Deaf ski racer from C. Oregon set to race in Russia
It’s a ski bum’s dream – skiing four days a week or more, and then to compete in an international race in Russia with other like-mind skiers. The difference? Everyone is deaf, including Central Oregon native Nicolas Yopp.
Yopp, now a 29-year-old Bend resident, was born hearing — but 12 hours after his birth, things went south quick. It was discovered that Yopp had an obstructed intestine and needed surgical intervention.
Yopp had to be rushed away to a different hospital for a doctor with small hands to perform the surgery on the petite baby. Six weeks in the hospital, after tons of antibiotics, Yopp lost his hearing but survived.
With today’s technology, Yopp is able to hear sounds with his hearing aids, from the door, to his voice, to skiing. In a crowded bar, his hearing aids automatically enhance human voices and soften background noise.
He is also fluent in American Sign Language, another communication tool that comes in handy at times.
“He’s a happy skier, it’s what he loves to do, to ski hard and play hard,” says girlfriend Cara Frank. “Often people don’t realize he’s deaf, occasionally people on the chairlift ask where he’s from, assuming he has an foreign accent, not a ‘deaf accent.'”
Yopp grew up in Sisters, where his parents taught him to ski in their backyard and on weekends at Hoodoo and Mt. Bachelor.
Yopp started ski racing with the help of local coaches, his high school race team, and the Mt Bachelor Ski Education Foundation.
In high school, he heard about the Deaflymics, and at the age of 16 he was invited to join the US Deaflympic Team.
“It was the first time in my life I was stoked to be deaf, and to represent the United States.” says Yopp.
Held every four years since 1942, the International Olympic Committee-sanctioned Deaflymics is the second-oldest international multi-sport event in the world. In 1949, the Deaflymics drew 1,000 athletes from around the world. Now, the event draws more than 2,500 athletes from 30 countries.
Athletes in the Deaflympics can’t use hearing devices. Countdowns and timing cues are visual. Cross-country skiers tap the racer head of them with a pole to signal a pass. When a penalty is called in hockey, strobe lights flash around the rink.
Yopp has competed in the Winter Deaflympics in Sweden in 2003 and the Deaflympics in Salt Lake City in 2007, as well as the first World Deaf Ski Championships in Germany 2013 (while recuperating from a broken ankle).
He also volunteers at Oregon Adaptive Sport’s Snow Camp for the Deaf and Hard of hearing, hoping to generate hope in today’s youth that they too, can be successful athletes and more.
At the Snow Camp during the winter of 2013, “he was able to inspire young participants with hearing losses, some who had never heard of the Deaflympics. You could see the curiosity spark in their eyes,” says OAS winter camp coordinator Cara Frank.
Yopp’s last Deaflympic experience in 2011 was a non-existent experience. Less than three days before Yopp was set to fly to Slovakia, he was on the chairlift checking his phone and received a notification that the Deaflympic 2011 Games were canceled due to “the local organizing committee’s comprehensive failure to deliver on its promises.”
So for Yopp, this is his third shot at that dream of standing on the Deaflympic podium. Like his teammates in the US and comrades around the world, he’s been fundraising to train like an Olympic hopeful with MBSEF and to pay for his journey to the upcoming Deaflympics in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.
With the help and sponsorship from Oregon Adaptive Sports, Yopp will be able to advance his race skills by competing in the local Sun Cup Race at Mt. Bachelor Feb 19 –24. From there, he’ll take his skills to Russia March-April 5, where he will compete in all the alpine ski legs. For more information: http://www.2015deaflympics.org/en/
“It’s been a busy winter by far,” says Yopp. “I’ll be volunteering at OAS’s Snow Camp, then competing in the Sun Cup, both back to back. I’m grateful to get more play time and race experience before Russia. OAS has been great about helping make these experiences more attainable.”
According to Suzanne Lafky, executive director of Oregon Adaptive Sports, “The Sun Cup is an important regional and very competitive race at Mt. Bachelor, put on by MBSEF, we are so proud to have Nic representing OAS as one of the best racers in the Pacific Northwest.”
For more information about Nicolas Yopp and OAS, please contact Oregon Adaptive Sports at info@oregonadaptivesports.org or at 541-306-4774.
About Oregon Adaptive Sports
Oregon Adaptive Sports has been breaking barriers in Central Oregon since 1996, providing people with disabilities and their families’ opportunities for outdoor recreation. Our goal is to nurture the human spirit and foster self-confidence and independence. We currently offer instructional programs in alpine and Nordic skiing and snowboarding, at both Hoodoo and Mt. Bachelor ski resorts as well as summer programs through throughout the great Bend area. To prevent cost from being a barrier to participation, we rely on the support of hundreds of volunteers, businesses, donors and sponsors.
