Bull rider has soft touch with young skiers

Chair Two looked intimidating to Spencer.

He already had conquered Chair Six and was skiing down Big Mountain like a pro. But Chair Two was farther up the slope and the descent was much, much steeper than the run from Chair Six.

Spencer wasn’t sure he could handle it — but Matt Triplett was on hand to help him face his fear.

“At first he didn’t want to do it. He wanted to sit on his butt and go down,” said Triplett, a Columbia Falls High School senior. “But I talked to him and told him to look at it like it was Chair Six — and then he did good.”

As a volunteer with DREAM Adaptive Recreation Inc., a nonprofit program that gives people with physical and mental disabilities the chance to learn to ski, coaching kids like Spencer is Triplett’s job. He began volunteering with the program as a junior at the suggestion of health teacher Tom Chestnut.

“He knew I could handle it,” Triplett said. “I’m a leader and a good teacher. I could teach them how to ski.”

He also has years of experience on the slopes: Triplett has been skiing for almost as long as he has been able to walk.

Despite his experience and his teacher’s recommendation, Triplett was a little worried on his first day as a DREAM volunteer. He never before had worked with people with special needs.

“I was a little nervous,” he admitted. “How would you teach them?”

But volunteers trained Triplett and other new instructors how to break down the basics of skiing and how to help their students have a good time.

Step one was to get everyone outfitted with skis and winter gear. Triplett and the other volunteers helped the novice skiers put on boots, gloves and hats, and then helped them into skis.

Where they went from there depended on the students’ experience, Triplett said.

“Some kids couldn’t start at the chair lift, so we did the bunny hill,” he said. “It worked like little steps.”

In addition to instruction, Triplett said he piled on encouragement.

“Sometimes some kids would get mad, get discouraged,” he said. “You give them a little positive information and they’re fine. It’s fun.”

Fun is the main reason Triplett stuck with the program for two years.

“Really they’re great kids,” he said. “I liked getting to know them. People don’t actually realize how cool they are.”

Triplett enjoyed his time so much that he said he would jump at the chance to volunteer with similar programs that help people with special needs.

“Ever since, if anyone asks me, I would sure do it,” he said.

DREAM also gave Triplett a dream of his own — he’s considering becoming a special education teacher.

If that doesn’t pan out, Triplett said he will teach physical education. He will pursue his education degree at the University of Montana, where he has a full-ride scholarship as a bull rider for the university’s rodeo team.

Triplett had first- and second-place showings last weekend in bull riding at the district finals of high school rodeo. He is the defending state champion in bull riding.

While the college might have been impressed with his volunteer work in addition to his bull-riding abilities, Triplett said that didn’t occur to him when he decided to be part of DREAM.

“It looks good, but that doesn’t matter to me. I like helping people,” he said.

“When you help someone else who’s not as fortunate as you, it feels good.”

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.