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Crystal local competes in XGames Mono Skier X

01.29.2010

Local skier Jim Martinson competed in the Winter X Games Mono Skier X on Saturday, January 30. Martinson was the oldest competitor in Winter X history. Unfortunately, he did not make the finals. We congratulate him for making to the X Games!

Martinson, a Vietnam veteran that has finished the Boston marathon via wheelchair and won gold in the ’92 Paralympic downhill, is an avid backcountry skier. Before the war, he skied often but took a long break after losing his legs to a land mine in the war. He picked the sport back up in the late ’80s and has since been a key innovator in sit-ski technology. Now, he says he averages over 70 days of skiing a year.

Although it’s his first Winter X Games, don’t count the old guy out, even if he crashed in practice. “Hey, I’m old, but they say your legs go first and I lost mine 42 years ago,” he said with wry smile.— Courtesy of ESPN Action Sports/ Joshua Duplechian