(EXPECTANT MUSIC) (DETERMINED ROCK MUSIC) MALE NARRATOR: New Zealand's mountainous terrain makes it one of the top ski training destinations in the world. It's bred hardy Paralympic skiers like... (GRUNTS) Both men travel to Pyeongchang in March for the 2018 Paralympic Games. MAN: It's gonna be important to go out and do what I do ` just concentrate on the skiin' and skiin' fast. MAN: The margins are getting smaller and smaller, and that's where we're tryin' to do absolutely everything that we possibly can to squeeze in and push the margins out. MALE ANNOUNCER: All right on day one to take the lead` Oh, he trips the red gate, and he's down. GRUNTS: Oh! Oh, he's late at it! He's late at it! Oh! At the Winter Paralympics in Korea, Corey and Adam will be joined by Kiwi snowboarder Carl Murphy, each competing in a separate class. Their drive for medals is critical to their future as athletes. If they don't deliver results, they don't get investments. MAN: None of us can afford to hide, and, no, we gotta make sure that we need to do better in order to beat the competition. Captions by Shrutika Gunanayagam. www.able.co.nz Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2018 (PHONE RINGTONE CHIMES) (GENTLE ACOUSTIC GUITAR MUSIC) Otago-born and raised, Adam Hall has travelled the world circuit for 13 years. Adam's training for his fourth Paralympics. He's been ranked in the top five in his class for almost a decade. It's my morning ritual of... Weet-Bix every morning,... (PACKAGING RUSTLES) ...as a good southern man, I guess. From a little boy of having the dreams and aspirations of wanting to represent New Zealand at the highest level possible, and to be able to make those dreams become reality, I think, is pretty special. His mum introduced him to skiing as a child, knowing it would help build strength and offset his spina bifida. He's done winters back-to-back for 16 seasons. I never knew how long I'd be able to keep doing this, especially from a body point and how I'd be able to hold up, but training's been really good for my body. It's probably been one of the best things for me, and it's kept me really healthy, and it's kept me really fit, and it's actually paid a positive aspect on my day-to-day living as well. (ENGINE RUMBLES) (LOW, PULSING, INTRIGUING MUSIC) (MUSIC FILLS OUT) Corey Peters was introduced to the sit-ski just two years after he became paralysed. Preferably racin' in bluebird conditions is, you know, the ideal situation, but in an outdoor sport like we do, Mother Nature does what she wants. Nah, honestly, this is really good weather. This is really good weather; I'm serious. Like, on a normal day, we wouldn't be anywhere near as good as this. It isn't like a swimming pool, where it's gonna be the same every day. So on any given day, we have to make those adjustments. We use different lenses in our goggles to try and, you know, cope with those conditions and the flat light and stuff like that. When you're goin' at the speeds that we go at, it's pretty nice to be able to see the terrain and the bumps and the ruts. Before his accident, Corey was a motocross rider and surfer. The sit-ski felt surprisingly natural. I think there's a lotta similarities between motocross and monoskiin'. Firstly, you've got a shock under you to absorb bumps. I've always had the adrenaline bug, I guess; I like to go fast. Sit-skiin' sorta gives you that freedom to go 100km/h, 120km/h down a mountain. (PENSIVE HIP-HOP MUSIC) Four years ago at his first Paralympics in Sochi, he stunned the skiing community and himself by taking out silver in the sit-ski. MALE ANNOUNCER: The time of Christoph Kunz ` 2:32.73. Corey Peters for the gold. Or is it silver? He's outside; it's silver medal for Corey Peters. I guess, looking back to Sochi, there was no pressure for me. I was kinda the new kid on the block, and I could just go out there and do my thing. So for me, it's gonna be important to try and keep that mentality. I would say Corey would be the fastest progressing athlete that the sport has ever seen ` kinda sent, I think, a shockwave through the whole sport, specifically in the sit-skiers. Adam's a bit of a legend himself. Regarded as the most disabled skier in his class, he continues to dominate world events. It's hard for me to even understand how I ski as well, because when you look at the way that I walk and then I jump on skis, it's a completely different result. It's a Kiwi company that designs Adam's custom orthotics that give his feet and ankles the stability to ski. The tips of his skis are tethered to keep his skis aligned. (EXPECTANT ELECTRONIC MUSIC) It was a spectacular race in Vancouver eight years ago that resulted in Adam's Paralympic gold. MALE ANNOUNCER: It's a 0.38, and he's skied the top half well. MALE ANNOUNCER: Oh no! Oh no, Adam Hall. And having to re-correct now ` how much time has that taken from his advantage? (CHEERING) But he stills wins it! Unbelievable! Adam Hall has done it. He spent the next four years training on slopes around the world, and in 2014 was on track to win gold again,... MALE ANNOUNCER: Ohhh, just getting caught on the inside edge. ...but a random virus zapped his energy on the day. From his advantage, 1:43.69 ` oh, he's taken too much; he's outside. And the defending Winter Paralympic champion will not be retaining his title. ADAM: It's kinda turned into, I guess, for me, from a four-year campaign to now an eight-year campaign again, and I simply wanna just be able to go up there and, you know, finish unfinished business, I guess. He's since gone on to world championships and podiumed at world championships, so he's sort of getting back to where his best is. What we've seen is a lot of fast rises out of different countries, so, you know, newly injured athletes,... (GRUNTS) ...and that increases the pressure on the old guard, cos they have to, you know, work out what they've gotta do to stay ahead. (THUD!) Also part of the old guard is 38-year-old Carl Murphy. The snowboarder has been competing internationally for 10 years, but now with three young children, it's harder to be away on the circuit for weeks on end. Tell you the truth, sometimes my body feels a bit older than what I am, but, you know, I look after myself pretty well, so apart from those days when I'm a bit beat up, I still feel like I'm 25. For the past two years, Carl has battled major leg injuries that impacted not his amputated limb but his good leg, but he's back. When it first happened, that definitely crossed my mind ` that this could be the end. When I had my surgery and I sorta started to recover from that, I was like, 'Keep pushing here and see what happens' ` see if I can get back to where I wanna be and get to the next Paralympics. You gotta be really brave, cos you know you're gonna go backwards. You are gonna lose form; you're gonna lose trust in yourself. You're gonna go through that whole, 'What am I doing this for?' question. Carl is hoping that now he's back to that full-fitness build, back to where he previously had had success in his sport. MAN: Attention! (SHOUTING) Carl competes in the boardercross and banked slalom, where he's ranked third in the world. (INDISTINCT PA ANNOUNCEMENT) Funding of elite athletes is based on pure performance. Having dedicated their lives to the sport, all three athletes are under no illusion ` they must medal. New Zealand, you know, Winter Paralympic athletes have always represented New Zealand well. We've always brought home medals from every Paralympic Games from the '80s all the way through except for 2006 in Torino, I believe. So we've always been very successful. You know, and then Corey saved our butt in Sochi with the silver, which was pretty cool as well. We're looking to build on foundations that were put down in Vancouver, Sochi, and then take this now to instead of just winning one medal, we're looking for the team to deliver multiple medals, as well as bring through an extra couple of new faces that can go on and perform beyond 2018 into 2022 and beyond that. One of the new athletes on the radar of Snow Sports NZ is 21-year-old Aaron Ewen. Aaron was talented BMX competitor until an horrific accident ended his career. He crashed after hitting a tree at speed. Snow Sports coaches suspected he had the makings of a Paralympic athlete, but Aaron wasn't sure he wanted that pressure while he was coming to terms with his disability. Oh, at the start, did the season in New Zealand; it was good, but think I did two days' training in gates and was like, 'Nah.' Never want` Don't wanna race ` like, too serious and not that fun and all that. So I just ended up freeskiing, having fun for the two months. When Aaron first got on snow, he thought racing might be down his line, so he came, had a go at racing, didn't really like it ` didn't like the structure, didn't the discipline that was involved. So you've gotta set things free sometimes for them to come back. So Aaron spent a year just bladding around and learning how his ski worked. After a year of doing that, he decided to go a bit more into the race arena. After that, I was like, 'Sweet, yeah, it's on,' and just worked for the summer and then, when winter came round, just packed up my shit and moved to Wanaka. In his first season, he won international events. Now the real business begins ` grooming him to compete at future Paralympics. Younger athletes, they're excitable, and they're full of energy, and they haven't learnt that actually being a full-time athlete's quite a tough role. It involves a lot of energy, and it involves a lot of commitments and a lot of sacrifices. (PENSIVE ACOUSTIC MUSIC) # "Whole World" by Gabe Simon VO: 'When you book a flight with Expedia,' 'and add a hotel or activity,' 'you can save.' 'Everything you need to go.' 'EXPEDIA.' (PENSIVE MUSIC) (MUSIC FILLS OUT) Post-accident, paraplegics rapidly lose muscle tone. Reset. Aaron has almost no control of his stomach muscles,... That's it ` nice and strong. ...but core stability is vital to manoeuver a sit-ski. Three, two,... (GRUNTS SOFTLY) ...one. Nice. By comparison, Corey's developed massive shoulder and core strength since his accident. COREY: For me, this is kinda what I do for warm-up... but also to try and keep, like, my shoulders strong and robust, because if we are to crash, the first point of contact is gonna be our shoulders. I'm using a lot of core and oblique, so that's the sort of prominent muscles that I use through out the turning. Adam began competing in a era when adaptive skiing was just starting. As the sport's taken off, there's understanding of how to push these disabled athletes harder. ADAM: So I'm about just about to do a dead lift,... (WEIGHTS CLANK) and this is one of my key exercises that I do to really gain that leg strength that I been looking for and trying to gain, so really tryin' to find that overall global power. (GRUNTS) (BARBELL THUDS, CLATTERS) For me, I don't have any movement in my ankles or feet or any feelings. Laterally, I haven't been able to access much. (GRUNTS) (BARBELL THUDS, CLATTERS) So it's tryin' to find just those small, little things that I haven't had in the past, but even if there's just a tiny little fire, if I can work on that, that's gonna add that extra 1%. I mean, these guys train harder than ` be careful what I say around here, but ` anyone in the gym. They push themselves just as much as an able-body athlete, if not more. Yeah, there's no prisoners. It's either work hard or get left behind. I thought I was just gonna sit on the couch and talk to people. Get in here. Good. The programme that we've got here is, you know, one of the best support that we can give, and the training that's provided with their coaches and the support staff around them, so, I mean, these young guys that are comin' into the programme now have just got, you know, more time to develop. (CLICK! GENTLE CHATTER) (CLICK!) I was impressed when I first met Corey ` the determination to push through useless situation that he maybe found himself in after his accident and that drive to work and to push. (LOW, PENSIVE MUSIC) (BIRDS CHIRP) Before his accident, Corey worked as a builder. He's been determined to regain independence. Bein' an older athlete ` now 34; I was 26 when I had the accident ` I think havin' that career and, you know, that responsibility of havin' a full-time job has kind of transferred, I guess, into some of my, you know, training principles and my attitude, I guess. The early starts, gettin' up in the mornin' ` it's no different to gettin' up for a job. My study is to become an architectural draughtsman. It's my exit strategy, I guess you could say, cos it's important to, you know, look to the future and what you're gonna do career-wise once you've retired from bein' a full-time athlete. Corey's life has always been about sport, especially before his motorbike crash. Like any Kiwi bloke, you know, we just enjoy our rugby in New Zealand and just enjoyed gettin' out there with your mates and getting dirty and bein' physical. And then it changed to surfing and motocross. (ENGINE SPUTTERS, REVS) Just really enjoyed going fast and jumping. You know, some of the jumps were 60ft, 70ft. Obviously, that come with quite high risks, and, you know, you had to be quite calculated with the speed that you come into the jumps, which I miscalculated. That was how I had my accident. (ENGINE PUTTERS, REVS) (SOLEMN MUSIC) The feeling that I had initially after the accident was like water balloons ` like, my legs felt like jelly. And I sorta lyin' on my back and just in panic mode, really; try to sit up and take my helmet off and just could not sit up at all. One of the fusion was fixed and stable, they said that, 'It's unlikely that you'll ever walk again,' and for me, that was quite heartbreaking. I thought it was just gonna be, like, a sorta broken leg that would mend and, you know, you'd get back on with your life. (SOLEMN MUSIC INTENSIFIES) For me, I think the mental side of things was probably the toughest thing. It was quite isolating. Like, I didn't know anybody in a chair at all when I had my accident, so I went through quite a depressive state. (COUGHS) Yeah, I think the biggest turning point was the sport. I now had a new focus to concentrate on rather than just the rehab. It was a chance for me to meet other people in chairs and realise that they were just normal people that had suffered a life-changin' injury, you know. As depression started to creep in, Corey challenged himself. He's an incomplete paraplegic so believed there was potential to gain some movement in his legs. So initially, I started using parallel bars. You know, it might've only been for 30 seconds or a minute, and that progression went to... tryin' to use the crutches well, which, obviously, had its obstacles and lots of falls. But then there came a time where there was enough strength in my legs to start to use the crutches and stand from a sitting position and... take a few steps. So it's a bit weird, cos obviously, having no feelin' or sensation below the knees, I don't really know where my feet are. So I have to watch every step where I place the foot, otherwise I'll probably end up trippin' up. (LOW, AMUSING MUSIC) But that wasn't enough. In recent weeks he's figured out that the automatic acceleration of an electric bike could offset the lack of function in his legs. So I've been riding a bike now in the gym for, you know, a couple of years now, and I sorta thought, 'Why not give it a try on a real pushbike?' And, yeah, it's gonna be a bit of trial and error, but we'll see how it goes. But he hasn't told his coach what he's up to. Nah, so this a day off; this is where we get up to all sorts. (GENTLE CHUCKLING) They don't see it until they see it. And he doesn't need to know. Yeah, so long as nothin' bad goes happen ` you know, fall off, get a bit road rash. This is my time, my private time. (CLICKING) (LOW, AMUSING MUSIC CONTINUES) Hang on. Hitch that over. Got it? Clip in. Obviously, it takes a lot of balance and coordination, but I think once you get up to speed, it should be fine. Yeah. Ready? He's off, but in order to stop, he'll have to grab hold of a pole or a tree or crash. Basically, I'm riding the bike with my hip flexors and my quads. In order to bring the pedal back round, most able-bodied would use a hamstring, but because I don't really have much hamstring working, I kind of hitch the pedal back up with my hip flexor. And the way this bike is designed is whatever power I put into the pedal, the motor kicks in and assists you with it. (GENTLE CHATTER) It was good. Yeah. (BIRD CAWS) Aaron was also into competitive sport before he broke his back. Yeah, I was real into mountain biking. Yeah, did that full-time. I did the circuit round New Zealand. Just turned 16, had a itchy downhill race, so, yeah, hit a tree, and that was that. It was pretty soon after ` like, less than a year, and one of my good mates took me out skiing at Turoa, and then after that, I was like, 'Sweet, yeah, it's on.' Oh, yeah, I'm eating that bit. (CRUNCHING) Aaron's flatting with another Paralympic hopeful, Sam Tate, who was born with one malformed arm. Between them, they manage to offset each other's limitations. Mum's gonna be proud of me. She probably won't see it, eh, but... Live in Luggate, just outta Wanaka ` Luggate Life, we call it. But, yeah, it's good times. It's pretty cool, eh. It's kinda like flatting. That's massive. Yeah, it's like having a mate there that's doing the same thing; you know, he's not off doing something else and then, in the evening, you talk about it. He's, like, on the mountain all the time; you go skiing with him after training and that. It's like you get up in the morning, even though you might be getting up really early; I kinda wait for Aaron to get out the shower, and then I go and load the car while Aaron faffs about, really. Yeah. On these skis. So we carpool and... do activities. If we get days off, like, have a blowout now and again, but, yeah, everything in moderation. MAN: Well, I think, you know, look, they're young men, and, you know, they still have a good social life, but they just start making good decisions. If you're tired in the morning and you're tryin' to ski at 80km/h to 120km/h, things generally don't go well. So they work out that pretty quickly, and then they work out when they can, you know, go out and have a late night, and they work out when they can't. (SCRAPING) (LIGHT ELECTRONIC MUSIC) When he's not training on the mountain, Carl snatches time between school pickups and helping with a newborn to build his fitness. Yeah, I do live quite a crazy life compared to some of my younger counterparts. Yeah, I've got three kids ` a 6-year-old, 2-year-old and a newborn, so they definitely keep me grounded, I guess, in some ways. You know, so I can spend a day training, and I come home, and, you know, it's back to normal life of changing nappies and, you know, helping cook dinner and clean the house. On top of that, being a Paralympic sport, there's not a lotta money; you know, sponsors are hard to come by, so I have to work full-time, and I run my own architectural business. He's certainly chosen a tough path, but time management and self-management is part of the skill of being an elite athlete. Just plan the hell out of everything, so really detailed planning ` how much time they've got; what do they need to do? What's a priority? Once they know what that looks like, make sure that anyone around them ` the stakeholders, their family, their friends their teammates ` all understand what commitments they have, and everyone gets on board and supports them to deliver. (LIGHT ELECTRONIC MUSIC CONTINUES) (BRIGHT, ENERGETIC MUSIC) SONG: # I can make your hands clap... # VOICEOVER: Centrum provides multiple health benefits in just one tablet. . Don't worry. Just go to census.govt.nz or call 0800 CENSUS and request a new one. Then check your letterbox for your new code, and complete your census online on or before 6 March at census.govt.nz. (THUDDING, DOOR HINGES SQUEAK) (DOOR SHUTS) So, we have a day off today. What I'm looking at doing is doing a bit of maintenance today on my outriggers and lookin' around town, goin' to the local Wastebusters. These outriggers are very important part for extra stability and then extra control as well. So, I mean, they're a really important thing for me to be able to use. Without these, I simply can't ski. (LOW, INTRIGUING MUSIC) By international standards, our athletes' funding is modest. Adam's a good farm boy, always ready to improvise and find a cheap solution to his technical needs. A wonderful recycling centre, this is. As they say, one man's trash is another man's treasure. I guess, over many years, I've found many different things in this place. And the hunt continues. Been out here a few times in the last few weeks since I came back here and haven't been able to find a pair, so today's my lucky day. Now to see what we can get them for ` 20 bucks, maybe. We'll see. You won't find Corey's high-grade sit-ski in any recycling barn. (THUDDING) Suspension's really important for our sport. So as you can see, when I bounce on it, that's really absorbin' all the terrain and bumps underneath the ski. So this New Zealand season, my key focus is to really get that shock dialled in. So, this is a few of my skis for the season. Typically, I probably go through five to six pairs a season. Because this is just a normal able-bodied ski,... the amount of force, as in G forces, that we put through... through that one ski ` you know, you've got the weight of the sit-ski plus the weight of my body and then the amount of force that comes through the turn ` the skis aren't really designed for that. This season we're also lookin' at how we can make this fairing a lot more aerodynamic and whether or not we can kind of have some sort of carbon-fibre fairing through here. (GENTLE ELECTRIC GUITAR MUSIC) (ENGINE RUMBLES) PA: Welcome to Cardrona Alpine Resort on Tuesday 24th of September. Cardrona is open today. Little bit of cloud around this morning. So 1.5 degrees at base. Cardrona in New Zealand's South Island offers world-class ski training, but it's been a season of unpredictable weather. With more international teams booking time on the slopes, the Kiwi team is under pressure to get enough training runs in. Oh, this season was a little bit leaner on snow than we would've wanted, so we've actually pushed back some of the stuff that we would've been doing earlier into this time now. But, yeah, we'd actually managed to get a good block at the start of the season, and then we went back into the gym for the busy period during the school holidays. So we're on a schedule, and, yeah, it's part of ski racing. Every aspect of Corey's regime is closely watched by Aaron. We're training alongside Corey and Adam at the moment. It's, like, awesome, cos they're, like, some of the best in the world, so if you can ski with them, you're obviously gonna get better. MAN: He's done really well in his first year, but there's certainly a long way to go to meet qualification and then selection criteria. But he's on that track, and it's just managing his expectations and managing his ability to manage his energy and do what's required to get the best out of himself. ADAM: For these guys now to be coming up and being involved in the programme, it's a privilege, because we didn't have that back 15 years ago; we had to work really, really hard and experience and gain experience through other ways. And that was what it was like when I went to Torino in 2006. For me, it was about the experience; it was about learning from the best in the world about what it takes to be the best in the world and what I needed to do. And it was simply just hard work. Just the way that I was raised ` the focus and the determination and the drive that I have is something that I think's been bred into me through generations. Obviously, working, keeping our body up and running nice and stable; just keep thinkin' as the rhythm changes, just be really mindful of what you need to do to adapt, you know, just keep up with it. Yeah. Sounds good. The finest details of Adam's skiing are continuously reviewed in an effort to strip fractions of seconds from each run. (TRAP MUSIC) So lot of it has come down to going away and working on AFOs and my outriggers. Then outside of that, it is, really, refining my technique. You don't own something until you do it 10,000 times over and over and over again. We're tryin' to gain any kind of technical improvements we can, because, you know, races are won by hundredths of seconds. It's exactly like Formula One ` we're always looking for those minute gains, because that's what wins races. Despite winning international events, Carl's never won a Paralympic medal. With limited financial support, he's relying on sheer hard work to deliver the results. Prosthetics is probably the biggest change for some of the competitors. Some of them have got, like, shocks built into the feet and things like that now. I've just changed back to a standard carbon-fibre Flex-Foot. I reckon sometimes it's lifting my heel out, cos it's squashing that down too much, and I'm trying to pack it up to see if it made much difference. Some of the more heavily financed teams, like USA, Canadian teams, they've got a little bit of an advantage from that side, but, you know, if you're willing to put in the work as 'a' individual athlete, like myself, you know, the end of the day, it's just snowboarding, so it's whoever's the best snowboarder on the day. (DUBSTEP MUSIC) MAN: Certainly, in New Zealand, based on the tradition of the All Blacks, is that people expect success, but for Paralympic athletes, the pressure probably comes more in the fact that, if they don't deliver results, they don't get investments. There's almost a distress that comes from needing to perform. Faster high-speed rebound ` when it's comin' through the turn, the ski's pushin' back, so it might just bite. Yeah, that might be it, yeah. We'll have a... One of the biggest changes we've made this season is my equipment. So I've changed my frame and suspension setup. So I've been dealing with a company back up in my hometown, New Plymouth, and they've been a lot of dyno testing with the suspension. Seven months out from the Games, that's the timeframe that we have for me to get that set up right and get me trustin' it and comfortable with it. The victory in Sochi has had a massive impact on Corey. We've seen Corey grow from being a wannabe to a world champion, and mentally, confidence ` unshakeable. Came off the back of a really strong season, probably didn't win the events that he wanted to; couple of crashed put paid to why he didn't, so those are the mistakes that he knows he can fix. His belief in his equipment and the work that's going on in the technology and that side, his strength and his conditioning in the gym is phenomenal. Yeah, as I say, it's all about the confidence, and everything that he's doing at the moment is just building on that confidence. (TRAP MUSIC) What I'm tryin' to achieve here is ` get from the top to the bottom as fast as possible. In order to do that, there's a lotta things that come into the turn in terms of where I'm starting the turn and the initiation of the turn and when I'm finishing. It's kinda like a flow-on effect, and if you start to get that rhythm goin', then it's easier to keep it. As soon as you, sorta, make a mistake, you know, you've gotta try and regroup and get that momentum back again. Crashing's part of the sport, I guess. I think as the years have gone on, I've kind of learnt how to crash. There's definitely a risk of injury in snow sports and in ski racing, but that's a managed risk, and, I s'pose, as the joke amongst the guys is, well, what's the worst that can happen? You might break your neck again, and that's a bit of a, you know... Well, yeah, you might, but how bad's that gonna be? (OPTIMISTIC ELECTRIC GUITAR MUSIC) MAN: Every nation is ` we're tryin' to learn what they're doing and try and make sure that we're better than them, and they're lookin' at us and tryin' to make sure they're better than us. We'll find out in Korea who got it right. CARL: The last sorta six months, definitely tracking exactly where I wanna be and looking really promising for a gold medal. COREY: As I think ahead to Pyeongchang, the added pressure of comin' home with medals, I wanna try and put that to the back of my mind and concentrate on the skiin' and skiin' fast. ADAM: Within the team itself, we're well aware of our expectations and what our goals are accomplishing in March. To be able to represent your country every four years at the highest level possible is an honour and a privilege ` get to be goin' and have one opportunity to bring back as many medals as you possibly can. (PENSIVE SOFT-ROCK MUSIC) Captions by Shrutika Gunanayagam. www.able.co.nz Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2018