Kimberly Joines

Kimberly Joines Poster - Courtesy of Kimberly Joines

Kimberly Joines was born in Edmonton, Alberta in 1981 and began her involvement in athletics at a young age.  In her early years, she participated in many types of sports, including gymnastics, skiing, soccer, and basketball.  She competed at the provincial level in both soccer and basketball.  Kimberly credits her father, a physical education teacher, for her love of sports.  After graduating from high school, she moved to Lake Louise, Alberta, where she shifted her attention to snowboarding.

While training at Lake Louise in 2000, she fractured her L1-T12 vertebrae (spinal cord), paralyzing her.  While no longer able to snowboard, Kimberly never let her injury stop her.  In an article for the Alberta School of Business, she is quoted saying, “After the accident, all the specialists said I was in denial and the fact I was paralyzed would eventually hit me, but my attitude from the get-go was what’s next?”

 

Life in Rossland

Kimberly Joines fell in love with Rossland after snowboarding on Red Mountain in January 2000.  After falling in love with the town and the ski hill, she made the decision to move to Rossland in 2006.

According to Kimberly, “Red is designed really well for sit-skiing… the amount of advanced and awesome tree skiing that I can access while still having an efficient way back to the lift, and without too many flat spots to get stuck, is far beyond most hills.”

 

Para-Alpine Skiing Career

Kimberly Joines went on to become one of the world’s best sit-skiers.  One year after her accident, Kimberly was on the slopes learning to sit-ski and within two years, made the National Team.  She made her international debut in Austria in 2004.  During the 2006 Winter Paralympics in Torino, Italy, Kimberly won a Bronze Medal in the Super-G.  Kimberly experienced her career highlight during the 2008/2009 season, winning every World Cup race she competed in and becoming the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Champion.  According to Kimberly, “It is more difficult to achieve this status [IPC World Champion] than to win an Olympic medal… because you need to prove consistency throughout the entire year, rather than crushing one race!”  Kimberly was unable to attend the 2010 Winter Paralympics in Vancouver due to an injury.  She, however, returned to the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia, winning a Bronze Medal in the Slalom. 

Throughout her career, Kimberly competed in all varieties of alpine skiing –– Downhill, Slalom, Giant Slalom, and Super G.  During the 2014 Winter Paralympics, however, Kimberly did not compete in Downhill or Super-G to try and reduce the potential for injury.  Although Kimberly missed the rush of Downhill and Super-G, she did not miss the potential number of associated injuries. 

Over her career, Kimberly has won two Paralympic Bronze Medals, two IPC World Championships, and 22 IPC World Cup Medals.

Kimberly announced her retirement in 2016. She currently works as an accessibility consultant in the basin region.

 

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