Wild Ideas Worth Living

Innovating Adaptive Adventure with Vasu Sojitra

Episode Summary

In 2021, Vasu Sojitra became one of the first adaptive athletes to ski down Denali, and he's made groundbreaking descents in the Grand Tetons and the Bear Tooth Mountain Range. As the first adaptive athlete to be represented by the North Face, Vasu has used his platform to speak out about representation and intersectionality in the outdoors.

Episode Notes

 In 2021, Vasu Sojitra became one of the first adaptive athletes to ski down Denali, and he's made groundbreaking descents in the Grand Tetons and the Bear Tooth Mountain Range. As the first adaptive athlete to be represented by the North Face, Vasu has used his platform to speak out about representation and intersectionality in the outdoors.

Connect with Vasu: 

Episode sponsors: 

Photo by Clayton Boyd

Episode Transcription

Vasu Sojitra:

For me to be able to see these massive mountains, seeing these cascading waterfalls and alpine lakes and skiing all these epic lines in these very remote places. At the end of the day, for me, being in those natural spaces is really what makes me human. And I think that is a massive human right.

Shelby Stanger:

Vasu Sojitra has skied down some of the most impressive lines in the US and Canada. In 2021, he became one of the first adaptive athletes to ski down Denali, and he's made groundbreaking descents in the Grand Tetons and the Bear Tooth Mountain Range. Vasu only has one leg, so when he's in the mountains, he wears one ski and uses a special set of poles called outriggers. As the first adaptive athlete to be represented by the North Face, Vasu has used his platform to speak out about representation and intersectionality in the outdoors. I'm Shelby Stanger, and this is Wild Ideas Worth Living, an REI Co-Op Studios Production.

Vasu is best known for skiing, but he actually does a ton of different sports, from skateboarding to mountaineering to soccer. As a natural athlete, Vasu can't keep himself away from trying new things. When Vasu was nine months old, he was diagnosed with a blood infection called septicemia, and his right leg was amputated during treatment. Vasu was just a baby, and learning to walk with a prosthetic was really challenging.

Vasu Sojitra:

I was very active. And I would break my prosthetic, I would grow out of, it would become uncomfortable, all that kind of stuff. So we'd have to keep taking it back to our prosthetist. And then I was using a prosthetic from around seven to around nine, so only a couple years. And I was mobile, but I was kind of on the tail end of my friends, and so I was kind of just lugging this prosthetic leg around. My amputation is super high, so kind of waddling like a penguin or dragging the leg. And one day in class, my leg decided to not lock at the knee, and I face planted and the corner of a desk and started bleeding. Then I decided from then on, not to use my prosthetic leg. I was only using crutches. And it was quite the eye-opening moment for myself, but also my classmates who have never seen someone just use crutches day in and day out.

So they were very confused. And yeah, I kind of had to work through that process in school and kind of freaking kids out, and not feeling included because of it and getting bullied in other ways. So it was quite the whole process when I was a child, but that's kind of how I stopped using a prosthetic leg and started being more active and mobile because I'm way more active on crutches.

Shelby Stanger:

Thank you for explaining that. And I've heard you call them ninja sticks.

Vasu Sojitra:

I do. Yeah. I call them ninja sticks to bring a little bit of levity to medical equipment. I feel like every time someone talks about medical equipment, it becomes a little somber. I don't know. That's just my take from my experience.

Shelby Stanger:

I agree.

Vasu Sojitra:

Yeah. Especially working in the disabled space, people talk about their wheelchairs and electric wheelchairs and prosthetics, whatever, you name it, it kind of becomes kind of dark quickly. And I'm like wait a minute, these pieces of equipment actually provide us more mobility. A lot of folks still use words like wheelchair-bound. And I'm like, oh, well, yes, they're kind of in their wheelchair, but without their wheelchair, they'd be kind of stuck at home. So it's actually more mobile and more active and provides more access and opportunities for folks that have disabilities, these pieces of equipment that we've created over time.

So yeah, with Ninja sticking, it was actually while I was climbing the Grand Teton maybe a decade ago now, I think when I was like 23. And my guide and friend at the time was watching me come across what is called Wall Street, and it's like a three foot ledge with a 2,000 foot drop on one side. And I was just like casually walking with my crutches and placing them very precariously on the edge. And he's like, "Yo, man, you're like ninja sticking through these mountains right now." And it kind of just stuck around. It kind of just put a smile on people's faces now that I call them ninja sticks. And especially if someone watches me use them on trail or skiing, they start realizing why I call them ninja sticks because I'm very aggressive, or my movements are all over the place, but they're all strategic, and I place them very, I guess athletically, whatever, to make sure that I can trail run or ski moguls, or ski big lines or whatever it may be.

Shelby Stanger:

If you watch videos of Vasu skiing or doing any sport, really, you'll see that the man has style. He's self-assured and his moves look smooth and easy. When he is skateboarding, he takes jumps with confidence. Skating was actually the first sport that Vasu got really into when he was about nine years old. He loved learning how to ollie and kick flip, even though he got pretty scraped up. Skateboarding led Vasu to an interest in snowboarding, but there wasn't adaptive equipment that worked for him yet. He decided to try skiing instead, and it changed his life.

Vasu Sojitra:

I went to a small little ski hill in Connecticut called Ski Sundown, and me and my brother were in a lesson. And we didn't really listening to authority that much, so we decided to dip out of the lesson and just kind of go do our own thing. While I was falling and trying my way at skiing on a green circle, this random dude, another dude with one leg kind of skis up to me, tells me to keep going, and then skis off, which is kind of ridiculous. I really think it was divine intervention, or I'm just making this up now. And I was just using my forearm crutches as poles, but then I saw what he was using it. It was crutches with little skis on the bottom. And I was like, oh, wait, what are those things? So then I went down a massive rabbit hole of adaptive sports and Paralympics. And I was like, oh, crap, this is actually a thing.

So I was like, okay, this is very doable. I just have to convince my parents to buy me these outriggers. So then I would beg and whine them to buy me these outriggers, which were really expensive. They were about $300 or $400 at the time. And then they were like, "Are you going to use them? I doubt you're going to use them." But was able to acquire some, and then I just tried to keep going skiing as much as possible, which is only a dozen times at winter, and then obviously it manifested into something much bigger than they even expected.

Shelby Stanger:

So what was it like the first time you went skiing? Did it click right away or did it take a few times?

Vasu Sojitra:

So I have this toxic trait that I think every time I pick up something new, I'm going to be an expert at it. But the first time I went was pretty frustrating. It felt like I was kind of on my own planet. Being disabled and being around a lot of white people in Connecticut, it was very isolating. So I definitely created a lot of coping mechanisms and tendencies and behaviors to just try to figure it out on my own. I was also with my older brother who really helped me through that process. But it was fairly frustrating at the start to try to figure out how to do this. But I'm also a super stubborn person when it comes to learning something. I go all in. I'm really persistent. Whether it be relationships or trying something new, or trying to get a job or getting money from a sponsor, or whatever it may be, I'm like hell bent on it.

But yeah, it was definitely very frustrating because no one was really teaching me. I was kind of teaching myself. I was watching people with two legs skiing. And I was like, okay, do I use the same technique? How do I use the same technique? I only have one ski and two edges compared to four edges. So I definitely was... It was definitely a really steep learning curve, and it took about eight years to actually learn how to ski proficiently down steeper stuff, moguls, glades, black diamonds. But it took a very long time because I was teaching myself everything.

Shelby Stanger:

What kept you coming back?

Vasu Sojitra:

It was those little nuggets of joy that I experience, whether it be laughing on the chairlift with friends or listening to loud music while flying down the mountain, just feeling kind of like I was pretty much flying and weightless, which was really pretty much what I was seeking. And then it really started clicking when I was in my later teens getting into college and realizing I could have that feeling very often and through some of these techniques I learned from watching two-legged skiers jumping off things, flying through moguls, flying through trees, and not hitting them. So finding that rhythm, finding that flow, and being more connected to the ski and where I was.

Shelby Stanger:

Vasu continued to ski when he went to college at the University of Vermont. He studied mechanical engineering, but he was also drawn to all the beautiful nature around the city of Burlington. Vasu joined an outdoors club, which helped him get off the computer and go hiking, camping, and kayaking. A few of his engineering friends join the club too, and they helped Vasu build custom adaptive equipment.

Vasu Sojitra:

I was really excited about more backcountry experiences. A lot of my close friends were really wanting to get more out into the backcountry because we were seeing all these films of people like skiing big lines and ski touring and all that stuff. So we decided to try our way at that. But obviously there wasn't equipment made for me to be able to do that, so we were trying to figure that out.

Shelby Stanger:

So your friends had to help you design something that would work so you could do it?

Vasu Sojitra:

Yeah. My outriggers are my crutches with little skis on the bottom that I use...

Shelby Stanger:

Okay, cool.

Vasu Sojitra:

... when I'm alpine skiing or downhill skiing. And then yeah, for ski touring, I would attach this pretty much a snowshoe little, tiny little foot by foot size snowshoe that would go on the bottom. And that would have enough grab and enough surface area to be able to stay on top of the snow and grab the snow enough. Yeah, that was kind of what we figured out in college and using our engineering brains to make that happen.

Shelby Stanger:

That adaptive equipment turned out to be very influential for Vasu, and he ended up pursuing a career as a full-time athlete. When we come back, Vasu talks about going pro, his activism in the outdoor industry, and what he loves about being out in nature.

Before the break, Vasu Sojitra talked about his outdoorsy childhood and his journey to become an athlete. After graduating from the University of Vermont, Vasu was expecting to get a job as an engineer. But a film he made in college started gaining traction, and Vasu saw an opportunity to take his athletic career to the next level.

So Vasu, after college, how did you become a professional athlete? Because there isn't really a linear path.

Vasu Sojitra:

So I made a film when I was like 21 called Out on a Limb. And I look back at it, and I don't really like that film anymore, but it definitely was a massive foot in the door.

Shelby Stanger:

I'm laughing at you because sometimes we make projects and they're really important to us. And then a couple years later, we don't like them. That's normal.

Vasu Sojitra:

But it falls under this concept of inspiration porn that's pretty much objectifying a disabled person for the viewership of non-disabled people. So it's not really for the disabled audience, and that's just not what I'm going for nowadays. I'm actually trying to bake pies that are for the communities that I'm a part of. I don't want a piece of the pie. I want the whole thing. And I want to be the baker, as well as I want others to be the baker as well of their own stories and their own narratives. So that story was not. It was definitely a piece of the pie, and it was definitely a foot in the door. I call it my Trojan horse more than anything, because I know a lot of those kinds of narratives are how disabled folks get into some of these spaces. But it wasn't just 15 minutes of fame. At the time, it was getting a lot of publicity. It was getting into Banff Mountain film. It was getting into Telluride Mountain film. It was getting into a lot of different mountain film spaces.

And while I was doing that, I was moving out to Montana and started... I made a website. I made a Facebook athlete page. My Instagram was kind of getting bigger. I was getting publicized in Vermont and in other ski magazines and stuff. So I was starting to publicize or create a blueprint for myself to start getting noticed more, and then working with local photographers to get high quality photos and videos as well throughout that time so they could be used in a lot of marketing. So that's kind of how I started doing that. And as it started growing and growing, I started getting different sponsors, connecting with different sponsors. And then I connected with Conrad here in Bozeman, Conrad Anker.

Shelby Stanger:

Love Conrad Anker.

Vasu Sojitra:

Oh, we all love Conrad Anker. Yeah. He's a weirdo, but I love him. He's definitely a mentor of mine. Connected with him. He was the team captain at the time of North Face, meaning that he was kind of leading the charge on supporting the team however they needed, as well as recruiting new athletes to the team. So I was like, oh, cool. I didn't know he lived in Bozeman. How coincidental. Great. Met him at the climbing gym, climbed a few times, went climbing outside a bunch, connected with him over dinner and breakfast. And through those conversations, he asked me how my sponsors are treating me. And I was like, "All right, cool. What does it take to be a North Face athlete?" At the time, there were no adaptive athletes on the North Face team, so that was kind of a big push for me to be like, "Hey, you can sign me and I could be your first adaptive athlete." And they did so. It took about two years. And from that, they're starting to build that roster a little bit more around their adaptive athletes, which is really cool.

Shelby Stanger:

Vasu, I'm curious. You're good at a lot of sports. You could have chosen just stick and ball sports. You chose to go into sports with nature. You do both, but what about outdoor sports lures you in that the others don't?

Vasu Sojitra:

I think the biggest thing for me, now that I've actually realized it and working with a lot of my Native friends, is this connection to nature is, I think is a massive human that a lot of communities, communities that I'm a part of, communities of color, disabled communities, even queer communities and trans communities have a really difficult time getting into or connecting with, or have been disconnected by design through exclusive policies or ideologies or stigmas or whatever you want to name it. So reconnecting to our natural landscape for me is reconnecting to the human side of being part of this world. So that's kind of the biggest thing that I've realized, being out there, skiing in the mountains or trail running deep 20 miles in and just realizing like, "Oh damn, this is what being human feels like." And I want to be able to share that with other folks that might not have ever experienced something like that before.

Shelby Stanger:

These days, Vasu spends a lot of time mentoring athletes, specifically those who identify as disabled, BIPOC and queer. This is one way that he shares his knowledge, creates community, and gets his message out there. Vasu has also been featured in award-winning adventure documentaries, partnered with major brands, and used his social media platform to be a voice for change in the outdoor industry.

Vasu Sojitra:

I started becoming more of an activist, getting louder because I started hearing stories in the adaptive space, in the BIPOC space around all of these societal issues that we run into. And I started not individualizing my disability as much, not saying like, "Oh, if I can overcome it, you can too," but more so like, "Oh, these are the problems that our communities are facing. I've been able to work through it in this manner, but I know that the next person with a disability will not be able to, the next person of color will not be able to in the same way, but we can start working together to start breaking these barriers down."

Shelby Stanger:

You call yourself a friendly neighborhood disruptor. What does that mean? And tell me some examples of that.

Vasu Sojitra:

Yeah. I haven't called myself that in a while, but I definitely come off as a disruptor. I've definitely also eased my rhetoric a little bit more towards coming at it through a lens of, I don't know everything, but together, we know a lot, not coming off as arrogant or entitled in my ideologies. So this is really funny. I was at an event, and one of my friends, he was on this panel around human-powered mountaineering. And he's like, "Vasu, why are you not part of this? I thought you would be here for this panel. You would be on stage with me." And I was like, "Nah, whatever." And then he's like, "Let me see if I can get you on the stage and whatnot." So I was like, "Cool, yeah, whatever. I'm not going to say no to being able to speak about a lot of these issues."

And he got me on stage. And on stage, I pretty much called out the event. For me being the only disabled person there. For being a company that's pretty world renowned, I'm like this is not acceptable. So going to be talking with them on the backend to be able to make sure next year's event and some of their events coming up are highlighting adaptive athletes that are innovative and disruptive, and building community and connecting people, all these things that many of us really care about in the outdoor space. So yeah, I tend to do that pretty frequently, especially in the outdoor space because the outdoor space is light years behind the fashion space, light years behind a lot of different spaces. And especially in the snow sports space, that's even farther behind so many other spaces when it comes to access and inclusion. So that's kind of where I start really ruffling feathers and stirring the pot.

Shelby Stanger:

So who's doing it right? What is going well in the adaptive space? What sports are doing well? What brands are doing well? What are people doing well? And then what can really be improved on?

Vasu Sojitra:

Specifically adaptive? Or intersectional BIPOC, queer, trans?

Shelby Stanger:

Well, I think that's kind of what's cool, is you're not just fighting for rights for people who are adaptive athletes. You want everybody to be able to go outside and enjoy these sports.

Vasu Sojitra:

Yeah, I want the trail to look like America. America's very, very diverse. We're built on our diversity. We're built on immigrants. And so I want all these spaces to start embodying all of these cultures in a way that works for us and not just kind of tokenizing us and checking a box for diversity. That tends to happen a lot. So as for companies that are doing it, many of the companies I work for are doing great. They're not perfect, but they're trying to really embody inclusion as much as possible. Subaru, REI, North Face. I just signed with Smith, and they're working through it. Faction is working through it. They're all smaller, so trying to help support them in that way behind the scenes. That's another thing I try to be as an athlete, is not just be in front of the lens, but also try to orchestrate and provide that mentality and ideology behind the lens as well. So yeah, there are a lot of companies doing it.

Shelby Stanger:

How has it been for you transitioning more as a mentor, as well as an athlete?

Vasu Sojitra:

I've always focused on helping people. That's how I've grown up. That's kind of an Eastern mentality. My parents have taught me that growing up constantly is staying humble, making sure you're not out there to prove yourself, or be cocky or egotistical. So that's been a big thing. And as I started involving myself in the adaptive space, in the bipoc space, more and more, I started noticing that narrative happening more and more, that it's not an individualized effort. It's a collective effort. We lift as we climb kind of mentality. So that's kind of the biggest thing I focus on.

Shelby Stanger:

In addition to mentoring up and coming athletes, Vasu also co-founded the Inclusive Outdoors Project. The organization leads clinics in mountaineering, skiing, ice climbing, and more. Their goal is to create more space for members of marginalized communities in nature. You can find out more at inclusiveoutdoorsproject.com. Vasu, thank you so much for coming on the show. If you want to see what Vasu is up to, you can find him on Instagram @Vasu_Sojitra. That's V-A-S-U underscore, S-O-J-I-T-R-A.

Wild Ideas Worth Living is part of the REI Podcast Network. It's hosted by me, Shelby Stanger, produced by Annie Fassler, Sylvia Thomas, and Sam Peers Nitzberg of Puddle Creative. And our senior producer is Jenny Barber. Our executive producers are Paolo Mottola and Joe Crosby. As always, we appreciate when you follow the show, rate it, and review it wherever you listen. And remember, some of the best adventures happen when you follow your wildest ideas.