ways.
But skiing was the one that waslike, yeah, this is, this is
kinda cool.
And I, I think there's somethinghere.
Ed (04:36):
So it sounds like your family was pretty involved in
the start of your career, youknow, making that happen.
And I know families know,parents are always thrilled when
their kids pick up a sport thatinvolves expensive equipment.
So you, you check, you checkedoff that box for them, but you
know, talk a little bit abouthow, how much of a support that
was for you in, you know,getting you launched here.
Tyler (04:54):
Yeah.
I, there's no way I could havemade it this far without my
family's support.
And, and so many others.
I mean, it, it really is a teameffort to get anyone to the
Olympics or Paralympics.
Um, it doesn't matter if you'rea team sport or individual
sport, you know, I always jokehow all of this started.
My parents wanted me out of thehouse for a week cuz it was a
stay away from home camp.
And I always joke that, youknow, it's, it's their fault.
(05:17):
If they ever blamed about theexpenses, they sent me away from
home for a week and I fell inlove with skiing, but I mean,
they've, they've always had myback whenever, you know, I, I
wanted to do something when Isaid, Hey, I think there's
something here.
Hey, I got invited to this racecamp, Hey, I wanna go to the
Paralympics.
They never said no.
There were a few times theymight have like given me a
little bit of a look like, okay,like you're just from, you know,
(05:40):
this kid from Reading, PAthere's not a lot of snow and
you wanna go to Colorado to raceand try to go to the
Paralympics, but they've always,they've always had my back and
full support and you know, I, I,I, there's no way I could've
done it without them.
And something that I reallycredit them and I'm thankful for
is they were supportive, butthey also knew where they needed
to step back and kind of let me,you know, develop and learn
(06:04):
things on my own.
You know, they weren't superlike helicopter, like over me,
you know, every little moment,like they let me make small
mistakes on my own.
They let me enjoy the victories,the losses and, and just be
there when they, when I wasneeded them, when truly it was
something that, you know, theyhad to do.
And I, I really respect and, andgrateful for that, cuz that I
(06:25):
think turned me into who I amtoday for better or worse.
Ed (06:29):
You started out doing sports for fun.
You're active, you're a kidgetting out there doing things
you find out that, Hey, I reallylove just flying downhill fast
as I can on skis.
But you know, being a seriousathlete, there's a transition to
like doing the serious trainingand you know, those mornings
when you get up and maybe youyou'd rather do something else,
uh, you know, and, and not traintalk a little bit about how you
made that transition from beingsomeone who did something for
(06:51):
fun to taking it reallyseriously and really putting in
the time and effort to be thebest you could be at it.
Tyler (06:57):
Yeah, absolutely.
Every athlete has thattransition.
I've always said for me, I needto be having fun in whatever I'm
doing.
That's first and foremost, themost important thing, but there
does come a time where it's notjust a hobby, then it's more of
a it's work.
It's, you know, it's your job,your full time thing that you
need to work on.
And I'd say my shift came around2010 when I went to Vancouver to
(07:20):
spectate the Paralympics.
And that was an eye openingexperience.
Seeing the level you could getto in, um, you know, not just
sports, but like, you know, inlife, like that's just such an
incredible point.
You know, the second biggest, uh, sporting event in the world.
And, um, being there at openingceremonies, watching from the
(07:41):
stadium, watching team USA marchin, I said to myself, I'm gonna
do this one day.
I'm I'm gonna be one of thoseathletes.
I'm gonna be on that team.
And from then that's where theshift happened.
It wasn't just a hobby.
It was something I still love todo, but it was my life.
It was my work.
And every decision I made fromthat night on, I thought, how is
that going to get me onto theteam and always make the right
(08:04):
decision.
But I always had that thoughtprocess.
I was like, okay, if I skip thisworkout, if I eat, you know,
this whole cake, well, I'mprobably gonna eat the whole
cake anyway, but how is thatgonna affect my training the
next day or my performance andthat mindset and attitude?
I, I definitely think helped methrough the next four years and
making my first Paralympic teamin Sochi, but I always had this
(08:27):
idea that I need to be havingfun.
And then I need to becompetitive.
Those are the two rules for whenI started this, that I was gonna
compete as long as those twowere true.
Um, and I'm, I'm happy to saythat that was a hundred percent
that that's how, how the careerwent living up to those two and
then ready to move on when, whenthose two stopped being, you
know, a thing.
Ed (08:48):
So Camelback was about the fun and then the training, the
serious training starts talk alittle bit about how the
opportunity to do that serioustraining, uh, having the, the
coaching and the support.
How did that sort of alltranspire and come about?
Tyler (09:01):
Yeah, absolutely.
So, I mean, love, you know,growing up in Pennsylvania was
great, um, awesome supportsystem there, a lot of full
people and it really is a prettyarea.
Like when you get up intomountains, just great area to
be, but I knew that I had tostart coming out west.
I had to be in Colorado wherethe snow was more consistent,
where there was, you know, moreHills or mountains to ski.
(09:22):
Like you really just had to gowhere racing was central.
Like that's, that's the hub for,for all, you know, Alpine skiing
in the US.
And once I made that transition,I started coming out and we
took, you know, ski racing a lotmore seriously.
I still loved it.
It was still fun, but you know,it was early morning sessions.
It was making sure we were, youknow, warmed up properly
(09:43):
prepared getting our gym time in, uh, you know, making sure the
equipment was well maintained,you know, tuning the skis,
waxing them, all that, learningthose early on in my career.
It's, you know, it really is afull time job being an athlete.
It takes everything out of youevery, every little bit.
You have to put into it so thatyou can hopefully find that
success or put yourself in thebest position so that you can,
(10:06):
you know, accomplish yourdreams.
And, um, that shift coming outto Colorado, that was, that was
kind of the big, like, all right, we are serious now.
We're still gonna have fun, butthis is, this is, you know,
real, real business.
We're if I wanna make it to theParalympics, I have to do
everything I possibly can.
I need to be where the bestcoaches are.
I need to be where the bestskiing is.
And that really set me up, um,for the future years.
(10:29):
And I fell in love withColorado.
No offense to Pennsylvania, love, love visiting my family there,
but Colorado now has my heart.
It, it just, it it's a wholedifferent world and there's no
humidity.
Thank goodness I, the humiditykills me.
I, I would come back toPennsylvania way more often if
it wasn't for the humiditythere.
Ed (10:47):
And, and the mountains are a little bit bigger than they are
up in the, up in the Poconos.
Tyler (10:50):
Just a little bit.
Ed (10:52):
Slight, slightly bigger.
Yep.
And, uh, you know, so the, soyou're in, you're now you now
you're doing the serioustraining.
Can you talk a little bit aboutwhat that training regimen, uh,
looked like and how it workeditself out for someone with your
specific disability?
Tyler (11:05):
Yeah, absolutely.
So it depended on what type ofthe season we're in.
Are we in the, like on snow, youknow, our important part of the
year, or are we in our offseason where we're doing, you
know, we don't have theopportunity to be on snow as
much.
We're doing more dry land, gymwork.
So it all starts with that offseason training.
You have to build thatfoundation so that when, once
(11:27):
you're on snow, your body'sready.
You have that endurance builtup, you have that strength, so
you can make it through allthose training sessions and
those crazy forces you get whileyou're skiing.
So that involves a lot oflifting.
I mean, skiing is a powerful,explosive sport.
So a lot of lifting there, youknow, as I like to joke, picking
heavy things up and putting themdown, um, is a big part of what
(11:48):
we do.
Um, but there's also anendurance component and not
endurance in terms of like doinga triathlon, but our races only
last, maybe a minute and a halfor so.
But you, for that minute and ahalf, you have to be on, there
is no letting off the gas.
There is no, like you can't takea break, you can't stop how to
sip of water.
Like you're, you're on, you know, going 60 plus sometimes 80
(12:10):
miles hour down this icy hill,there is no room for error.
So we do a lot of explosive typelike hit training.
I don't love cardio.
Uh, it's not really my thing.
I'd rather have to pick upreally heavy weights than spin
on a bike for 30 or moreminutes.
But we do a lot of intervaltraining as well.
So short spurts, you know,you're on for like 15, 30
(12:33):
seconds, maybe a minute.
And then you have a, a, thatlong of a recovery break and you
keep doing that.
So that's a huge part of it.
So we spend the summer get allstrong, get our endurance up,
we're all ready to go.
Now the fun stuff starts.
That's when we get on snow,that's when we start our
training.
Now we might have some summercamps where we get to travel to
be on snow, whether, um, it'sfurther out west, you, they have
(12:56):
longer seasons in like Oregonand California.
You can go to a few resortsthere that you can ski into
July, maybe August, if you'relucky, we go to Europe quite a
bit for early season training,cuz they have glaciers there.
So you can see almost year round, but once you're in season,
that's where the fun begins.
That's when we're like, okay,time to ramp things up.
You know, we're training five,six days a week.
(13:18):
We're on the snow.
We sometimes have two sessions aday.
Sometimes one, if we're havingtwo sessions, they might be a
little bit on the shorter endfor both sessions with a good
lunch break.
If it's one, it's one prettylong session.
And each day we have a differentfocus.
Uh, some days it's all aboutgetting as many runs possible
and you want it to be goodquality runs.
But honestly at the end day, youknow, you have a set number that
(13:39):
you're like, okay, I want to get10 runs in on the course.
And you're gassed at the end,that's it you're done.
You're exhausted.
But you're building up thatvolume, getting that endurance
up.
That's usually early season aswe go more later season, then
we're trying to do quality.
So we might do a double sessionor one session and only get
three or four runs in, in eachsession.
(13:59):
But those runs need to bequality.
We need to be firing like we'rein our race mode, our race
mentality and making sure that,you know, every turn counts,
then you have lunch.
At some point you tune yourskis, get'em all prepped, do a
recovery gym workout, maybe alift here or there to maintain
that strength.
And then you sleep.
I do a lot of sleeping duringthat season nap in the midday,
(14:20):
if I can, and then early to bed,cuz sometimes I'd be getting up
before 5:00 AM for training orgym stuff, um, in the season.
And that does wear on you.
If you don't get your sleep,that's, I'm not a fun person to
be around if I'm hungry or if Idon't get my sleep, I feel like
everyone's that way.
But I'm especially notorious forthat.
Ed (14:38):
It doesn't sound like you would've had a lot of time to
eat an entire cake based on thatschedule anyway.
So maybe you're too busy to eatthe whole thing.
Tyler (14:45):
Ah, yeah.
Only half.
.
Ed (14:47):
So it, I, I know I read online that your, uh,
Paralympics is a little bitdifferent in the sense that
they're differentclassifications, uh, and your
classification it says is LW4.
So talk a little bit about whatthat means and how that works in
the context of the kind ofracing that you do.
Tyler (15:01):
Absolutely.
That brings us to the biggestdifference between the Olympics
and Paralympics, uh,Paralympics, meaning they are
parallel to the Olympics, butParalympics obviously are for
athletes with a physicaldisability or visual impairment.
So how they go about that is,each sport's a little different,
but generally they look at yourdisability and your classified
(15:21):
based on that, think of it aslike a golf handicap, basically.
So most sports, the moredisabled you are or the more
severe your disability that willhave your time or your score
adjusted because of that.
So I like to think of it as inour, in our world.
You know, if you have a moresevere disability, the clock's
gonna run a little bit slowerfor you just to make up that
(15:44):
difference.
And so me being an LW4 in Alpineskiing, uh, that I'm at the kind
of lower end of the spectrumwhere like, even though I'm
missing, um, half my leg, myfoot compared to others, it's
not really as severe.
So I don't have a whole big ofan adjustment over my, um, time.
However, it is much more thansomeone that's just missing
(16:05):
their hand.
Um, in Alpine skiing you have avisually impaired division, a
standing division and sittingdivision.
So I'm only competing againstthe standing athletes for a
medal.
However, when we're looking atour all over score, it's about
the fastest male or fastestfemale.
So fast snow could be visuallyimpaired standing or sitting.
(16:27):
And then when we're trying toget our results in terms of
ranking, that's how we'relooking at.
It's a little confusing,sometimes a little complicated,
but hopefully that's somewhatsimplified enough that it makes
sense to everyone listening, butclassification like it, it is a
very complex system.
I always say, you know, itworks.
Is it perfect?
Not really, but it's verychallenging when you have all
(16:49):
these different athletes withdifferent disabilities coming in
and you, and I mean, at the endof the day, they wanna make it
as fair as possible foreveryone.
And I think they are doing theirbest to make that happen.
And there's really no easy wayto do it.
So it, it works for ourpurposes.
Ed (17:04):
A and your, your specific disability is something you've
been, you know, it's, you grewup with it.
Right.
So share a little bit about like, I, I think it's called fibular
hemimelia.
If I remember correctly, how didI do with the pronunciation?
I, I worked on it a little bit.
Tyler (17:18):
That was pretty.
That was pretty spot on.
I liked it.
Good job.
Ed (17:21):
So talk a little bit about that specific, you know,
condition.
Tyler (17:24):
Yeah.
So basically I was born withoutmy fibula and when I was one, I
had my foot amputated, supersimple.
It's not that exciting of astory.
I've been like this my wholelife.
You know, I always say I'm, I'mgrateful that I've grown up with
this.
Uh, just because it's all Iknow.
I don't know any other world.
I don't, you know, know anyother life.
I just know being an amputeegrowing up with it since I was
(17:46):
one, uh, below the knee amputee,sometimes there are challenges
sometimes there aren't, but atthe end of the day, I'm just
trying to live, you know, mylife.
I don't wanna say normal lifecuz I don't, what, what is
normal?
Like I don't know that anyoneis, you know, normal.
It doesn't, you know, it's not athing to me.
So just go out, live my life,have fun, be active, all that
good jazz.
(18:06):
But yeah, it's just, it's beenpart of me, my, my whole life.
And I think, you know, everyonehas something going on.
It doesn't matter if it'sphysical, if it's mental, if
it's something that, you know,you don't talk about or you
can't see, everyone's got stuffgoing on in life, maybe it's
just stress.
But at the end of the day, it'swhat you have and how you deal
with it.
I always say, you know, youcan't control the hand.
You're dealt, you can controlhow you play with your cards now
(18:28):
I'm not a gambler.
So I don't, hopefully that's,that's kind of how it works, but
that's how I've always looked atit, but it's just, you know, go
out, do what makes you happy?
Live your life, have fun with italong the way.
Um, I think that's, that's themost important thing.
So yeah, you know, I've grown upmy whole life missing my leg
amputee, but that doesn't definewho I am.
(18:49):
It's what I do.
And it's, you know, therelationships I make with
people, the, you know,positivity, I try to put out in
the world, that's what matters
Ed (18:58):
Now for people who, who don't maybe follow Alpine
skiing.
I have a list here of thevarious disciplines that you
have competed in or compete in.
I am a fan of Alpine skiing.
So I've heard of, of these havea little bit of idea of, of
what, what that involves, but,um, maybe you can explain, you
have the slalom, the giantslalom, downhill, super G and
(19:20):
super combined.
So how would you, uh, to, tosomeone who is, who is not, not
familiar with that or, or, uh,isn't familiar with watching it
happen, how would you describethe differences between those
and what's kind of involved asan athlete?
What kind of, uh, things youhave to do to be successful at
those?
Tyler (19:36):
Yes.
There is so many differences inAlpine skiing with the different
disciplines.
I like to say, you look at itkind of on two ends of the
spectrum, you have downhill onone slalom on the other downhill
is the fastest event.
I mean, you are, you know, goinglike straight down the hill, you
are technically turning, but youturn with the hill.
I mean, it is big, fast loopyturns.
(19:59):
Um, and sometimes you'recatching air over, over jumps.
Sometimes you're not, um,honestly that's the most fun
event.
I love that event.
It's definitely one of myfavorites and you move down a
little bit and you have thesuper G uh, super G has a little
bit more turning to it, but it'sstill very fast.
Um, I'd say super, G's probablymy favorite event, mostly cuz
that's the one I've had the mostexperience in and um, just, I
(20:22):
like downhill.
I'm crazy, but I'm also not ascrazy as some of the other
athletes.
I can just go like full flyingdown with no regards to safety.
I, I like to be just a littlebit more in speed check.
So super dues, a little betterfor me.
Then you move to the giantslalom, which is, um, getting
into our technical events.
So you have your speed events,downhill, super giant slalom,
(20:44):
slalom, the technical events,giant slaloms, more like if
you've ever like been on a skihill, it's kind of like a medium
size turn.
You know, you're just kind ofcruising through.
You can get some high speeds,but it's pretty mellow, nice,
easy distance.
Um, if you are a skier andyou've ever gone to the NATAR
hut done the like little NASTARdual racing courses, that's a
(21:05):
little more of a giant long typeof event.
Then you move to slalom, whichhas been my nemesis.
Most of my career, even though Ihave I've done it most of my
career, we, we didn't really getalong too often, but it is a
single pull versus where youhave downhill, super gene giant.
So where it's two poles with apanel or flag in between them.
And you're knocking down thatsingle pole in slalom.
(21:27):
So, um, everyone asks, do youhave to touch the gates?
None of the events you have totouch the gates, but it's all
about picking that fastest linefrom top to bottom.
So usually it involves goingthrough the gates, Slalom,
you're knocking them down.
Um, it is very quick turns, verylike high paced, you know,
speeds are down, but you aremoving really quick back and
forth.
(21:48):
Um, and it's that quick patternthat I always struggled with
because I like to hold onto thatturn.
I like to build up the speed andlet the edges go and catapult
myself into the next one.
I'm making gestures with myhand, like moving, moving
around, but it just, I, I lovegoing fast and making those big
loopy turns.
Slalom and I, we didn't alwaysget along, but it definitely is
a very technical and fun eventto watch.
(22:10):
Now I did leave out one that isthe super combined and super
combined takes a run of super Gand a run of and slalom and puts
them together.
And I love super combined races,but I, but that's because of the
super G once we get to theslalom component, I'm always
like, eh, we'll see whathappens.
Um, more often than not, I, Ididn't end up finishing the
(22:31):
slalom part just because we, wedid have a, it's not even a
love, hate relationship.
It's really a hate, haterelationship between me and
slalom, but it's always been myattitude mentality, go out and
give it your best.
And you know, whether I crossthe finish line, I don't,
whether I'm in first or last, aslong as I put out my best
effort, that's what matters atthe end of the day.
So there's your crash course inski racing.
(22:52):
Um, there will be a test later.
Uh, we'll, we'll check in onyou- no I'm joking.
But hopefully that at least, youknow, enlightens, y'all a little
bit about it, cause it is, it'ssuch a fun sport and there's so
many different dynamics goingon.
I know Ed you're, you're a bigfan of it.
So it's a lot of fun to watch.
I, I think to do,
Ed (23:08):
And I watched hours and hours of Paralympic, uh,
coverage, which, uh, wasavailable.
So it did enjoy of coursewatching the, the Alpine skiing.
It's always been one of myfavorite events since watching,
uh, Franz Klammer for Austria in1976 with his, uh, his famous
run.
So I've always been followingit.
How common is it for peoplethough, to, to do all of the
different disciplines?
I mean, obviously some peopleare, or a lot of people are
(23:29):
gonna gravitate more towardssort of the technical end of the
spectrum or the speed end of thespectrum.
Do most skiers do, do the whole,uh, the whole range or is that
unusual?
Tyler (23:37):
Yeah, so kind of in early on in your career, you're gonna
start with the tech events andthen you start dabbling in the
speed.
Um, just because it's easier tolearn the tech events, the speed
requires a lot more experienceand strength and also craziness
in you, but you get to a pointafter you've dabbled both that
most athletes will gravitatetowards one or the other.
(23:59):
Um, I started as a tech skierand early in my career always
wanted to be a speed skier andkind of finish my career as a
speed skier.
Um, doing those the downhill insuper G, but I'd say every
athlete, um, unless they'rereally like adverse to speed,
they really don't want to do itwill dabble in both.
And then you kind of figure outwhat, which one is your, you
know, preferred or which one youclick with.
(24:22):
And then you're going spend moreof your time training on that
because I never was a slalomskier didn't really get along
with it.
I actually didn't train muchslalom at all.
And then I eventually stoppedracing it in general just
because we, we, it just, wasn'twhere I wanted to put my energy
or time training.
Cause you think there's, youknow, four main events, five, if
you count the super combined.
And if you're trying to trainfor four events, um, you know,
(24:44):
five, maybe five days a weekthat doesn't give you a lot of
time to focus and specialize.
So a lot of the top athletes outthere will focus on a couple of
those and then, um, maybe dabbleon the rest, but really have
their priority.
Ed (24:56):
So, uh, Camelback is where, uh, you get bit by the skiing
bug and then Vancouver's whereyou get bit by the Olympic bug.
So, uh, take us the rest of theway to your, uh, first Olympics
in 2014.
Tyler (25:06):
Yeah, absolutely.
So first games, um, made theteam 2014, uh, Paralympics
Sochi, Russia.
And that was crazy.
Like that was, I was not on thenational team at that point.
So I spent those four yearsgrinding, working really hard
just to make that team kind ofwalked onto it.
I honestly didn't know I wasgoing until like two weeks
before the game started.
(25:27):
That's when I got the call thatI'd made the team, we're one of
an experience, like almost allgood things to say.
I went in not really being supercompetitive, but that was kind
of the plan I was going in toget that experience, to
understand what I was doing and,and, um, you know, get that kind
of first games jitters out ofthe way.
And four years later make, youknow, the national team in that,
(25:47):
in that time span and get somesupport, some extra fun day, I'm
ready, I'm prepared.
I'm like, okay, I have been tothe games before.
I know what to expect.
Let's go in and, you know, likestart, you know, putting our
name out there and, and being alittle more competitive.
That was a plan.
That was the idea did notexactly go that way, but you
know, when does life ever goexactly how you, you expect it
(26:09):
to.
Um, in my best event, the giantslalom at that time, I actually
crashed in my second run.
Unfortunately I can joke aboutit now, but at the time it, it
was definitely a, a bitter, uh,feeling and, you know, it was
tough.
It was tough to swallow that,but I had a, uh, slalom race
like two days after that.
So I had to reset, get ready forthat.
(26:29):
And, um, ended up finishing 19thso that was all right.
It was respectable.
It wasn't quite what we wanted,but, um, you know, we, we, we
definitely gave it our best and,and you know, I, I didn't leave
anything on the hill that's forsure.
You know, I, I put my face inthe hill, probably left a face
imprint in it, but I didn'tleave.
I didn't, you know, I didn'tleave anything that I, you know,
(26:50):
I gave it all I had and fastforward these last four years
and wow, they were rough.
They, they, these were thehardest, like years of my
training.
I always thought the first, youknow, few years of my career,
like, oh yeah, this was tough.
Like grinding making it.
But I had, no, I, I had no idea.
I thought experience in timewould, would solve it all.
(27:11):
And that it would be a walk inthe park.
And how wrong was I betweeninjuries between COVID?
Um, I couldn't get a full seasonin the last, um, in, in the
three years leading up to thislast games.
So I missed a whole season dueto a knee injury.
Then I missed half a season to,to COVID and another like, um,
(27:34):
re-injury with, with my leg.
And then finally, when I wasgetting my groove back, I got
COVID like two weeks or threeweeks before our nationals, uh,
the year leading to this lastseason and that just threw a
whole, uh, wrench in, in myplans.
And while I did come back intime, I was cleared.
I just, I was, I was so weakand, and just not up to par.
(27:56):
So that basically put a lot ofpressure on this last season to
do what I needed to, to make thegames.
And, uh, like, I'll be honest.
I don't shy away from this.
This was probably one of theworst seasons of my career.
Like result wise.
I just couldn't find my rhythm.
I wasn't being reallyconsistent.
Didn't finish a whole lot ofraces.
Uh, but the biggest thing I'llsay is I didn't give up.
(28:17):
I kept finding, I kept grindingand I, I squeaked by barely, but
I made the team, uh, for Beijingwas able to go out on my own
terms because I decided, um, Iactually decided last summer,
but I announced it at thebeginning of the fall that this
was gonna be my last season.
I was retiring after this.
And it really was a long journeyto get to this point.
(28:40):
It wasn't an overnight decision,but the last few years have
taken their toll.
And there there's a lot of otherthings I want to do.
So, you know, we, we fought, wegrinded, we made it to the
games.
The games were an amazingexperience, um, in Beijing, um,
you know, all things consideredwith, um, you just, how COVID
played its role, but, you know,I, I didn't, I didn't ever get
(29:02):
to win a medal at theParalympics and that's something
that I really wanted to do, butI did about everything else.
And I gotta say, I gave it mybest, my best effort.
And at the end of the day, youknow, that's all you can ask.
That's all you can do.
Ed (29:14):
So we talked about, uh, getting to be the flag bearer,
and we talked about somedifficult moments in the
Olympics.
What are some of the, thememories that have really stuck
with you or the moments that,you know, you, that you will
always remember, or that, youknow, were positive takeaways,
uh, from your experience,whether that's something that
happened on the hill or justsomething about the Olympic
experience in general?
Tyler (29:35):
Yeah.
Well, so obviously being flybearer was something I will
never forget.
Um, you know, that just was acrazy experience, but I, I think
it's not necessarily one moment,but it's a, you know, collection
of moments, um, friendships I'vemade, uh, ice cream I've eaten,
because I don't think I'vementioned this yet, but I'm a
huge ice cream fan.
Um, you know, I should have saideat an entire, you know, gallon
(29:57):
of ice cream versus a cakeearlier because ice cream is my
favorite thing in the world.
So like sharing ice cream withfriends, I know that's like
super cheesy and cliche, butlike my team know knows my love
of that.
And that kind of became arunning joke, but really being
able to travel around the worldto do what I love for so long
and just represent our, not justour country, like our, I mean,
our country, like the biggesthonor I can imagine representing
(30:20):
our country, but representingthe entire world at the biggest
stage, you can imagine.
I mean, that's what the Olympicsand Paralympics are about.
It's about bringing everyonetogether for a short period of
time for the spirit of sport andcompetition.
And when you're out there, youare representing yourself, you
are representing your country,but you're also representing a
whole lot more.
And to be able to do that threetimes, um, you know, I always
(30:43):
knew I wanted to be, you know, aski racer for a long time.
Once I set on this journey, Ididn't actually know if I'd make
it this far.
So it's pretty, uh, I'm pretty,you know, happy to look back at
that.
And, um, you know, again, notreally one memory, but just this
amazing collection of thisjourney.
Ed (31:00):
So talk a little bit about how, uh, the Paralympians are
kind of received.
You've, you've been to threedifferent, uh, three different,
actually four differentcountries.
If we count your spectatingexperience and just have you
seen it change over time and,and what's kind of how are, how
are the Paralympics, you know,viewed at these different places
that you've gotten theopportunity to visit?
Tyler (31:19):
Yeah, absolutely.
Um, and it's funny, I didn't, Ihaven't even mentioned it yet,
but I actually went to Tokyo asa staff member.
So I've, I've, I've, you know,in a way been to five different
games and over the years, and,and really gotten to get this
wide experience, but yeah, theParalympics have grown quite a
bit over the years.
I mean, I, I look back toVancouver, there was like no TV
(31:40):
coverage.
Like it was all maybe somestreaming online, but it was
super, you know, super small,like not just, not as well known
in broadcast.
And then Sochi, they startedputting a little bit more run
time, had like an hour or twohour, um, like highlight of that
more streaming online.
Um, and then you start going tolike 2018, that's where the big
(32:00):
shift, there was more to viewmore to see, and each teams that
just gets better and better, um,you know, and the host cities,
like they've, you know,generally been quite welcoming
and super excited to have us.
I mean, I look at, you know,PyeongChang 2018, Tokyo, even
though I was in the staff rolethere, um, in, uh, 2021, um, cuz
(32:23):
it was delayed a year and thenBeijing, like they were just so
excited to volunteers, to staff.
They, you could tell didn'tmatter, Olympics, Paralympics,
they were just happy to have, um, athletes in their country have
this event there and reallyshowcase their culture to the
world.
Um, and I think that was justsome, one of the coolest things
like Beijing.
I mean, pin trading is such abig thing.
(32:43):
If, if you don't know if, if ourlessers don't don't know at the
Olympics and Paralympics likepin trading is their currency,
like you can get a lot done or,or, you know, you can get things
for trading pins.
And it really went beyond thatin Beijing where the volunteers
and staff were actually makingthese, you know, custom little
like ribbon, you know, good luckcharms and giving them to
(33:03):
athletes.
So we'd see'em on all, all theseathletes bags and like pouches
and stuff.
And I brought a few home andactually got a really big one
hanging on my door to mybedroom.
I had a trade like five pins forthat, but it's like the size of
a reef.
So I thought that was a goodtrade, but it, it is just the
excitement they get.
And the thrill of being at thegames is just something you
(33:26):
don't see anywhere else.
And we are really getting to apoint where the Paralympics are
well known, being broadcasted,you know, people care about
them.
And I, I just see it's a reallybright future for us and, and
the world.
Ed (33:41):
So when you're, when you're actually at the games, we talked
about how it has changed alittle bit, uh, from your
perspective during the, theyears you've been able to go
there, you know, do you, you'revery focused obviously on your
events, you're there for apurpose, you know, you're there
to, to, to try to get thosemedals, those elusive medals
that everyone wants.
Do you have the opportunity towatch any of the other sports,
any of the other athletes or areyou just so focused on the
(34:04):
Alpine skiing piece and, andbeing around that, that scene
that you don't have theopportunity to, to enjoy other
aspects of the games and othersports?
Tyler (34:12):
Yeah.
I mean, you are, it's a job,right?
You are going there for a reasonand that is your first and
foremost focus.
But, um, we do occasionally geta little bit of downtime, not a
whole lot but a little bit.
So whether it's on the TVsthere, or if we're, we're lucky
to have that opportunity to goto a different venue, we do try
to cheer on the rest of ourteam.
Um, so in 2018 and even 2014, wedid that.
(34:36):
We, there was a couple times wekind of snuck away.
Um, sled hockey was a big onethat we tried to go to those
games, um, to, to cheer on theteam, um, to, to root'em on to,
to win, win gold, which they'vebeen absolutely crushing, which
is so cool to see.
Um, but you know, 2022, thispast games was a little
different with COVID and we hadthree different villages and it
(34:59):
was a closed loop system.
So unless, you know, you wereliving in, in, in that village
or you had a reason to be there,you couldn't travel between the
different ones.
So we didn't, we didn't get togo to see the other sports this
last one, which was a little bitof a bummer that was kind of
disappointing, but, um, wewatched it on TV.
We cheered'em on, you know, inspirit and, um, you know, knew
(35:20):
that they were doing the samewith us, but generally we do try
to find a little time to gocheer on the rest of the team,
see the different sports, butobviously sometimes factors play
in that, you know, it's just notpossible.
Ed (35:31):
How, how about the, you know, you're traveling to these
other places, you know, what'sthe impact of having to do that
travel and, you know, changingtime zones.
How do you sort of prepare for,is that one of those things
where like, after you've done ita couple times, it gets a little
easier to make thoseadjustments.
Tyler (35:44):
You know, the more you travel, you get used to whatever
plan you need to like getyourself set, but I'd say it
never gets easier.
Um, especially when you'rejumping so many times zones like
going to Asia, the one thing youget is the experience and
knowing what you need to do,knowing like,"Hey, I don't, I
shouldn't, you know, sleep allday because then I'm gonna be up
all night" being really on aboutyour pre travel.
(36:07):
Like that's huge.
Like, I didn't know that, youknow, the first time I went to
Sochi was, you know, being onabout trying to get yourself set
up a couple days before youleave on that time zone.
Um, being strategic on theflight in terms of like when you
sleep, when you don't in line toyourself, so that you're,
you're, you're giving yourselfthe best chance to adjust.
Cause when we got to Beijing, wehad, um, we arrived like, uh,
(36:28):
one or 2:00 AM.
We moved into the village and wehad that day that, you know, day
that we landed early morning tokind of explore the village, get
set up, unpack our bags.
And then next day, you know, wewere on snow and then we were,
we started our official trainingruns for the downhill, the
following day.
Like we, we didn't have any,like we didn't have, Hey, you
got a couple days to kind ofchill and get, get ready, no.
(36:51):
We were, we were, we had to beon like pretty much right away.
So that pre you know, travelplanning and, and just being
aware that was, was such a huge,uh, factor in what we were
doing.
Ed (37:02):
So you had already announced your retirement prior to going
to Beijing.
Did you already know what youwere gonna do next or did you
have to kind of figure that outwhen you got back?
Tyler (37:11):
Yeah,, that's kind
of the big question is, you know
what, what's next?
The last two years I've beenworking at the US Olympic and
Paralympic museum here inColorado Springs.
Um, the, the first one of itskind in the us, which is really
special, um, having a place tohonor our us Olympians and
Paralympians and they're amazingstories.
Um, so I've been working there,um, since they opened in 2020.
(37:35):
And, um, I took a leave ofabsence for the winter.
Obviously I can, couldn't reallydo both, but I came, you know,
pretty quickly right back towork and, and working there now.
And, um, just, you know, doing,doing what I can to, um, share
those stories, to honor theathletes and, and make it a fun
experience for anyone to comevisit.
Um, so that's kind of the, thewhere I'm at now.
(37:56):
Hopefully I'm there for a while.
We'll, we'll see what the futureholds.
There's honestly a lot of thingsI want to do, and it's kind of
the pecking order of how I wantto start, what order that.
Um, but I know the biggest thingat the end of the day is I want
to promote the Paralympicmovement, keep growing that I
want to be an advocate forliving a healthy and active
lifestyle.
I want to eat as much ice creamas I possibly can and work out a
(38:18):
bunch and I'm back to workingout, cuz it, life is weird.
Like it's, it's, I'm in thisweird transition period,
figuring out, you know, postathlete life and all that.
And you know, one of the thingsthat I I've just grown to love,
you know, the training's agrind, but just being in the
gym, there's something specialabout that.
And you know, again, beingactive, being healthy, I know I
(38:40):
talk a lot about ice cream and Iknow that, you know, it, it's
not always the healthiest, butin moderation you can really,
you know, find your path, yourbalance.
And you know, I, I eat fairlyhealthy and, and you know, good
meals outside of that.
So I, I, and I work out enoughthat I think I can enjoy my pint
of ice cream here and there.
Ed (38:59):
So you, you save your ice cream points?
Tyler (39:01):
Yeah.
Yes, absolutely.
And that's the thing, like, I'mnot a sweet guy, like everyone's
like, oh, you like ice cream?
You're a sweet guy.
No, I don't, I don't eat candy.
I don't like nothing againstanyone that does.
I just, candy doesn't really doit for me.
Ed (39:13):
Have you, have you been approached by any major ice
cream manufacturers about somekind of like sweetheart
sponsorship deal?
That sounds like it might besomething that we, we could cook
up maybe.
Tyler (39:22):
I have been trying, please help me.
Uh, this is my plea out to theworld.
I am a free agent in terms ofice cream.
I wanna work with you.
Let's come up with a coolflavor.
Let's work together, you know,let's make this a big thing.
Um, anyway, that's my plea outthere.
So, um, any, any ice creambrands companies, you know, I am
, I am open to, um, partneringwith you.
(39:43):
Let's let's make somethinghappen that you would, you would
truly make my day.
.
Ed (39:47):
So I don't, I don't think we, we, we necessarily wanna
list ice cream as a hobby or a,a side interest, but you
probably have more time to dothose kinds of things now.
And, and, you know, try somestuff that maybe you didn't have
time for before because of your,your training schedule.
What are some, what are someother fun things that you just
enjoy doing?
Tyler (40:03):
I'd say ice cream is a lifestyle, um, you know, living
the ice cream lifestyle, butgoing away from ice cream for a
minute.
Cause I really do talk too muchabout it.
It it's funny cuz I thought Iwould have a lot more time, but
I actually don't, I'm just asbusy if not more, but I, I guess
that is because I'm like, sinceI'm not skiing all the time or
you know, even though I'm in thegym, my training, I have pulled
(40:24):
back just a little bit justbecause I, I don't need to be in
the gym as much as I used to.
I'm, you know, keeping myselfbusy, I'm doing a lot of public
speaking.
I'm doing, you know, um, kind ofpodcasts and interviews, trying
to get my name out there.
Um, I, there's some amazingorganizations I work with, um,
kind of in this local area thatI've been able to devote more
(40:45):
time to, uh, you know, I'm backat work full time.
I, I mean, it's my day off todayand I have a packed schedule.
Like I I'm, you know, got somuch going on, but it's, it's
good.
I like being busy.
I like having stuff going on andI have a few ideas of things.
I'm like actually some projectsI'm, I'm trying to work on.
So I'm kind of just formulatinglike how they're gonna pan out,
(41:06):
but I'm, I'm quite excited what,what might come, but at the end
of the day, you know, I've saidit, I think I've said it a few
times, but I, I truly mean that,you know, my goal is to bring
some positivity to the world.
So however I can do that, that'sthe most important thing to me.
And um, every project or every,you know, kind of company or
organization I sign up to workwith.
Um, that's first and foremost,the most important thing that
(41:28):
we're, we're doing that andwe're making a difference.
Ed (41:31):
Do you ever get to, to come back to, uh, the Berks County
area and, and visit your roots alittle bit?
Tyler (41:36):
You know, I, I came back for, I think exactly week, like
literally a, a day after I gotback from Beijing.
Um, cause I hadn't seen myfamily in such a long time and
it's kind of sad cause I slepthalf of that trip.
Cause I was so jet lagged andtired from the games, but um,
you know, I try to come backand, and I think that is the one
difference is now not having totravel as much as an athlete.
(42:01):
I, I can take that, you know,time to come back, see the
family come to Berks Countyarea.
And I know I'll be back inAugust cuz I, my cousin's
getting married.
So I already have that tripbooked.
I've book blocked a week off.
I'm very excited.
So I'll be back during that timeand um, always looking for, for
ways or projects to be involvedthat will, you know, bring me
(42:21):
back to that area to visit, tovisit.
I love, I love Pennsylvania, butColorado.
I'm sorry.
Has my heart.
Ed (42:28):
So do you have any, any kind of final thoughts you'd like to
share aside from"will work forice cream," which you've made
abundantly clear?
Tyler (42:34):
Yeah, I feel like that could be the title of this.
No I'm joking.
um, you know, finalthoughts here.
Here's the thing I've, I'vereally had some incredible
opportunities.
I've I've really been blessed tobe able to follow my dreams, to,
to do what I love for so long.
And um, to anyone out therelistening, you know what,
doesn't matter what your dreamis, it doesn't matter how big,
how small, you know, do it,follow it.
(42:58):
You know, if you fail, you fail,but you at least tried.
And that's the most importantthing.
You know, how many times thatI've crashed, I've been knocked
down I, you know, had, you know,setbacks and I just kept going.
I kept staying, you know,determined and having that
discipline to fall, follow thatdream and see it through to the
end.
So, you know, be active.
(43:19):
You don't have to worry, youknow, it doesn't have to be
trying to go to the Olympics orParalympics, but go out, you
know, be a little active inlife, get outside, have some
fun, maybe eat a little bit ofice cream, but really just find
what you enjoy, what yourpassion is, stick with it.
And don't give up on that.
That's the best advice I cangive.
Um, and it's, it's just, it's a,it's a special thing.
(43:40):
You know, if, if you're, ifyou're doing what you love,
you're never really working aday in your life.
At least I've heard that manytimes and until I like kind of
experienced this side of life.
I never believed it, but itreally is the truth.
Um, so I hope you all find yourpassion and if you want to check
out my crazy ice cream, um,escapades or my silly workouts
(44:02):
that I still do, tcskiusa onInstagram, I have to give a plug
for that cause, oh my gosh, it,it is, um, I have way too much
fun on there.
So if you, uh, you know, wannasee what shenanigans I'm up to,
even though I'm a retiredathlete, I promise I'll still
have plenty of fun shenaniganson there.
Ed (44:20):
Well, Tyler Carter, three time US Paralympian, thanks so
much for spending this time withDisability Talks and sharing
your story with our listeners.
We really appreciate it and wishyou all the best with your
future, whatever it is thatcomes next, we know it's gonna
involve ice cream at whateverelse it involves, I'm sure
you're gonna be great at it.
Tyler (44:36):
Thank you so much Ed, it's been an absolute pleasure
being on here.
Outro (45:18):
Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Disability
Talks.
Want to be a part of the ongoingconversation?
Visit our website atabilitiesinmotion.org or connect
with us on social media.
Welcome to Disability Talks, a podcast produced by
Abilities in Motion.
I'm your host, Ed Granger.
Join us to encounter uniqueperspectives on accessibility
and independence, and to hearstories from everyday people
living their most independenteveryday lives, where essential
conversations find their place.
Let's talk.
Ed (00:24):
Today, I'm honored to be speaking with Tyler Carter a
three time US Paralympian inAlpine skiing, who was actually
born right here in Reading, PA.
Tyler had the honor of carryingthe United States flag at the
opening ceremonies of theBeijing Paralympics in February.
Tyler currently lives inColorado Springs, Colorado,
where among other activities hedoes public speaking and
promotes an active and healthylifestyle.
(00:44):
Tyler, welcome to DisabilityTalks.
Tyler (00:47):
Thanks Ed.
It's really great to be here.
Ed (00:49):
So let's, let's just start out with that, uh, being chosen
to carry the flag in Beijing.
Talk a little bit about what anhonor that was and how that came
about.
Tyler (00:56):
Oh my goodness.
That was such a crazyexperience.
Um, a true honor, honestly.
Uh, you know, I think a lot ofathletes will dream about it.
It's like beyond their wildestdreams with they're like, oh, I
would be so cool to be flagbearer and to be able to do that
at opening ceremonies, I mean,oh my goodness, capping off my
career ending, you know, thislong, crazy journey carrying in
(01:20):
the flag, bringing in our team,like it's hard to explain how
special of a moment that was.
And opening ceremonies issomething that most athletes
will look at as like theirfavorite moment of the games.
Just one of the, you know,things that brings it all
together, unless you, you win amedal and to be able to do that,
it just, oh my, my goodness.
I I'm still excited.
I still get chills thinkingabout that moment.
Ed (01:42):
So, um, that story started, as we mentioned, you were you're
from Reading originally and yougrew up in Topton, PA.
That's not exactly a skiingMecca.
So how did, uh, how did TylerCarter and skiing come together
to form this, uh, amazingrelationship?
Tyler (01:56):
A lot of luck and random circumstances, I would say, but
no, like going more into that.
I started skiing at Camel backin the Poconos, through the
Pennsylvania Center for AdaptedSports.
Um, you know, I can credit themor my parents would say blame
them.
You know, an all joking ofgetting me into skiing, uh, went
(02:16):
to a, learn to ski camp for kidswith physical disabilities when
I was eight, fell in love withit.
And it just blew from there.
I was eventually recruited bythe National Sports Center for
the disabled out of Winter Park,Colorado, where I would train,
um, to get more into that racingside.
But, you know, I, I grew up inthe Reading area, grew up there,
(02:36):
grew up skiing Camelback, and,um, Bear Creek was kind of a
local 15 minutes from my housewhere, where I'd spend some time
when I was in school, but itjust skiing was such a cool
thing.
I mean, it allowed me to go outto hurl myself down these
mountains.
No one really knew or focused onthat.
I was missing a leg.
Cause I skied with both, both ofmy legs or skied with my skiing
(02:57):
prosthesis, but it just, it wassuch a different experience than
anything else.
I had the opportunity to checkout or try at that point.
And I just knew it was somethingspecial and eventually grew a
lot more than just me, you know,skiing for fun into, you know,
turning into a, I'd say an okayracer, you know, somewhat decent
.
Ed (03:16):
It sounds like you were a, a kid who was active.
Right.
So the skiing was that becamethe passion, but you were, uh,
sounds like you were active inother sports and other
activities at the time.
Tyler (03:25):
Yeah, I, I tried a lot of different things, thankfully
skiing stuck, but um, I triedswimming a little bit terrible
swimmer.
I mean, I can, you know, swimwell enough so that I don't, you
know, sink, but I, that is notmy forte.
Thank goodness that wasn't thesport I decided to pick up
because man that would be kindof a miserable to watch me try
to try to swim at the games.
You know, I biked a little bitjust for fun, like around with
(03:48):
friends, did basketball,hand-eye coordination with ball
sports, not really my thing.
So again, you know, that onedidn't stick too much, um,
skateboarded for a little bit,but I preferred the, the two
different boards for me, I'ddance for 10 years, which was
kind of fun.
I always joked, it was fun beingthe only guy in a class of all
girls, but you know, it was justa fun way to be active and move.
(04:10):
And I'd say the only other sportthat kind of connected as
closely to skiing was tennis.
I had a lot of fun and mostlycuz of how athletic you have to
be like any sport, you have tobe athletic, but there's so much
moving around in tennis that I,I really enjoyed that.
But again, skiing had my heartand passion and through all
these, you know, I love beingactive.
I love being outside and kind oftesting my body in different
(04:31):
ways.
But skiing was the one that waslike, yeah, this is, this is
kinda cool.
And I, I think there's somethinghere.
Ed (04:36):
So it sounds like your family was pretty involved in
the start of your career, youknow, making that happen.
And I know families know,parents are always thrilled when
their kids pick up a sport thatinvolves expensive equipment.
So you, you check, you checkedoff that box for them, but you
know, talk a little bit abouthow, how much of a support that
was for you in, you know,getting you launched here.
Tyler (04:54):
Yeah.
I, there's no way I could havemade it this far without my
family's support.
And, and so many others.
I mean, it, it really is a teameffort to get anyone to the
Olympics or Paralympics.
Um, it doesn't matter if you'rea team sport or individual
sport, you know, I always jokehow all of this started.
My parents wanted me out of thehouse for a week cuz it was a
stay away from home camp.
And I always joke that, youknow, it's, it's their fault.
(05:17):
If they ever blamed about theexpenses, they sent me away from
home for a week and I fell inlove with skiing, but I mean,
they've, they've always had myback whenever, you know, I, I
wanted to do something when Isaid, Hey, I think there's
something here.
Hey, I got invited to this racecamp, Hey, I wanna go to the
Paralympics.
They never said no.
There were a few times theymight have like given me a
little bit of a look like, okay,like you're just from, you know,
(05:40):
this kid from Reading, PAthere's not a lot of snow and
you wanna go to Colorado to raceand try to go to the
Paralympics, but they've always,they've always had my back and
full support and you know, I, I,I, there's no way I could've
done it without them.
And something that I reallycredit them and I'm thankful for
is they were supportive, butthey also knew where they needed
to step back and kind of let me,you know, develop and learn
(06:04):
things on my own.
You know, they weren't superlike helicopter, like over me,
you know, every little moment,like they let me make small
mistakes on my own.
They let me enjoy the victories,the losses and, and just be
there when they, when I wasneeded them, when truly it was
something that, you know, theyhad to do.
And I, I really respect and, andgrateful for that, cuz that I
(06:25):
think turned me into who I amtoday for better or worse.
Ed (06:29):
You started out doing sports for fun.
You're active, you're a kidgetting out there doing things
you find out that, Hey, I reallylove just flying downhill fast
as I can on skis.
But you know, being a seriousathlete, there's a transition to
like doing the serious trainingand you know, those mornings
when you get up and maybe youyou'd rather do something else,
uh, you know, and, and not traintalk a little bit about how you
made that transition from beingsomeone who did something for
(06:51):
fun to taking it reallyseriously and really putting in
the time and effort to be thebest you could be at it.
Tyler (06:57):
Yeah, absolutely.
Every athlete has thattransition.
I've always said for me, I needto be having fun in whatever I'm
doing.
That's first and foremost, themost important thing, but there
does come a time where it's notjust a hobby, then it's more of
a it's work.
It's, you know, it's your job,your full time thing that you
need to work on.
And I'd say my shift came around2010 when I went to Vancouver to
(07:20):
spectate the Paralympics.
And that was an eye openingexperience.
Seeing the level you could getto in, um, you know, not just
sports, but like, you know, inlife, like that's just such an
incredible point.
You know, the second biggest, uh, sporting event in the world.
And, um, being there at openingceremonies, watching from the
(07:41):
stadium, watching team USA marchin, I said to myself, I'm gonna
do this one day.
I'm I'm gonna be one of thoseathletes.
I'm gonna be on that team.
And from then that's where theshift happened.
It wasn't just a hobby.
It was something I still love todo, but it was my life.
It was my work.
And every decision I made fromthat night on, I thought, how is
that going to get me onto theteam and always make the right
(08:04):
decision.
But I always had that thoughtprocess.
I was like, okay, if I skip thisworkout, if I eat, you know,
this whole cake, well, I'mprobably gonna eat the whole
cake anyway, but how is thatgonna affect my training the
next day or my performance andthat mindset and attitude?
I, I definitely think helped methrough the next four years and
making my first Paralympic teamin Sochi, but I always had this
(08:27):
idea that I need to be havingfun.
And then I need to becompetitive.
Those are the two rules for whenI started this, that I was gonna
compete as long as those twowere true.
Um, and I'm, I'm happy to saythat that was a hundred percent
that that's how, how the careerwent living up to those two and
then ready to move on when, whenthose two stopped being, you
know, a thing.
Ed (08:48):
So Camelback was about the fun and then the training, the
serious training starts talk alittle bit about how the
opportunity to do that serioustraining, uh, having the, the
coaching and the support.
How did that sort of alltranspire and come about?
Tyler (09:01):
Yeah, absolutely.
So, I mean, love, you know,growing up in Pennsylvania was
great, um, awesome supportsystem there, a lot of full
people and it really is a prettyarea.
Like when you get up intomountains, just great area to
be, but I knew that I had tostart coming out west.
I had to be in Colorado wherethe snow was more consistent,
where there was, you know, moreHills or mountains to ski.
(09:22):
Like you really just had to gowhere racing was central.
Like that's, that's the hub for,for all, you know, Alpine skiing
in the US.
And once I made that transition,I started coming out and we
took, you know, ski racing a lotmore seriously.
I still loved it.
It was still fun, but you know,it was early morning sessions.
It was making sure we were, youknow, warmed up properly
(09:43):
prepared getting our gym time in, uh, you know, making sure the
equipment was well maintained,you know, tuning the skis,
waxing them, all that, learningthose early on in my career.
It's, you know, it really is afull time job being an athlete.
It takes everything out of youevery, every little bit.
You have to put into it so thatyou can hopefully find that
success or put yourself in thebest position so that you can,
(10:06):
you know, accomplish yourdreams.
And, um, that shift coming outto Colorado, that was, that was
kind of the big, like, all right, we are serious now.
We're still gonna have fun, butthis is, this is, you know,
real, real business.
We're if I wanna make it to theParalympics, I have to do
everything I possibly can.
I need to be where the bestcoaches are.
I need to be where the bestskiing is.
And that really set me up, um,for the future years.
(10:29):
And I fell in love withColorado.
No offense to Pennsylvania, love, love visiting my family there,
but Colorado now has my heart.
It, it just, it it's a wholedifferent world and there's no
humidity.
Thank goodness I, the humiditykills me.
I, I would come back toPennsylvania way more often if
it wasn't for the humiditythere.
Ed (10:47):
And, and the mountains are a little bit bigger than they are
up in the, up in the Poconos.
Tyler (10:50):
Just a little bit.
Ed (10:52):
Slight, slightly bigger.
Yep.
And, uh, you know, so the, soyou're in, you're now you now
you're doing the serioustraining.
Can you talk a little bit aboutwhat that training regimen, uh,
looked like and how it workeditself out for someone with your
specific disability?
Tyler (11:05):
Yeah, absolutely.
So it depended on what type ofthe season we're in.
Are we in the, like on snow, youknow, our important part of the
year, or are we in our offseason where we're doing, you
know, we don't have theopportunity to be on snow as
much.
We're doing more dry land, gymwork.
So it all starts with that offseason training.
You have to build thatfoundation so that when, once
(11:27):
you're on snow, your body'sready.
You have that endurance builtup, you have that strength, so
you can make it through allthose training sessions and
those crazy forces you get whileyou're skiing.
So that involves a lot oflifting.
I mean, skiing is a powerful,explosive sport.
So a lot of lifting there, youknow, as I like to joke, picking
heavy things up and putting themdown, um, is a big part of what
(11:48):
we do.
Um, but there's also anendurance component and not
endurance in terms of like doinga triathlon, but our races only
last, maybe a minute and a halfor so.
But you, for that minute and ahalf, you have to be on, there
is no letting off the gas.
There is no, like you can't takea break, you can't stop how to
sip of water.
Like you're, you're on, you know, going 60 plus sometimes 80
(12:10):
miles hour down this icy hill,there is no room for error.
So we do a lot of explosive typelike hit training.
I don't love cardio.
Uh, it's not really my thing.
I'd rather have to pick upreally heavy weights than spin
on a bike for 30 or moreminutes.
But we do a lot of intervaltraining as well.
So short spurts, you know,you're on for like 15, 30
(12:33):
seconds, maybe a minute.
And then you have a, a, thatlong of a recovery break and you
keep doing that.
So that's a huge part of it.
So we spend the summer get allstrong, get our endurance up,
we're all ready to go.
Now the fun stuff starts.
That's when we get on snow,that's when we start our
training.
Now we might have some summercamps where we get to travel to
be on snow, whether, um, it'sfurther out west, you, they have
(12:56):
longer seasons in like Oregonand California.
You can go to a few resortsthere that you can ski into
July, maybe August, if you'relucky, we go to Europe quite a
bit for early season training,cuz they have glaciers there.
So you can see almost year round, but once you're in season,
that's where the fun begins.
That's when we're like, okay,time to ramp things up.
You know, we're training five,six days a week.
(13:18):
We're on the snow.
We sometimes have two sessions aday.
Sometimes one, if we're havingtwo sessions, they might be a
little bit on the shorter endfor both sessions with a good
lunch break.
If it's one, it's one prettylong session.
And each day we have a differentfocus.
Uh, some days it's all aboutgetting as many runs possible
and you want it to be goodquality runs.
But honestly at the end day, youknow, you have a set number that
(13:39):
you're like, okay, I want to get10 runs in on the course.
And you're gassed at the end,that's it you're done.
You're exhausted.
But you're building up thatvolume, getting that endurance
up.
That's usually early season aswe go more later season, then
we're trying to do quality.
So we might do a double sessionor one session and only get
three or four runs in, in eachsession.
(13:59):
But those runs need to bequality.
We need to be firing like we'rein our race mode, our race
mentality and making sure that,you know, every turn counts,
then you have lunch.
At some point you tune yourskis, get'em all prepped, do a
recovery gym workout, maybe alift here or there to maintain
that strength.
And then you sleep.
I do a lot of sleeping duringthat season nap in the midday,
(14:20):
if I can, and then early to bed,cuz sometimes I'd be getting up
before 5:00 AM for training orgym stuff, um, in the season.
And that does wear on you.
If you don't get your sleep,that's, I'm not a fun person to
be around if I'm hungry or if Idon't get my sleep, I feel like
everyone's that way.
But I'm especially notorious forthat.
Ed (14:38):
It doesn't sound like you would've had a lot of time to
eat an entire cake based on thatschedule anyway.
So maybe you're too busy to eatthe whole thing.
Tyler (14:45):
Ah, yeah.
Only half.
Ed (14:47):
So it, I, I know I read online that your, uh,
Paralympics is a little bitdifferent in the sense that
they're differentclassifications, uh, and your
classification it says is LW4.
So talk a little bit about whatthat means and how that works in
the context of the kind ofracing that you do.
Tyler (15:01):
Absolutely.
That brings us to the biggestdifference between the Olympics
and Paralympics, uh,Paralympics, meaning they are
parallel to the Olympics, butParalympics obviously are for
athletes with a physicaldisability or visual impairment.
So how they go about that is,each sport's a little different,
but generally they look at yourdisability and your classified
(15:21):
based on that, think of it aslike a golf handicap, basically.
So most sports, the moredisabled you are or the more
severe your disability that willhave your time or your score
adjusted because of that.
So I like to think of it as inour, in our world.
You know, if you have a moresevere disability, the clock's
gonna run a little bit slowerfor you just to make up that
(15:44):
difference.
And so me being an LW4 in Alpineskiing, uh, that I'm at the kind
of lower end of the spectrumwhere like, even though I'm
missing, um, half my leg, myfoot compared to others, it's
not really as severe.
So I don't have a whole big ofan adjustment over my, um, time.
However, it is much more thansomeone that's just missing
(16:05):
their hand.
Um, in Alpine skiing you have avisually impaired division, a
standing division and sittingdivision.
So I'm only competing againstthe standing athletes for a
medal.
However, when we're looking atour all over score, it's about
the fastest male or fastestfemale.
So fast snow could be visuallyimpaired standing or sitting.
(16:27):
And then when we're trying toget our results in terms of
ranking, that's how we'relooking at.
It's a little confusing,sometimes a little complicated,
but hopefully that's somewhatsimplified enough that it makes
sense to everyone listening, butclassification like it, it is a
very complex system.
I always say, you know, itworks.
Is it perfect?
Not really, but it's verychallenging when you have all
(16:49):
these different athletes withdifferent disabilities coming in
and you, and I mean, at the endof the day, they wanna make it
as fair as possible foreveryone.
And I think they are doing theirbest to make that happen.
And there's really no easy wayto do it.
So it, it works for ourpurposes.
Ed (17:04):
A and your, your specific disability is something you've
been, you know, it's, you grewup with it.
Right.
So share a little bit about like, I, I think it's called fibular
hemimelia.
If I remember correctly, how didI do with the pronunciation?
I, I worked on it a little bit.
Tyler (17:18):
That was pretty.
That was pretty spot on.
I liked it.
Good job.
Ed (17:21):
So talk a little bit about that specific, you know,
condition.
Tyler (17:24):
Yeah.
So basically I was born withoutmy fibula and when I was one, I
had my foot amputated, supersimple.
It's not that exciting of astory.
I've been like this my wholelife.
You know, I always say I'm, I'mgrateful that I've grown up with
this.
Uh, just because it's all Iknow.
I don't know any other world.
I don't, you know, know anyother life.
I just know being an amputeegrowing up with it since I was
(17:46):
one, uh, below the knee amputee,sometimes there are challenges
sometimes there aren't, but atthe end of the day, I'm just
trying to live, you know, mylife.
I don't wanna say normal lifecuz I don't, what, what is
normal?
Like I don't know that anyoneis, you know, normal.
It doesn't, you know, it's not athing to me.
So just go out, live my life,have fun, be active, all that
good jazz.
(18:06):
But yeah, it's just, it's beenpart of me, my, my whole life.
And I think, you know, everyonehas something going on.
It doesn't matter if it'sphysical, if it's mental, if
it's something that, you know,you don't talk about or you
can't see, everyone's got stuffgoing on in life, maybe it's
just stress.
But at the end of the day, it'swhat you have and how you deal
with it.
I always say, you know, youcan't control the hand.
You're dealt, you can controlhow you play with your cards now
(18:28):
I'm not a gambler.
So I don't, hopefully that's,that's kind of how it works, but
that's how I've always looked atit, but it's just, you know, go
out, do what makes you happy?
Live your life, have fun with italong the way.
Um, I think that's, that's themost important thing.
So yeah, you know, I've grown upmy whole life missing my leg
amputee, but that doesn't definewho I am.
(18:49):
It's what I do.
And it's, you know, therelationships I make with
people, the, you know,positivity, I try to put out in
the world, that's what matters
Ed (18:58):
Now for people who, who don't maybe follow Alpine
skiing.
I have a list here of thevarious disciplines that you
have competed in or compete in.
I am a fan of Alpine skiing.
So I've heard of, of these havea little bit of idea of, of
what, what that involves, but,um, maybe you can explain, you
have the slalom, the giantslalom, downhill, super G and
(19:20):
super combined.
So how would you, uh, to, tosomeone who is, who is not, not
familiar with that or, or, uh,isn't familiar with watching it
happen, how would you describethe differences between those
and what's kind of involved asan athlete?
What kind of, uh, things youhave to do to be successful at
those?
Tyler (19:36):
Yes.
There is so many differences inAlpine skiing with the different
disciplines.
I like to say, you look at itkind of on two ends of the
spectrum, you have downhill onone slalom on the other downhill
is the fastest event.
I mean, you are, you know, goinglike straight down the hill, you
are technically turning, but youturn with the hill.
I mean, it is big, fast loopyturns.
(19:59):
Um, and sometimes you'recatching air over, over jumps.
Sometimes you're not, um,honestly that's the most fun
event.
I love that event.
It's definitely one of myfavorites and you move down a
little bit and you have thesuper G uh, super G has a little
bit more turning to it, but it'sstill very fast.
Um, I'd say super, G's probablymy favorite event, mostly cuz
that's the one I've had the mostexperience in and um, just, I
(20:22):
like downhill.
I'm crazy, but I'm also not ascrazy as some of the other
athletes.
I can just go like full flyingdown with no regards to safety.
I, I like to be just a littlebit more in speed check.
So super dues, a little betterfor me.
Then you move to the giantslalom, which is, um, getting
into our technical events.
So you have your speed events,downhill, super giant slalom,
(20:44):
slalom, the technical events,giant slaloms, more like if
you've ever like been on a skihill, it's kind of like a medium
size turn.
You know, you're just kind ofcruising through.
You can get some high speeds,but it's pretty mellow, nice,
easy distance.
Um, if you are a skier andyou've ever gone to the NATAR
hut done the like little NASTARdual racing courses, that's a
(21:05):
little more of a giant long typeof event.
Then you move to slalom, whichhas been my nemesis.
Most of my career, even though Ihave I've done it most of my
career, we, we didn't really getalong too often, but it is a
single pull versus where youhave downhill, super gene giant.
So where it's two poles with apanel or flag in between them.
And you're knocking down thatsingle pole in slalom.
(21:27):
So, um, everyone asks, do youhave to touch the gates?
None of the events you have totouch the gates, but it's all
about picking that fastest linefrom top to bottom.
So usually it involves goingthrough the gates, Slalom,
you're knocking them down.
Um, it is very quick turns, verylike high paced, you know,
speeds are down, but you aremoving really quick back and
forth.
(21:48):
Um, and it's that quick patternthat I always struggled with
because I like to hold onto thatturn.
I like to build up the speed andlet the edges go and catapult
myself into the next one.
I'm making gestures with myhand, like moving, moving
around, but it just, I, I lovegoing fast and making those big
loopy turns.
Slalom and I, we didn't alwaysget along, but it definitely is
a very technical and fun eventto watch.
(22:10):
Now I did leave out one that isthe super combined and super
combined takes a run of super Gand a run of and slalom and puts
them together.
And I love super combined races,but I, but that's because of the
super G once we get to theslalom component, I'm always
like, eh, we'll see whathappens.
Um, more often than not, I, Ididn't end up finishing the
(22:31):
slalom part just because we, wedid have a, it's not even a
love, hate relationship.
It's really a hate, haterelationship between me and
slalom, but it's always been myattitude mentality, go out and
give it your best.
And you know, whether I crossthe finish line, I don't,
whether I'm in first or last, aslong as I put out my best
effort, that's what matters atthe end of the day.
So there's your crash course inski racing.
(22:52):
Um, there will be a test later.
Uh, we'll, we'll check in onyou- no I'm joking.
But hopefully that at least, youknow, enlightens, y'all a little
bit about it, cause it is, it'ssuch a fun sport and there's so
many different dynamics goingon.
I know Ed you're, you're a bigfan of it.
So it's a lot of fun to watch.
I, I think to do,
Ed (23:08):
And I watched hours and hours of Paralympic, uh,
coverage, which, uh, wasavailable.
So it did enjoy of coursewatching the, the Alpine skiing.
It's always been one of myfavorite events since watching,
uh, Franz Klammer for Austria in1976 with his, uh, his famous
run.
So I've always been followingit.
How common is it for peoplethough, to, to do all of the
different disciplines?
I mean, obviously some peopleare, or a lot of people are
(23:29):
gonna gravitate more towardssort of the technical end of the
spectrum or the speed end of thespectrum.
Do most skiers do, do the whole,uh, the whole range or is that
unusual?
Tyler (23:37):
Yeah, so kind of in early on in your career, you're gonna
start with the tech events andthen you start dabbling in the
speed.
Um, just because it's easier tolearn the tech events, the speed
requires a lot more experienceand strength and also craziness
in you, but you get to a pointafter you've dabbled both that
most athletes will gravitatetowards one or the other.
(23:59):
Um, I started as a tech skierand early in my career always
wanted to be a speed skier andkind of finish my career as a
speed skier.
Um, doing those the downhill insuper G, but I'd say every
athlete, um, unless they'rereally like adverse to speed,
they really don't want to do itwill dabble in both.
And then you kind of figure outwhat, which one is your, you
know, preferred or which one youclick with.
(24:22):
And then you're going spend moreof your time training on that
because I never was a slalomskier didn't really get along
with it.
I actually didn't train muchslalom at all.
And then I eventually stoppedracing it in general just
because we, we, it just, wasn'twhere I wanted to put my energy
or time training.
Cause you think there's, youknow, four main events, five, if
you count the super combined.
And if you're trying to trainfor four events, um, you know,
(24:44):
five, maybe five days a weekthat doesn't give you a lot of
time to focus and specialize.
So a lot of the top athletes outthere will focus on a couple of
those and then, um, maybe dabbleon the rest, but really have
their priority.
Ed (24:56):
So, uh, Camelback is where, uh, you get bit by the skiing
bug and then Vancouver's whereyou get bit by the Olympic bug.
So, uh, take us the rest of theway to your, uh, first Olympics
in 2014.
Tyler (25:06):
Yeah, absolutely.
So first games, um, made theteam 2014, uh, Paralympics
Sochi, Russia.
And that was crazy.
Like that was, I was not on thenational team at that point.
So I spent those four yearsgrinding, working really hard
just to make that team kind ofwalked onto it.
I honestly didn't know I wasgoing until like two weeks
before the game started.
(25:27):
That's when I got the call thatI'd made the team, we're one of
an experience, like almost allgood things to say.
I went in not really being supercompetitive, but that was kind
of the plan I was going in toget that experience, to
understand what I was doing and,and, um, you know, get that kind
of first games jitters out ofthe way.
And four years later make, youknow, the national team in that,
(25:47):
in that time span and get somesupport, some extra fun day, I'm
ready, I'm prepared.
I'm like, okay, I have been tothe games before.
I know what to expect.
Let's go in and, you know, likestart, you know, putting our
name out there and, and being alittle more competitive.
That was a plan.
That was the idea did notexactly go that way, but you
know, when does life ever goexactly how you, you expect it
(26:09):
to.
Um, in my best event, the giantslalom at that time, I actually
crashed in my second run.
Unfortunately I can joke aboutit now, but at the time it, it
was definitely a, a bitter, uh,feeling and, you know, it was
tough.
It was tough to swallow that,but I had a, uh, slalom race
like two days after that.
So I had to reset, get ready forthat.
(26:29):
And, um, ended up finishing 19thso that was all right.
It was respectable.
It wasn't quite what we wanted,but, um, you know, we, we, we
definitely gave it our best and,and you know, I, I didn't leave
anything on the hill that's forsure.
You know, I, I put my face inthe hill, probably left a face
imprint in it, but I didn'tleave.
I didn't, you know, I didn'tleave anything that I, you know,
(26:50):
I gave it all I had and fastforward these last four years
and wow, they were rough.
They, they, these were thehardest, like years of my
training.
I always thought the first, youknow, few years of my career,
like, oh yeah, this was tough.
Like grinding making it.
But I had, no, I, I had no idea.
I thought experience in timewould, would solve it all.
(27:11):
And that it would be a walk inthe park.
And how wrong was I betweeninjuries between COVID?
Um, I couldn't get a full seasonin the last, um, in, in the
three years leading up to thislast games.
So I missed a whole season dueto a knee injury.
Then I missed half a season to,to COVID and another like, um,
(27:34):
re-injury with, with my leg.
And then finally, when I wasgetting my groove back, I got
COVID like two weeks or threeweeks before our nationals, uh,
the year leading to this lastseason and that just threw a
whole, uh, wrench in, in myplans.
And while I did come back intime, I was cleared.
I just, I was, I was so weakand, and just not up to par.
(27:56):
So that basically put a lot ofpressure on this last season to
do what I needed to, to make thegames.
And, uh, like, I'll be honest.
I don't shy away from this.
This was probably one of theworst seasons of my career.
Like result wise.
I just couldn't find my rhythm.
I wasn't being reallyconsistent.
Didn't finish a whole lot ofraces.
Uh, but the biggest thing I'llsay is I didn't give up.
(28:17):
I kept finding, I kept grindingand I, I squeaked by barely, but
I made the team, uh, for Beijingwas able to go out on my own
terms because I decided, um, Iactually decided last summer,
but I announced it at thebeginning of the fall that this
was gonna be my last season.
I was retiring after this.
And it really was a long journeyto get to this point.
(28:40):
It wasn't an overnight decision,but the last few years have
taken their toll.
And there there's a lot of otherthings I want to do.
So, you know, we, we fought, wegrinded, we made it to the
games.
The games were an amazingexperience, um, in Beijing, um,
you know, all things consideredwith, um, you just, how COVID
played its role, but, you know,I, I didn't, I didn't ever get
(29:02):
to win a medal at theParalympics and that's something
that I really wanted to do, butI did about everything else.
And I gotta say, I gave it mybest, my best effort.
And at the end of the day, youknow, that's all you can ask.
That's all you can do.
Ed (29:14):
So we talked about, uh, getting to be the flag bearer,
and we talked about somedifficult moments in the
Olympics.
What are some of the, thememories that have really stuck
with you or the moments that,you know, you, that you will
always remember, or that, youknow, were positive takeaways,
uh, from your experience,whether that's something that
happened on the hill or justsomething about the Olympic
experience in general?
Tyler (29:35):
Yeah.
Well, so obviously being flybearer was something I will
never forget.
Um, you know, that just was acrazy experience, but I, I think
it's not necessarily one moment,but it's a, you know, collection
of moments, um, friendships I'vemade, uh, ice cream I've eaten,
because I don't think I'vementioned this yet, but I'm a
huge ice cream fan.
Um, you know, I should have saideat an entire, you know, gallon
(29:57):
of ice cream versus a cakeearlier because ice cream is my
favorite thing in the world.
So like sharing ice cream withfriends, I know that's like
super cheesy and cliche, butlike my team know knows my love
of that.
And that kind of became arunning joke, but really being
able to travel around the worldto do what I love for so long
and just represent our, not justour country, like our, I mean,
our country, like the biggesthonor I can imagine representing
(30:20):
our country, but representingthe entire world at the biggest
stage, you can imagine.
I mean, that's what the Olympicsand Paralympics are about.
It's about bringing everyonetogether for a short period of
time for the spirit of sport andcompetition.
And when you're out there, youare representing yourself, you
are representing your country,but you're also representing a
whole lot more.
And to be able to do that threetimes, um, you know, I always
(30:43):
knew I wanted to be, you know, aski racer for a long time.
Once I set on this journey, Ididn't actually know if I'd make
it this far.
So it's pretty, uh, I'm pretty,you know, happy to look back at
that.
And, um, you know, again, notreally one memory, but just this
amazing collection of thisjourney.
Ed (31:00):
So talk a little bit about how, uh, the Paralympians are
kind of received.
You've, you've been to threedifferent, uh, three different,
actually four differentcountries.
If we count your spectatingexperience and just have you
seen it change over time and,and what's kind of how are, how
are the Paralympics, you know,viewed at these different places
that you've gotten theopportunity to visit?
Tyler (31:19):
Yeah, absolutely.
Um, and it's funny, I didn't, Ihaven't even mentioned it yet,
but I actually went to Tokyo asa staff member.
So I've, I've, I've, you know,in a way been to five different
games and over the years, and,and really gotten to get this
wide experience, but yeah, theParalympics have grown quite a
bit over the years.
I mean, I, I look back toVancouver, there was like no TV
(31:40):
coverage.
Like it was all maybe somestreaming online, but it was
super, you know, super small,like not just, not as well known
in broadcast.
And then Sochi, they startedputting a little bit more run
time, had like an hour or twohour, um, like highlight of that
more streaming online.
Um, and then you start going tolike 2018, that's where the big
(32:00):
shift, there was more to viewmore to see, and each teams that
just gets better and better, um,you know, and the host cities,
like they've, you know,generally been quite welcoming
and super excited to have us.
I mean, I look at, you know,PyeongChang 2018, Tokyo, even
though I was in the staff rolethere, um, in, uh, 2021, um, cuz
(32:23):
it was delayed a year and thenBeijing, like they were just so
excited to volunteers, to staff.
They, you could tell didn'tmatter, Olympics, Paralympics,
they were just happy to have, um, athletes in their country have
this event there and reallyshowcase their culture to the
world.
Um, and I think that was justsome, one of the coolest things
like Beijing.
I mean, pin trading is such abig thing.
(32:43):
If, if you don't know if, if ourlessers don't don't know at the
Olympics and Paralympics likepin trading is their currency,
like you can get a lot done or,or, you know, you can get things
for trading pins.
And it really went beyond thatin Beijing where the volunteers
and staff were actually makingthese, you know, custom little
like ribbon, you know, good luckcharms and giving them to
(33:03):
athletes.
So we'd see'em on all, all theseathletes bags and like pouches
and stuff.
And I brought a few home andactually got a really big one
hanging on my door to mybedroom.
I had a trade like five pins forthat, but it's like the size of
a reef.
So I thought that was a goodtrade, but it, it is just the
excitement they get.
And the thrill of being at thegames is just something you
(33:26):
don't see anywhere else.
And we are really getting to apoint where the Paralympics are
well known, being broadcasted,you know, people care about
them.
And I, I just see it's a reallybright future for us and, and
the world.
Ed (33:41):
So when you're, when you're actually at the games, we talked
about how it has changed alittle bit, uh, from your
perspective during the, theyears you've been able to go
there, you know, do you, you'revery focused obviously on your
events, you're there for apurpose, you know, you're there
to, to, to try to get thosemedals, those elusive medals
that everyone wants.
Do you have the opportunity towatch any of the other sports,
any of the other athletes or areyou just so focused on the
(34:04):
Alpine skiing piece and, andbeing around that, that scene
that you don't have theopportunity to, to enjoy other
aspects of the games and othersports?
Tyler (34:12):
Yeah.
I mean, you are, it's a job,right?
You are going there for a reasonand that is your first and
foremost focus.
But, um, we do occasionally geta little bit of downtime, not a
whole lot but a little bit.
So whether it's on the TVsthere, or if we're, we're lucky
to have that opportunity to goto a different venue, we do try
to cheer on the rest of ourteam.
Um, so in 2018 and even 2014, wedid that.
(34:36):
We, there was a couple times wekind of snuck away.
Um, sled hockey was a big onethat we tried to go to those
games, um, to, to cheer on theteam, um, to, to root'em on to,
to win, win gold, which they'vebeen absolutely crushing, which
is so cool to see.
Um, but you know, 2022, thispast games was a little
different with COVID and we hadthree different villages and it
(34:59):
was a closed loop system.
So unless, you know, you wereliving in, in, in that village
or you had a reason to be there,you couldn't travel between the
different ones.
So we didn't, we didn't get togo to see the other sports this
last one, which was a little bitof a bummer that was kind of
disappointing, but, um, wewatched it on TV.
We cheered'em on, you know, inspirit and, um, you know, knew
(35:20):
that they were doing the samewith us, but generally we do try
to find a little time to gocheer on the rest of the team,
see the different sports, butobviously sometimes factors play
in that, you know, it's just notpossible.
Ed (35:31):
How, how about the, you know, you're traveling to these
other places, you know, what'sthe impact of having to do that
travel and, you know, changingtime zones.
How do you sort of prepare for,is that one of those things
where like, after you've done ita couple times, it gets a little
easier to make thoseadjustments.
Tyler (35:44):
You know, the more you travel, you get used to whatever
plan you need to like getyourself set, but I'd say it
never gets easier.
Um, especially when you'rejumping so many times zones like
going to Asia, the one thing youget is the experience and
knowing what you need to do,knowing like,"Hey, I don't, I
shouldn't, you know, sleep allday because then I'm gonna be up
all night" being really on aboutyour pre travel.
(36:07):
Like that's huge.
Like, I didn't know that, youknow, the first time I went to
Sochi was, you know, being onabout trying to get yourself set
up a couple days before youleave on that time zone.
Um, being strategic on theflight in terms of like when you
sleep, when you don't in line toyourself, so that you're,
you're, you're giving yourselfthe best chance to adjust.
Cause when we got to Beijing, wehad, um, we arrived like, uh,
(36:28):
one or 2:00 AM.
We moved into the village and wehad that day that, you know, day
that we landed early morning tokind of explore the village, get
set up, unpack our bags.
And then next day, you know, wewere on snow and then we were,
we started our official trainingruns for the downhill, the
following day.
Like we, we didn't have any,like we didn't have, Hey, you
got a couple days to kind ofchill and get, get ready, no.
(36:51):
We were, we were, we had to beon like pretty much right away.
So that pre you know, travelplanning and, and just being
aware that was, was such a huge,uh, factor in what we were
doing.
Ed (37:02):
So you had already announced your retirement prior to going
to Beijing.
Did you already know what youwere gonna do next or did you
have to kind of figure that outwhen you got back?
Tyler (37:11):
Yeah,
what, what's next?
The last two years I've beenworking at the US Olympic and
Paralympic museum here inColorado Springs.
Um, the, the first one of itskind in the us, which is really
special, um, having a place tohonor our us Olympians and
Paralympians and they're amazingstories.
Um, so I've been working there,um, since they opened in 2020.
(37:35):
And, um, I took a leave ofabsence for the winter.
Obviously I can, couldn't reallydo both, but I came, you know,
pretty quickly right back towork and, and working there now.
And, um, just, you know, doing,doing what I can to, um, share
those stories, to honor theathletes and, and make it a fun
experience for anyone to comevisit.
Um, so that's kind of the, thewhere I'm at now.
(37:56):
Hopefully I'm there for a while.
We'll, we'll see what the futureholds.
There's honestly a lot of thingsI want to do, and it's kind of
the pecking order of how I wantto start, what order that.
Um, but I know the biggest thingat the end of the day is I want
to promote the Paralympicmovement, keep growing that I
want to be an advocate forliving a healthy and active
lifestyle.
I want to eat as much ice creamas I possibly can and work out a
(38:18):
bunch and I'm back to workingout, cuz it, life is weird.
Like it's, it's, I'm in thisweird transition period,
figuring out, you know, postathlete life and all that.
And you know, one of the thingsthat I I've just grown to love,
you know, the training's agrind, but just being in the
gym, there's something specialabout that.
And you know, again, beingactive, being healthy, I know I
(38:40):
talk a lot about ice cream and Iknow that, you know, it, it's
not always the healthiest, butin moderation you can really,
you know, find your path, yourbalance.
And you know, I, I eat fairlyhealthy and, and you know, good
meals outside of that.
So I, I, and I work out enoughthat I think I can enjoy my pint
of ice cream here and there.
Ed (38:59):
So you, you save your ice cream points?
Tyler (39:01):
Yeah.
Yes, absolutely.
And that's the thing, like, I'mnot a sweet guy, like everyone's
like, oh, you like ice cream?
You're a sweet guy.
No, I don't, I don't eat candy.
I don't like nothing againstanyone that does.
I just, candy doesn't really doit for me.
Ed (39:13):
Have you, have you been approached by any major ice
cream manufacturers about somekind of like sweetheart
sponsorship deal?
That sounds like it might besomething that we, we could cook
up maybe.
Tyler (39:22):
I have been trying, please help me.
Uh, this is my plea out to theworld.
I am a free agent in terms ofice cream.
I wanna work with you.
Let's come up with a coolflavor.
Let's work together, you know,let's make this a big thing.
Um, anyway, that's my plea outthere.
So, um, any, any ice creambrands companies, you know, I am
, I am open to, um, partneringwith you.
(39:43):
Let's let's make somethinghappen that you would, you would
truly make my day.
Ed (39:47):
So I don't, I don't think we, we, we necessarily wanna
list ice cream as a hobby or a,a side interest, but you
probably have more time to dothose kinds of things now.
And, and, you know, try somestuff that maybe you didn't have
time for before because of your,your training schedule.
What are some, what are someother fun things that you just
enjoy doing?
Tyler (40:03):
I'd say ice cream is a lifestyle, um, you know, living
the ice cream lifestyle, butgoing away from ice cream for a
minute.
Cause I really do talk too muchabout it.
It it's funny cuz I thought Iwould have a lot more time, but
I actually don't, I'm just asbusy if not more, but I, I guess
that is because I'm like, sinceI'm not skiing all the time or
you know, even though I'm in thegym, my training, I have pulled
(40:24):
back just a little bit justbecause I, I don't need to be in
the gym as much as I used to.
I'm, you know, keeping myselfbusy, I'm doing a lot of public
speaking.
I'm doing, you know, um, kind ofpodcasts and interviews, trying
to get my name out there.
Um, I, there's some amazingorganizations I work with, um,
kind of in this local area thatI've been able to devote more
(40:45):
time to, uh, you know, I'm backat work full time.
I, I mean, it's my day off todayand I have a packed schedule.
Like I I'm, you know, got somuch going on, but it's, it's
good.
I like being busy.
I like having stuff going on andI have a few ideas of things.
I'm like actually some projectsI'm, I'm trying to work on.
So I'm kind of just formulatinglike how they're gonna pan out,
(41:06):
but I'm, I'm quite excited what,what might come, but at the end
of the day, you know, I've saidit, I think I've said it a few
times, but I, I truly mean that,you know, my goal is to bring
some positivity to the world.
So however I can do that, that'sthe most important thing to me.
And um, every project or every,you know, kind of company or
organization I sign up to workwith.
Um, that's first and foremost,the most important thing that
(41:28):
we're, we're doing that andwe're making a difference.
Ed (41:31):
Do you ever get to, to come back to, uh, the Berks County
area and, and visit your roots alittle bit?
Tyler (41:36):
You know, I, I came back for, I think exactly week, like
literally a, a day after I gotback from Beijing.
Um, cause I hadn't seen myfamily in such a long time and
it's kind of sad cause I slepthalf of that trip.
Cause I was so jet lagged andtired from the games, but um,
you know, I try to come backand, and I think that is the one
difference is now not having totravel as much as an athlete.
(42:01):
I, I can take that, you know,time to come back, see the
family come to Berks Countyarea.
And I know I'll be back inAugust cuz I, my cousin's
getting married.
So I already have that tripbooked.
I've book blocked a week off.
I'm very excited.
So I'll be back during that timeand um, always looking for, for
ways or projects to be involvedthat will, you know, bring me
(42:21):
back to that area to visit, tovisit.
I love, I love Pennsylvania, butColorado.
I'm sorry.
Has my heart.
Ed (42:28):
So do you have any, any kind of final thoughts you'd like to
share aside from"will work forice cream," which you've made
abundantly clear?
Tyler (42:34):
Yeah, I feel like that could be the title of this.
No I'm joking.
Here's the thing I've, I'vereally had some incredible
opportunities.
I've I've really been blessed tobe able to follow my dreams, to,
to do what I love for so long.
And um, to anyone out therelistening, you know what,
doesn't matter what your dreamis, it doesn't matter how big,
how small, you know, do it,follow it.
(42:58):
You know, if you fail, you fail,but you at least tried.
And that's the most importantthing.
You know, how many times thatI've crashed, I've been knocked
down I, you know, had, you know,setbacks and I just kept going.
I kept staying, you know,determined and having that
discipline to fall, follow thatdream and see it through to the
end.
So, you know, be active.
(43:19):
You don't have to worry, youknow, it doesn't have to be
trying to go to the Olympics orParalympics, but go out, you
know, be a little active inlife, get outside, have some
fun, maybe eat a little bit ofice cream, but really just find
what you enjoy, what yourpassion is, stick with it.
And don't give up on that.
That's the best advice I cangive.
Um, and it's, it's just, it's a,it's a special thing.
(43:40):
You know, if, if you're, ifyou're doing what you love,
you're never really working aday in your life.
At least I've heard that manytimes and until I like kind of
experienced this side of life.
I never believed it, but itreally is the truth.
Um, so I hope you all find yourpassion and if you want to check
out my crazy ice cream, um,escapades or my silly workouts
(44:02):
that I still do, tcskiusa onInstagram, I have to give a plug
for that cause, oh my gosh, it,it is, um, I have way too much
fun on there.
So if you, uh, you know, wannasee what shenanigans I'm up to,
even though I'm a retiredathlete, I promise I'll still
have plenty of fun shenaniganson there.
Ed (44:20):
Well, Tyler Carter, three time US Paralympian, thanks so
much for spending this time withDisability Talks and sharing
your story with our listeners.
We really appreciate it and wishyou all the best with your
future, whatever it is thatcomes next, we know it's gonna
involve ice cream at whateverelse it involves, I'm sure
you're gonna be great at it.
Tyler (44:36):
Thank you so much Ed, it's been an absolute pleasure
being on here.
Outro (45:18):
Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Disability
Talks.
Want to be a part of the ongoingconversation?
Visit our website atabilitiesinmotion.org or connect
with us on social media.
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