A Glens Falls native is making headlines on the international stage, bringing the spirit of the Adirondacks to the Winter Paralympics in Milan. Kelsey O’Driscoll, representing Team USA, competed in Para Alpine skiing and reached the pinnacle of her sport — the culmination of five years of hard work and perseverance.
Her journey wasn’t easy, marked by dedication and overcoming challenges. O’Driscoll’s success story embodies resilience, proving that talent and determination can shine brightly on the world’s biggest sporting stage.
While she trains and competes far from her home state, Kelsey O’Driscoll’s achievement is a source of pride for all of Upstate New York and the Adirondack region, showcasing the grit and determination that define the area.
Kelsey O’Driscoll carried a piece of the Adirondacks with her to Italy last month when she competed in Alpine skiing at the Winter Paralympics.
“I wore my Gore garnet earrings every single day,” she said. “A literal piece of my mountain.”
A small fashion statement, but meaningful for O’Driscoll, who grew up skiing at Gore Mountain and became Gore’s first adaptive ski patroller a few years ago.
Reaching the very pinnacle of Para Alpine skiing was the culmination of five years of hard work and perseverance for the Glens Falls resident.
Her first day of competition at the Winter Paralympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo was five years to the day after the sledding accident and spinal injury that cost her the use of her legs.
O’Driscoll finished in the top 10 in four of the five women’s Para Alpine events — a missed gate cost her a DNF (did not finish) in the downhill. She finished seventh in Super-G, eighth in Alpine combined, and ninth in slalom and giant slalom.
“I didn’t really surprise myself — I kind of expected to finish in that back of the top 10,” she said by phone, now back home in Glens Falls after a whirlwind March. “Would it have been cool to medal? Absolutely, but I’ve got future Winter Games to do that. This was about enjoying the experience and seeing what I could do.
“It was so rewarding, it’s been so fun to represent the area and show what a little Adirondack grit can do,” she added. “I wouldn’t change a single aspect of the entire experience.”
Cheers from home
O’Driscoll, 32, said she felt the support from the local skiing community and her coworkers at Albany Medical Center, where she is a nurse. She is set to return to work on Monday, five months after she started her first World Cup season and qualified for the Winter Paralympics.
“The day of my first race, I got a picture that my boss took of the clinic, and they had decked the whole thing out in American flags and the whole office had red, white and blue on, the doctors and nurses. It was really cool how loved and supported I was from work,” O’Driscoll said.
“My Gore family of employees signed a bunch of trail maps and posters and whatnot with nice messages, wishing me the best. So I had those all right above my bed so I could see them every night when I went to bed,” she added. “It was really cool that so many people from home got to watch and be there from afar. The amount of screenshots I got from people’s TVs or phones was really awesome, and I felt so supported the whole time.”
Hometown connection
O’Driscoll was not alone in representing Glens Falls in the Winter Paralympics. Lyndsay Strange, a 2005 Glens Falls graduate, is an assistant coach for the U.S. Para Alpine ski team. A former three-sport standout at Glens Falls, Strange has been a ski racing coach since graduating from Skidmore College.
“It was amazing to watch her, and the whole team, watching their whole progress,” Strange said. “To see someone so determined and who has a natural skiing ability, to come from that (injury) to this is incredible. All of Kelsey’s teammates have stories like that.”
Strange — who now lives on the Washington state side of the Columbia River gorge area and runs a summer ski camp at Mt. Hood in Oregon — said she enjoyed bonding with O’Driscoll over their shared hometown. O’Driscoll is a New Jersey native, but has lived in Glens Falls for the last decade and graduated from SUNY Adirondack.
“Having Kelsey on the team who’s also from Glens Falls, we have so much fun together, and her sister goes to Skidmore, too,” said Strange, who coached the Mexican national Alpine ski team at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics. “It’s cool to have that connection — you’re traveling the world and you both have something to connect with. That kind of deep-rooted connection is so special.”
Soaking in the experience
O’Driscoll said one of the first things that struck her at Cortina was the crowds — spectators watching the Winter Paralympics.
“I had never seen the crowd like that, because we don’t usually get crowds at any of our World Cup races, unfortunately — it’s just adaptive athletes cheering each other on,” she said. “So this was the first time there was a crowd — like for the slalom start, you could hear it, the roar, it was wild. And it was so, so fun.”
O’Driscoll said she soaked in the whole experience, from arriving in Venice and having “one of the best bowls of pasta of my life,” to getting to Cortina and receiving her Team USA uniform.
“Getting to put on that Ralph Lauren outfit was very emotional and very cool,” she said. “It was one of those things I’ve dreamed of since I was a little kid and I was finally doing it. That was intense in the best way.”
Memorable runs at Games
O’Driscoll said her favorite run was the one she got the DNF in, the downhill.
“I was incredibly proud of my downhill — just because it was one of the more intense downhills I’ve ever run and probably one of the most intense courses I’ve ever run in any event,” she said. “I’m so proud to have just totally gone for it and committed to my line — even though I didn’t finish, I missed a gate, I was just so proud to have gotten in that starting gate and gone for it. I didn’t leave anything out there — I caught way more air than I expected, and it was awesome.”
Talking to the board
O’Driscoll’s whirlwind month of March continued after the Paralympics with trips to Canada and Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
She spoke to the U.S. Ski & Snowboard board of trustees about the costs of adaptive equipment, the lack of prize money in Para World Cup races, and the absence of North American World Cup stops for Para Alpine.
Focus on her future
O’Driscoll said her offseason workout regime is adaptive, but essentially the same as an able-bodied skier would do. She works with trainer Dan Roberts at the 518 Gym in Aviation Mall.
O’Driscoll hopes to use her World Cup season and her Paralympics experience as a springboard to more success on the slopes.
“My goal going into it was just to have a good time and try to enjoy it all, and I definitely think I checked those boxes,” O’Driscoll said. “It was awesome, I had so much fun. I exceeded my own expectations. I can’t wait to see what I can do in the years going forward.”
She’s already set her sights on the 2030 Winter Paralympics in the French Alps and beyond.
“If I could get all the way to Salt Lake in 2034, you bet I will. That is the new goal,” O’Driscoll said. “If Lindsey Vonn can do it at 41, I think I’ll be able to do it at 40.”