Ask Me Anything: Vasu Sojitra (11/21)

[WaistDeepGroomers]

Last week we featured a short doc done by the good dudes over at T-Bar Films about Vasu Sojitra–who lost his right leg due to a blood infection when he was nine months old, but has since grown into a charger of a skier and does huge tours in the Chic Chocs and elsewhere. The doc is here:



You can also read an interview we did with Vasu & the T-Bar guys about the doc here: http://www.tetongravity.com/story/sk...-out-on-a-limb

And about Vasu climbing the Grand Teton this summer here: http://www.tetongravity.com/story/sk...n-adaptive-ath

Vasu'll be on here from Noon-3 PM MST tomorrow, so ask away!

[SB]

I second the Soji nickname.

[Full Stoke George]

Really inspirational stuff. Just wanted to know, do you often wonder how you would ski with two legs? One leg must require so much more balance, thats why i ask.
Ive heard a famous wheel chair athlete say he loved his wheel chair as it makes him who he is and he wouldn't want it any other way. For me I cant even grasp that thought, but do you feel similar?

Respect dude.

[AlexC]

How do you do a kick turn with one leg?

[WaistDeepGroomers]

How have your muscles and ligaments changed to accommodate having just your left leg? I know my legs changed quite a bit after having a spinal cord injury and losing strength and function in my calves and hammies....

[Coño Frío]

Vasu,

Loved "Out On A Limb". You are one inspiring dude. You rock the pow on your sweet DPS rig. Do you have a different setup for carving the frontside? What's in your quiver?

Bonus question: are you a Maggot?

[3trackliving]

welcome to this highly ego rich demographic spectrum of the internet worlds. first question, how does mom boyle, from the columbia sportswear co., pronounce your name? second question, since we have a hoji, can i refer to you as soji?.
thanks and keep fighting infection!
bobby

My name is a bit tricky sometimes, but it is phonetic ( Va-sue So-gee-tra). An yeah do it up! Soji's a great nick name. Thanks!

[3trackliving]

Really inspirational stuff. Just wanted to know, do you often wonder how you would ski with two legs? One leg must require so much more balance, thats why i ask.
Ive heard a famous wheel chair athlete say he loved his wheel chair as it makes him who he is and he wouldn't want it any other way. For me I cant even grasp that thought, but do you feel similar?

Respect dude.

great questions man! So I do sometimes wonder what it would be like because I mainly ski with able body friends, but I get over that thought pretty quickly. I know what I was given and I know what I have to do to have fun so I do my best to not let those thoughts bog me down. I look at the bright side of my challenge and do the best I can to enjoy life. As for the adaptive equipment question, I think of my crutches as a part of me. I always call them my "legs" and they help me make me how I am, but I know it's not just my crutches that defines me, it's who I am as a whole. That's again another message I'm trying to send out with this, that all those little quirks define who you are so do your best to not be something or someone you're not. Once everyone figures that out, I feel that there won't be this big bubble of prejudice in the world. Hope that answered your question. Keep the shred alive!

[3trackliving]

soji, george is young and hasn't fully grasped the word respect.

question, do you watch tv? i love documentaries about other peoples ability to flourish in adverse conditions. i also enjoy animal planet.

No worries, George brought up some solid questions. Curiosity never kills the cats.

I do watch tv, but I like to meet the people that over come their obstacles instead. It really helps build a connect and I get to see their side of the story and who they are as a person.

[3trackliving]

How do you do a kick turn with one leg?

So I place my outrigger/curtches as a solid support and then just pivot my body with the ski where I want it to go. Pretty easy actually, but I have had some sketchy moments...

[3trackliving]

How have your muscles and ligaments changed to accommodate having just your left leg? I know my legs changed quite a bit after having a spinal cord injury and losing strength and function in my calves and hammies....

Great question. I know that my leg has definitely gain more muscle mass as I keep skiing, but I really don't know what to compare it to because I've grown up with this my how life. I do my best to keep my leg centered under my body so I'm balanced. I do wanna say my leg is pretty tired after a long day. Hope that answered your question.

[WaistDeepGroomers]

What's your technique for side hill skin tracks? That shit drive me nuts already on two legs.

What's your better side turning, left turn? Right turn?

[mcski]

Prosthetics have advanced a lot in recent years. Have you ever tried to ski with a prosthetic leg. What would be the barriers a prosthetic would need to overcome for you to ski on a prosthetic?

[3trackliving]

Vasu,

Loved "Out On A Limb". You are one inspiring dude. You rock the pow on your sweet DPS rig. Do you have a different setup for carving the frontside? What's in your quiver?

Bonus question: are you a Maggot?

Yeah that ski rocks the BC! Love the wailer 112. I also have a wailer 99 that I use inbound and in the BC and about to set up a hybrid wailer 112 (a little softer than full Carbon) and a Lotus 120. So my quiver is stacking up nicely!

Not sure what you mean my Maggot, but am I supporto fell offended?

[3trackliving]

What's your technique for side hill skin tracks? That shit drive me nuts already on two legs.

What's your better side turning, left turn? Right turn?

Man! Treversing sucks sometime, cuz one crutch is at shoulder level and the other is at waist level and just throws my balance off a lot. Basically just take it one step at a time and keep going. Arm's definitely get sore after a long traverse.

I don't think I have a dominated side for a kick turn actually. Just gotten use to it fairly quickly. Thanks for asking though.

[3trackliving]

Prosthetics have advanced a lot in recent years. Have you ever tried to ski with a prosthetic leg. What would be the barriers a prosthetic would need to overcome for you to ski on a prosthetic?

Yeah I'm thought about it and do some research now and then, but I use to have a prosthetic leg and it was just a pain in the ass (literally). My amputation is called an above knee hip disarticulation (don't worry I still have two butt cheeks) so because of that I have to sit in a bucket like cup to fit the prosthetic leg. You can imagine that's pretty uncomfortable.

As for the barriers, if I did use a prosthetic, I think that I wouldn't have control over any of my turns and it would be pretty dangerous. When I was younger and had my prosthetic leg, I really couldn't control it that much and I basically had to limp with it on or even use crutches alongside it, so I'm still not too interested in getting one. I'm fully capable with just the crutches as you can tell.

[Coño Frío]

Yeah that ski rocks the BC! Love the wailer 112. I also have a wailer 99 that I use inbound and in the BC and about to set up a hybrid wailer 112 (a little softer than full Carbon) and a Lotus 120. So my quiver is stacking up nicely!

Not sure what you mean my Maggot, but am I supporto fell offended?

Honored, not offended!

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...et-the-Maggots

[WaistDeepGroomers]

Also what's your best side for turning downhill? Favorite place to ski back east?

[3trackliving]

dps must be so proud watching their wailer move through that pow, if they aren't giving you that ski for free, they are missing out big time. if you get to the pnw, north of the southern resort @crystal, let's ski.
question, that ski is fairly soft in the tail, do you ever get back too far and just hip check? i ski the 112 hybrid sometimes when not crushing my praxis Rx. the stiffer tail allows me to ride the backseat without spinning out, you ever ride a stiffer ski?

Ahh Crystal! I was there two years ago. Place is awesome! For sure hit me up.

As for the ski, I did sign with DPS pretty recently and they are sending me a hand full of skis. Pretty psyched! And I'm not sure what you're talking about that ski not being stiff. Thing is stiff as a donkey's dick at a rodeo. I do have the Pure version so that might be the difference. Thing cuts through crud like butter. Love it. That snow you saw when I was skiing in the Chic Chocs was pretty wind crusted so I had to go pretty slow to not fall, but it was that ski that really helped me not drop an edge. Could not have done that line without that ski. Thing was rock and roll!

[3trackliving]

Also what's your best side for turning downhill? Favorite place to ski back east?

I'm actually decent at both side when going down. sometime my outer edge is stronger actaully.

MAD RIVER GLEN SKI IT IF YOU CAN!

[Jdesabri]

Where are you most excited to ski now that you have moved out west? Is it true you have gotten this good at skiing from just eating waffles, ben & jerry's, & vt craft beer? Ideal ski day would be where? & who with?

[3trackliving]

Honored, not offended!

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...et-the-Maggots

Well thanks you.

[3trackliving]

Where are you most excited to ski now that you have moved out west? Is it true you have gotten this good at skiing from just eating waffles, ben & jerry's, & vt craft beer? Ideal ski day would be where? & who with?

Well living in Bozeman, I'm super excited to ski Bridger and the backcountry around here looks amazing! Can't wait to go to Cooke City and check all the BC in the Beartooths.

And yeah it's true, mostly from waffles and vt maple syrup. Stuff's like crack!

Still can't say no to a night up at Starks Nest during a big storm, first tracked down, and first chair on the single chair at Mad River Glen. Those are some of the best turn I've had in my life and all of course with my close friends Alex Holt, Spencer (Gerry Gnarcia) Fitz-Gerald, Reed Hanson, and Branham Snyder. Those are the goons I'll always love to ski with.

[Coño Frío]

Have you ever experienced phantom pain in the missing extremity? and if so, do you think that a taste of Colorado's finest flora would help alleviate that discomfort?

[Jon Riley]

This is amazing stuff! I heard you also dabble with skateboarding/long boarding when the mountains dry up in the summer. Did you find skiing or long boarding to be harder to get into? I imagine the asphalt is much less forgiving.