Meet Felix Bennett

It’s the rare skier whose favourite part of skiing is dealing with bumps. But for Felix Bennett, a nineteen-year-old bi-skier from Sydney, the bumps are where it’s at. You may have seen Felix, who has cerebral palsy, shredding Falls Creek last week. Cruising around in a royal blue Mountain Man bi-ski, he was hard to miss. And that’s the way he likes it. “I like all the attention I get,” he says cheekily. Everywhere he went, Felix left a trail of “Wow, look at that!” and “Aww, I want a go in one of those!” in his powder smoke.

It wasn’t just the general public giving Felix attention either; Falls Creek’s lifties kept him well looked after, helping him load and unload chairlifts all over the mountain. “The lift attendants are so friendly and helpful here,” Felix enthused on more than one lift ride. Having skied since he was three years old, Felix has experience with lifties the world over, from Grindelwald in Switzerland to Thredbo and Perisher. It’s Falls Creek’s lifties though, who he’s most impressed with. “They’re always ready for me and know what to do.”

Skiing isn’t Felix’s only sporting pursuit. When he’s not working at Packforce, a Cerebral Palsy Alliance business, Felix can be found at the swimming pool four times a week. In the S5 classification he holds state and Australian records in freestyle and backstroke. Despite Felix’s prowess in the pool, it’s skiing that tops his list of favourite sports. “I only get to go skiing once a year, for one week. I go swimming all the time. So skiing is better,” Felix asserts, to the dismay of his parents, Dimity and Nicholas. Felix also rides a specially adapted trike from Canada and plays indoor cricket. According to his dad, Felix has quite the impressive sweep shot. He’s tried his hand at golf and is keen to play more, but they’re still working out a way he can sit down and still swing a club.

After six days of skiing Felix is already looking forward to Season 2012. The low cloud sitting over the mountain and dumping snow last week kept him mainly around the Towers area. A brief visit to Ruined Castle on one of the sunny mornings only whetted Felix’s appetite for more adventure. If the sun shines next time, Felix is excited about exploring the rest of the mountain and checking out the terrain on the Summit. It seems Falls Creek has worked its magic on him. When given the option of where in the world he would like to ski next, Felix, without missing a beat, unequivocally responds with the most patriotic answer possible: “Australia.”

Photo: Dimity Bennett

Purple haze

The Summit at Falls Creek is lighting up purple. Frying ham, eggs and onion in our room, we have the best view of the lightning show going on outside our window. After being pelted in the face all day by hail shaped snow, I feel we've earned this. Surprisingly, the painful pellets caused only one of my kids to cry today. I count that as a win.

And to make life even sweeter, 75cm of snow is expected to fall over the next three days. Soon, we won't have to just admire the terrain from afar. Bring it!