Tyler Walker is a perfect example of "It's not the size of the dog in the fight; it's the size of the fight in the dog." Born without much of his spine and then losing his legs at age four, he made big gains every year in his quest to become a World Cup contender. Tyler Walker captured his first World Cup win in 2004 in giant slalom and his first title in 2006, also in giant slalom. Vancouver marked his second Paralympic Winter Games competition.
The 2007-2008 season was highly successful for Walker as he had four podium finishes and one win in the NorAm Championship Series. He then went on to take the national championship titles in both giant slalom and slalom.
Walker was born with lumbar sacral aegensis, a condition that resulted in his spine missing after the first vertebra. At four, doctors amputated both legs at the knee because he had no control over his legs. He began skiing in adaptive programs at Waterville Valley and Loon Mountain, eventually joining the New England Disabled Ski Team.
Walker is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire where he has degrees in geography and international affairs and minors in German and political science. In addition to skiing, Walker also enjoys handcycling, skateboarding, canoeing, knee boarding, tennis and hockey.
Major Achievements:
- 2010: Tenth place, slalom – Paralympic Games, Vancouver, Canada
- 2010: Fourth place Super G, Sixth place Slalom – World Cup, Sestriere, Italy
- 2010: Gold, Mono Skier-X – Winter X-Games, Aspen, Colo.
- 2009: Overall World Cup Downhill Champion
- 2009: Gold, downhill – 2009 IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup, Sestriere, Italy
- 2009: Gold, Mono SkierX – 2009 XGames, Aspen, Colo.
- 2008: Fourth place, slalom – The Hartford Ski Spectacular, Breckenridge, Colorado
- 2008: Four top-3 finishes and one first place finish – NorAm Championship Series
- 2006: Member, U.S. Paralympic Alpine Skiing Team – Paralympic Winter Games, Torino, Italy
- 2006: First place overall, giant slalom – World Cup standings
- 2005: Second place overall, giant slalom – World Cup standings