Bass first came to Achieve Tahoe just one year after his injury. At age 15, he was involved in a car accident that almost resulted in the amputation of his left leg and left him paralyzed from the chest down. Since then, Bass and his family have remained active in Achieve Tahoe’s programs. Now, at 21, he is taking the next step in his journey with Achieve Tahoe by joining the team as a Development Intern. Achieve Tahoe has not only given him the confidence to pursue his passions but is now helping him with the tools to further set him up for a life of purpose and independence.
“Achieve Tahoe has had such an impact on my life, and it is truly an honor to have this full circle moment where I can help them have as much of an impact for other participants.” -Bass
Bass grew up in El Dorado Hills, California but remembers taking trips to Sierra at Tahoe, where he learned how to ski at just 3 years old. Skiing in between his mom’s knees is what he says is one of his first memories, and very quickly became his first passion. At the age of 7, Bass moved away from day lessons and started racing competitively for the Northstar Youth ski team. He proceeded to race for about 4 years before he decided to dedicate more time to all-mountain skiing with his mom.
“That was our thing, we started to ski together and we’ve done it since he was very young.”
-Sylvie Bergeron, Bass’s mom
When Bass had his injury in October of 2020, one of the biggest questions he had other than if he would walk again, was if he would be able to enjoy life again.
“I remember laying in the hospital bed just thinking how am I going to be able to do the things I love? Skiing, biking, drumming, all of those seemed completely out of reach.”
After spending 7 weeks at UC Davis hospital after his injury, Bass was transferred over to Shriners Children’s hospital in Sacramento for rehab, which is where he and his mom learned about Achieve Tahoe. During one of his sessions, his mom noticed a pamphlet from Achieve Tahoe on the wall of the PT gym, and she knew she needed to get him to try it.
“While I was waiting for him to finish his PT for the day, I found a pamphlet from Achieve Tahoe advertising adaptive sports with a picture of an adaptive skier and it was like a new world of opportunities opened up for our family.”
-Sylvie Bergeron, Bass’ Mom
“We figured it wouldn’t hurt to try, and now here we are”
-Bass
And try he did. On Bass’ first day, he was able to go up on the TLC at Alpine Meadows lift with his instructors, Dave and Nick. At the top of the lift, Dave told him, “This is what is available to you now.” After hearing that Bass dove headfirst into his lessons and quickly became proficient in Monoskiing.
Bass ended up taking monoski lessons with Achieve Tahoe for 3 years before he was cleared to ski independently and get his own ski. Even after he stopped taking lessons, he still continued to be involved with our programs and become a true member of the Achieve Tahoe community.
With his Junior year of college wrapping up, Bass approached us about the possibility of doing a summer internship with us.
“I wanted to do something that would help me build a career in Marketing and development, but I also wanted to make a difference for people and I figured, what better place to do that than Achieve Tahoe?”
-Bass
Now he is working with us over the summer on multiple initiatives, as well as giving us more insights from the perspective of a younger person. We are delighted to give Bass the tools he needs to succeed in his career, as well as proud to call him a member of the team. He also says that he is grateful for the opportunity to learn more about marketing and working behind the scenes at an organization like ours.
Welcome Bass 🙂