WINDHAM, NY – The Adaptive Sports Foundation (ASF) will be hosting the annual Ralph Hartman Tribute Cup this Saturday, March 8 at Windham Mountain Club.
The Ralph Hartman Tribute Cup celebrates the end of the ASF’s winter season. It is a fun race for all athletes who took an adaptive snow sport lesson with the ASF during the 2024-2025 winter season. Students who registered for the race will arrive at the ASF’s Gwen Allard Adaptive Sports Center at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning and go out for some last-minute instruction and practice runs on the racecourse. Lunch will be served at the ASF lodge from 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m. before the race begins at 12:30 p.m. The race will be held on Windham Mountain Club’s “White Way” trail.
Racers will take two runs down the course, with their best time being measured for awards. Racers’ families, ASF staff, ASF volunteers and general spectators are invited to watch the race from the bottom of “White Way”, where they will be encouraged to cheer for the athletes as they cross the finish line.
Once the race concludes, the athletes, their families and ASF volunteers will attend the award ceremony at the ASF lodge. Not only will race medals and awards be handed out, but the ASF has several season-long awards that will be given to adaptive athletes and volunteers that worked hard all winter long. The Hartman Award, the All-Around Volunteer Award and the Volunteer Rookie of the Year Award are all given to deserving volunteers, while the Stu Smith “Magic Man” Award and the Robert "Buff" Donnelly Award are given to students who exemplified courage, improvement, enthusiasm and a love of winter sports.
The party doesn’t end after the award ceremony. From 5:30-8 p.m., the Ralph Hartman Dinner Dance will be held at the Windham Mountain Club base lodge in its Seasons restaurant. Each year, the dinner dance has a different theme, and this year’s theme is the old west. Attendees are encouraged to wear their best western-style clothes and take part in the festivities.
If you plan on skiing or snowboarding at Windham Mountain Club this Saturday, March 8, feel free to join the ASF crowd in cheering on these incredible athletes.
About the Ralph Hartman Tribute Cup
Since 1990, the ASF has held an end-of-season race that gives its adaptive skiers and snowboarders the opportunity to show off the skills they learned during the season in an actual race. Ralph Hartman, the man who the race was eventually named after, was a lifelong skier that lost part of his left leg due to a heart condition. One day a discouraged Hartman met ASF founder Gwen Allard, who introduced him to adaptive skiing and revitalized his passion for snow sports. Hartman became a student and ultimately a certified adaptive instructor who also helped gain funding from politicians and sponsors for the ASF.
About the Adaptive Sports Foundation
For over 40 years the ASF has been providing sports and recreation opportunities to thousands in the disabled community. Since then, it has grown into what it is today, an organization that provides year-round services out of its own slope-side lodge, the Gwen Allard Adaptive Sports Center. All this has been accomplished over the years thanks to many donors and an impressive legion of volunteers, who can be seen in their iconic green jackets sliding down the snow-white slopes.
The Adaptive Sports Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides profound and life changing experiences for children and adults with physical disabilities, cognitive disabilities and chronic illnesses through outdoor physical activity, education, support and community. For more information about the Adaptive Sports Foundation please visit www.adaptivesportsfoundation.org.
Adaptive Sports Foundation