Amputee Skier Shreds Expectations | Short Film Showcase

His talent pretty much exceeds most any skier I've ever seen. He got just to be this incredible, incredible skier. It's impressive. Vu is probably the best athlete I've seen and worked with.

I do forget that he has, he has got the one leg. My name is Basu Sojitra. When I was about 9 or 10 months old, I was diagnosed with a blood infection in my leg, so they had to amputate it or it would spread. It's called septicemia. I started off skiing in fifth grade, kind of just taught myself because the ski school instructor had no idea how to teach me.

I just kept going over and over again. From that, it just made me more confident, especially, you know, with an amputation. It kind of builds those insecurities up. Once I got better and better, I knew I was capable of doing anything. So it's been, I guess, therapeutic in a sense for me to go into the backcountry just to push my limits even more, getting up with my own power instead of using lifts.

I obviously knew there was going to be a bunch of obstacles that I'd have to overcome. For my outriggers, I had to find a bigger surface area, so I would post hole up the mountain. I basically jury-rigged some snowshoe extenders so they would click into the bottom of my outriggers. Being independent is huge for having a disability because when I go back into skiing, it's all my power.

It's really tiring, but after a while, you just get used to it, and I realized to just suck it up and keep going no matter what. I always want to hike the highest mountain, of course, and get to the peak of it. Having a disability does make it a little more difficult, but it's not going to stop me from who I am or stop me from doing what I love to do. At the end, it's just so much fun.

I mean, I don't see any difference honestly between having one leg and two legs. For him, it doesn't hold him back at all through his mentality about it. He kind of transfers it to other people. I forget all the time, you know, that he has this so-called disability. I mean, everyone overcomes obstacles. You know, having one leg isn't a big issue; it's just a little bit of a hiccup in life that you can overcome.

Holy, that was amazing! Whoa! Oh my God, disability is a myth, and people that do have these challenges and are able to adapt aren't disabled. I just have to use something different, a different equipment to help me get up the hill.

Yeah, I mean, I do what I love. It's going to keep doing it no matter what. My name is Basu Sojitra, and I'm an Adaptive backcountry skier.