Ogden Valley Adaptive
Website
Organization Location
2955 Harrison Blvd, Suite 104D Ogden, UT 84403
Description
About Ogden Valley Adaptive
Sharing experiences, creating memories
WE EXIST TO SERVE YOU
Ogden Valley Adaptive (OVA) exists to provide outdoor adaptive recreation opportunities to our friends, family and neighbors with disabilities. We are a non-profit, charitable 501 C (3) organization. Our team of over 100 dedicated staff, volunteers, and Board members are passionate about ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to enjoy our great outdoors. We do this with the generous support and contributions of our partner resorts, grants from private foundations and corporations, and donations from people just like you.
Since 2009, we have provided life-changing outdoor adaptive recreation opportunities for people with disabilities in northern Utah. Over 135,000 persons with disabilities live and work in Utah’s Weber, Davis, Morgan, and Box Elder counties. They are our families, friends, and neighbors. They come from all walks of life, all ages, all socio-economic groups, and all physical and cognitive abilities. We exist to serve and support them as well as those who travel to our area to experience our world-class outdoor recreation opportunities.
Our programs are geographically centered around Ogden Valley and extend into Ogden City as well as Weber, Davis, Cache and Morgan counties. We are blessed with exceptional outdoor recreation opportunities including venues from the 2002 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. These include Snowbasin Resort, Powder Mountain Resort, Nordic Valley Resort, North Fork Park and Ogden Nordic, Pineview and Causey Reservoirs, Weber State University’s Outdoor Recreation facility, and the trails and cycling paths in Weber and Davis counties.
OUR VISION
We envision a community where people with and without disabilities enjoy sports and recreation together in our great outdoors.
OUR MISSION
We remove barriers for people with disabilities through life-changing outdoor sports and recreation opportunities.
OUR CORE VALUES
Participant Centered: Every decision we make is in the best interest of our participants and their families.
High-Quality Programs: Valuing quality over quantity, we provide personalized, safe, and fun experiences to individuals and families.
Confidence and Self-Esteem: We motivate all participants to achieve their individual potential.
Corporate Responsibility: Fiscally and morally responsible to our community, we operate transparently to ensure the ongoing trust of our sponsors, supporters, and participants.
We Are A Team: We create a diverse, inclusive, family-centered work environment that encourages and supports the professional growth and development of our staff and volunteers.
Promote Awareness: We exemplify and advocate for disability awareness and inclusivity.
OUR HISTORY
Since 2009, we have provided life-changing outdoor adaptive recreation opportunities for people with disabilities in northern Utah. Jim and Karen Bradley, our Founders, envisioned a grass-roots organization that would support adaptive snow sports at Snowbasin Resort. On July 2, 2009, Jim, Steve Andrus, Chris Zimmerman, Ed Teter, and Ed Bois established the Board of Trustees and incorporated the Snowbasin Adaptive Sports Education Foundation (SASEF) as a non-profit 501 C (3) charitable and educational corporation. Through the 2014-2015 ski season, SASEF provided adaptive equipment, training, and funds to support adaptive ski and snowboard lessons to the Snowbasin Snowsports ski school. Adaptive lessons were provided through the Snowbasin Snowsports ski school.
Over the summer of 2015, SASEF reorganized to become an operating ski school independent from Snowbasin’s Snowsports ski school. We rebranded to do business as Ogden Valley Adaptive Sports (OVAS) and created the processes and procedures necessary to operate a ski school. This rebranding highlighted the fact that we are blessed with three world-class ski resorts (Snowbasin Resort, Powder Mountain, and Nordic Valley) in Ogden Valley from which we can provide adaptive lessons to our participants. Beginning in December 2015, we began operating our new independent ski school from space generously donated by Snowbasin and Powder Mountain. Jim and Karen Bradley took on the seasonal positions of Winter Program Director and Program Coordinator, respectively.
From 2015 to 2019 we grew our ski school to the point where we reached the capacity of our instructors and provided over 400 adaptive ski and snowboard lessons in the 2018-2019 season. In the fall of 2018, the Board of Trustees determined that we would identify a business model that would provide all-year adaptive recreation opportunities, expanding beyond just adaptive winter snow sports and seasonal staff. In the fall of 2019, we hired our first full-time employee, Steve Correa, as our first Executive Director. Just in time for CoVid-19.
Steve, Jim, Karen, and the team adjusted our 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 season operations to safely respond to CoVid-19 protocols. As one would expect, our lesson count decreased dramatically from the high in 2018. Going into 2021, we focused on ensuring our financial viability as we embarked on our plan to provide “off season” adaptive recreation starting with adaptive cycling. With great support from our friends at Wasatch Adaptive, Steve and the team created a series of adaptive cycling events in the summer of 2021.
In the fall of 2021, the Board of Trustees determined that our plan was viable and that we were financially sound. Jim and Karen Bradley announced that they would be stepping back from being the Program Director and Program Coordinator, respectively, after the 2021-2022 ski season. In December 2021 we hired our second full time employee, Alex Davenport, as our Program Director. With Steve and Alex on board, the Board of Trustees developed our 2022-2027 Strategic Plan in the first quarter of 2022, focusing on our future as an all-season outdoor adaptive sports and recreation provider.
In April 2022 Steve departed OVAS after guiding us through CoVid-19 and our most significant change since 2015. The Board of Trustees carefully considered options for replacing Steve, and in May 2022 promoted Alex Davenport as our second ever Executive Director. With the green light to implement our Strategic Plan, Alex hired additional full-time staff members, rounding out our ability to plan, coordinate, and implement all-season outdoor adaptive sports and recreation based out of Ogden Valley, Utah. We also rebranded our logo to this new one effective in November 2023. Our Strategic Plan guides our responsible program growth to accommodate the ever-increasing population of northern Utah.
Contact
Contact email - [email protected]
Contact form - https://ogdenvalleyadaptivesports.org/contact-us/
Phone - +1 801-695-7074
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ogdenvalleyadaptive/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/OgdenValleyAdaptiveSports
Upcoming events
- No upcoming events
Past events
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- Friday Kayaking
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- Thursday MT. Biking: MTB Group Ride
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- Wednesday Climbing
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- Women and Girls Outside: Kayaking
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- Tuesday Cycling
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- Friday Kayaking
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- Thursday MT. Biking
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- Women and Girls Outside: Cycling
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- Tuesday Cycling
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- June Trial Hiking Party
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- Friday Kayaking
- – (CDT)
- Wednesday Climbing
- – (PDT)
- Golfing
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- Tuesday Cycling
- – (CDT)
- Thursday MT. Biking: Group Ride
- – (CDT)
- Women and Girls Outside: Climbing
- – (MDT)
- Tuesday Cycling