Manage your wheelchair in snow, AND keep warm!

It’s that time of year again for what I lovingly like to call “freeze your face off” weather. Crazy 5 foot snow storms, black ice hiding out on the freeway, taking hours to warm up after you’ve been outside, winter can be a bit nuts. And when you use a wheelchair, it can be even more of a trip.

But that doesn’t mean we should wave the white flag and stay inside.  Life is too short to give up that easy. What do you do with a wheelchair in snow? Here’s three videos showing clever wheelers who’ve figured out ways to tackle what winter throws at them.

The first video comes from a brilliant southerner (love his accent) who brought together two other friends who were also wheelchair-users for some fun on the ice rink, and what ensues is pretty awesome.  They drive right out onto the ice rink (Its a completely empty rink; they must know somebody. Lucky dudes) and they do everything you would do too if you were in a wheelchair on an ice rink. Truly…you haven’t lived until your slip-slided away on an ice rink in your wheelchair.

This video, Billy vs. Dave, is the funniest thing you’ll see on ice. Yup, that’s right, it’s power wheelchair racing, with the cameraman giving NASCAR-esque play-by-plays (leave it to a bunch of paralyzed dudes to come up with this crazy sport). Gotta say, ice power wheelchair racing is one of the most entertaining wheelchair sports you’ll ever see.

After our injuries, we all discover how stupidly cold we can get, even when it’s nice out, so you can imagine how tricky combating this can be when winter strikes.  A favorite member of ours, Wheelchair Style, a 20 year post paraplegic from Arizona even he has staying warm issues. When winter comes to Arizona, it can get chilly at night; the kind of bone chilling cold you can only experience in the desert.

Since becoming paralyzed, he’s experimented with one of the best ways to stay warm – layering. I too swear by this. He’s however figured out something I’ve always wanted to know – the perfect number of layers someone with a spinal cord injury needs to stay warm all day.

And the magic number he’s found – four. He starts with a Hanes shirt, then he puts on a thin long-sleeved shirt, then another one and then he puts on a thick long-sleeved sweater. This is not easy to do if you have limited arm movement, which he talks about, but he guarantees it will keep your upper body warm if you’re not moving around that much. Watch him layer up

And third video comes from a paraplegic from the UK showing off his snow tires for his manual wheelchair. He regularly uses 26″ Spinergy tires, but that size of wheel can be hard to find a winter tire in (winter tires meaning knobbier with lots of grip).  But after searching, he finally found a wheelchair snow tire that fits his chair –  the Kenda All-Terrain tire (and he advises his viewers to remove the camber from their chairs when using this style so they don’t rub against the frame). Watch him show off his new “tyres”

Dreaming of a taste of Narnia where you live, or are you fitfully content in the sun? Just know – whether you want to get on an ice rink again, you’re looking for an easy way to stay warm or you’re dreaming of the ultimate snow tire, all of that can be done and then some. Winter doesn’t have to spell no.

How are you dealing with the recent snow? What do you do with your wheelchair in snow? Have you discovered any new tricks?

Watch the videos about those with a wheelchair in snow!

– Quads racing and goofing off at an ice rink

– Putting on layers in a wheelchair

– Winter tires for a manual wheelchair in snow