Drew Asaro: Shaped by the Idaho Landscape
“80 percent of the cool things that I’ve done in the past 10 years have just been all in my chair.”
Growing up in Boise, Drew Asaro spent his time the way many Idahoans do: outside. Summers were spent mountain biking in the foothills or on the water. Winters meant heading up to Bogus Basin, where his lifelong love for skiing began.
“You have limitless opportunities for recreation…Like the ease and convenience of just having that beautiful local ski hill to follow the passion of snow sports.”
Drew’s passion for snow sports eventually pulled him north to Bozeman, where he chased bigger mountains and deeper snow. In January of 2018, Drew was involved in a serious ski accident that left him with a broken neck and back, resulting in paralysis from the waist down. For someone whose identity was rooted in movement and the outdoors, the injury was more than physical.
The early days following the accident were the most challenging. Drew remembers thinking, “I don’t know how life is going to go from here.”
Early on, that uncertainty showed up in how he responded to others. “I know early on in my wheelchair career, I was definitely abrasive. I did not like people helping me, people touching my wheelchair. But as I've matured, I’ve realized the help doesn’t just help you, it helps everyone.”
Accepting help didn’t come naturally. Over time, his perspective began to change.
To rebuild his life, Drew returned to the very landscapes that shaped him, this time as an athlete with a physical disability. Sit skis replaced skis. Outriggers replaced poles. Drew adopted new techniques and relearned the mountain from a new position. The landscapes were still there. Drew just changed how he moved through them.
Along the way, he found something just as important: community. Surrounded by other athletes with physical disabilities, Drew began to see opportunity where he once saw loss.
“An average human being can do 10,000 things in their lifetime. When you’re put into any situation—diagnosis, disability, what have you—that 10,000 things becomes 8,000 things. And instead of focusing on the 2,000 things that you can no longer do, focus on the 8000 things that you might do.”
Through his work with the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF), Drew turns passion into purpose and personal resilience into community impact. As a coach and volunteer, he shows up not just as an athlete, but as a mentor—welcoming newcomers, sharing lessons and insights, and continuing to build the kind of environment that helped him. He uses his own story and experience as a bridge to connect with others facing similar challenges.
“Relating our own shared experiences to each other is just an experience that is unparalleled.”
Drew’s story reminds us that while we can’t control what happens to us, we can choose how we move forward. He still embraces the outdoors like he did growing up. Today, that experience extends beyond the trails to the community he’s built and the athletes he continues to support.
