Nordic/Cross-Country Ski Program

Chet Hope Youth Ski League (CHYSL) is a local inclusive youth program provided by the Glacier Nordic Club.  CHYSL is for youth ages 4-12 of all abilities.

DREAM provides trained one-on-one instructors to support the adaptive athlete and help include them in the group lessons.

To learn more and to register, please visit www.glaciernordicclub.org

Private adaptive Nordic lessons are available upon request from January – end of February

• Dependent on snow conditions and instructor availability
• Lessons must be scheduled at a minimum of five days in advance.
• Each lesson is 1.5 hours long, which includes time for equipment set up and fitting as needed
• All lessons are provided at the Whitefish Lake Golf Course in partnership with Glacier Nordic Club

Rates

– Nordic Lesson with Rentals = $50.00

– Nordic Lesson with NO Rentals = $30.00

Rate includes a trained instructor, private lesson, a trail pass, any adaptive equipment needed, and rental equipment if requested

$20 Deposit is required to request lessons. Deposit will be applied to your total lesson cost. 

Important Details:

• For first timer adaptive equipment users, please plan for up to 30min during your first lesson for equipment fitting. We want to ensure you have the best fit and equipment possible.
• Medical documentation may be required for your participation in the adaptive program. Permission from your doctor may be required if you have been injured less than a year or have had recent surgery.

Nordic Ski Program Essential Eligibility Criteria (EEC)

To be eligible for participation in the DREAM Nordic Ski Program, all participants must meet all general program EEC in addition to all Nordic ski program EEC.  DREAM reserves the right to request that a guardian/caregiver be accessible to program staff while the individual is participating in the program.

General Program Essential Eligibility Criteria 

• Individual lives with a long-term disability and requires specialized instruction or adaptive equipment to recreate outdoors.
• Individual is 5 years old, or older.
• Individual is cleared by their doctor to participate in designated activity.
• While participating with DREAM programs, individual can refrain from risky behavior that pose a threat to themselves and others including aggressive behavior, ignoring safety precautions identified by instructors, drug/alcohol use, inability to set boundaries pertaining to their physical ability and needs.
• Individual can contribute to a safe learning environment. Harassment and abusive behavior will not be tolerated.
• Individual can follow instructions given by instructors independently or with the assistance of a companion*.
• Individual can wear all protective equipment required for the activity.
• Individual can manage personal care independently or with the assistance of a companion*.
• Individual can breathe independently and does not require medical devices to sustain breathing.

* For the use of this document, a companion can be a personal support person, family member, or friend and excludes any, and all DREAM instructors, assistants, or staff.

Nordic Ski Program Essential Eligibility Criteria

• Individual must be 200 pounds or less if using sit-down ski equipment.
• Individual must be able to assist themselves in getting up from the snow with minimal assistance.
• Individual must be able to propel themselves with minimal to no assistance from the instructor

DREAM Program Cancellation & Tardiness Policy

DREAM’s cancellation and tardiness policy aims to assure respectful participation and allows DREAM to maintain a dependable volunteer instructor team. DREAM’s goal is to serve as many participants as possible through their empowering programs. Activity cancellations and no-shows inherently keep other well-deserving participants from receiving our services. Once a reservation is made, that assignment is solely reserved for the participant and other reservations may be denied due to capacity. Without advanced cancellation notice, filling the reserved activity last-minute is a challenging and often, an unlikely task due to the careful consideration of how to best support each unique participant.

DREAM holds a 48-hour cancellation policy.

• Program opportunities that are canceled within 48 hours of start time will be charged for 50% of the program fee. Depending on schedule availability, we will attempt to offer a make-up opportunity.  
• Program opportunities canceled within 24 hours of program start time or no call no shows will automatically be charged the full program amount. No opportunity will be given to reschedule.
• Program opportunities that are canceled more than 48 hours before the program start time, will be given the opportunity to reschedule depending upon schedule availability.

Please Note: If participants on scholarship (including Military Veterans who participate at no cost) cancel within 48 hours on (2) scheduled programs within a given season, their financial aid scholarship will be revoked, and future lessons may be reconsidered.

Weather cancellations

Are at the discretion of DREAM. Safety is our top priority and we have protocols in place to combat the often unpredictable NW Montana weather. In the rare case that we choose to cancel your program due to extreme weather or unsafe conditions, we will do our best to provide an opportunity for a make-up lesson.

Tardiness Policy

If you are running a few minutes late, or going to be late for any reason, please call or text (406) 201-9215.   With your proactive communication, we’ll hold your instructor for up to 15 minutes. However, after that time the instructor will be released and the lesson will be counted as a late cancel / no-show (see cancellation policy above).

If we do not hear from you about being late, we will attempt to call you 10min after the scheduled program start time informing you we will hold the instructor until 15 min. after the scheduled program time.  After 15 min if we have not heard from you, we will release the instructor and the program will be counted as a late cancel / no call no show lesson. 

For any questions regarding the DREAM Program Cancellation & Tardiness Policy please email the DREAM Program Manager at: mwestbrook@dreamadaptive.org or call (406) 885 – 9539 ext 2.