A c t io n
By
Kinsee
J
Morlan
/
photos
by
donald
miralle
(unless noted)
eremy P. McGhee’s faithful black Lab, Freedom, is by his side almost everywhere he goes. But not even Freedom was up for McGhee’s latest adventure. Climbing up and then skiing down Bloody Couloir, a mountain outside Mammoth Lakes, is a big deal for even the toughest backcountry powder chasers. McGhee’s got the extra challenge of being in a wheelchair. Paralyzed from the middle of the back down in a motorcycle accident, the California native was back skiing in Colorado just months after his accident. When he hit the bunny hill for those first few runs (his ribs still broken), half a dozen people had to help him as he tried to regain some semblance of his life as an outdoor enthusiast and athlete. “Yeah, it was frustrating,” says McGhee, blue-eyed, sun-kissed and with a fresh scrape on his nose from being hit in the face with a paddle during a surf session a few days ago. Then he shrugs, adding, “But, whatever. It was humbling.”
S I X T Y - F O U R [ august 2 0 1 3 ]