WINTER PARK, Colo. — Noah Bury has been skiing for the better part of his 21 year existence, but this is no longer a winter hobby.
"I just wanted something more," he said. "I just wanted to be able to take this to the next level."
Bury was born with the drive to push limits. After all, he was forced to overcome obstacles immediately.
"Right leg below-the-knee amputation," he explained. "I was born with a disease called Tibial Hemimelia, which basically means there were no bones in my foot when i was born."
While he's never known life without a prosthetic on his right leg, Bury still needed to learn how to utilize both legs differently and efficiently to become an optimal ski racer.
"It's two completely separate mechanics. I have a foot on this side, so i can use a lot of shin pressure, where as this one i don't," he said. "So, I've been able to sort of jury-rig a new pressure system on the right foot, but it's been very different."
Thankfully, he was recruited by the right group at Winter Park. The National Sports Center for the Disabled competitive ski team is full of Paralympic hopefuls like himself.
"There are so many different personalities involved in this community. We come from all walks of life. I think of it as an island of misfit toys, but we come together and it's just so beautiful," he said. "I found more progress in the last three months on this team than I have in my entire skiing career."
Flying past his competition with only raw talent, Bury knows what could be possible with some fine-tuning from his NSCD team, but he isn't in any rush to do so.
"My goals are to live life to the absolute fullest," he said, "Yes, I have technical goals, like I want to go to the World Cup. I want to be world champion. I want to be a Paralympic medalist. But this is just a way of expressing and achieving growth throughout life, so all I really want to do is grow and live and love and connect with people."
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Sports