Popular Stories
A few weeks ago we presented T-Bar Film’s Out On A Limb with Columbia. It's the story of Vasu Sojitra, a skier who lost his right leg to a
blood infection at only nine months old, and who since has grown into one hell
of a skier–even skinning and bootpacking backcountry couloirs and slaying pow
on the way down. After watching the above mini-doc, you'd have to be missing
some critical parts of your frontal lobe not to be impressed.
Last Friday we asked Vasu to participate in an Ask Me
Anything in the TGR forums. Today we have rounded up the best questions &
answers from Vasu's AMA session.
Welcome to this highly ego rich demographic spectrum of
the Internet worlds. Since we have a Hoji (Eric Hjorliefson), can i refer to you as Soji?.
My name is a bit
tricky sometimes, but it is phonetic ( Va-sue So-gee-tra). And yeah, do it up!
Soji's a great nick name. Thanks!
Nothing better than some elusive VT pow! A screenshot from the film captures some deep hardwoods shredding.
Just wanted to know, do you often wonder how you would ski
with two legs? One leg must require so much more balance, that’s why I ask. I’ve
heard a famous wheel chair athlete say he loved his wheel chair as it made him
who he was, and he wouldn't want it any other way. For me, I cant even grasp that
thought, but do you feel similar?
Great question man! So I do sometimes wonder what it would
be like, because I mainly ski with able-bodied friends, but I get over that
thought pretty quickly. I know what I was given,a and I know what I have to do to
have fun. 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.
Check out exclusive interview with Vasu & T-Bar Films on the behind-the-scenes making of Out On a Limb here.
A message I'm trying to send out is 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.
How do you do a kick turn with one leg while skinning?
So I place my outrigger/crutches 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...
Vasu working himself up a skin track in the Chic Chocs.
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
hamstrings.
Great question. I know that my leg has definitely gained more
muscle mass as I keep skiing, but I really don't know what to compare it to, because I've grown up with one leg my whole life. I do my best to keep my leg
centered under my body so I'm balanced. My leg is pretty tired after a long day, though, for sure.
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?
Yeah that ski rocks the BC! I love the DPS Wailer 112. I also have
a
Wailer 99 that I use inbounds and in the BC. I’m 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!
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?
Join Our Newsletter
Yeah, I've thought about it and do some research now and then,
but I used 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.
Vasu shredding an East Coast bump run at Sugarbush, Vermont.
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. 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.
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, & Vermont craft beer? Ideal ski day would be where?
And with who?
Well, living in Bozeman, I'm super excited to ski Bridger Bowl 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 Vermont maple syrup.
Stuff's like crack!
Still can't say no to a night up at Starks Nest during a big
storm, first track down, and first chair on the single chair at Mad River Glen.
Those are some of the best turns 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.
Riding buddies Alex Holt, Gerry Gnarcia, & Vasu hanging in the mountains.
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.
Good question. Yeah I dabble in skating and longboarding,
but I think skiing is easier to get better at since snow is so forgiving. Don't
get me wrong, I do like cruising the street on my longboard, but after scaring
me shitless and hitting 40 mph on a board, I think I'd rather stick to going
big on a ski.
Seems I am seeing your movie all over the internet now. What
is one thing that has surprised you about your new found fame?
Love this question. I'm still in shock from all that has
happened from Banff to the Powder Awards. I'm still the same me and all this
isn't going to change who I am as a person and what my life goals are. I still
want to help people in need especially in countries that need it, like India,
where most of my family is from. All this just helps spread the word and helps
with funding.
Something that has surprised me is how the public has
reacted to something I love to do and am used to. My friends are on the same
page it seems. They're not blown away by what I do anymore and I'm not either.
It's a way of life for me and with it being that it does seems interested to be
part of a community where I can be compared to a healthy person with two legs.
Hope that answered your question.
Cover photo by Tate Colbert.
