Vasu Sojitra
BOZEMAN, MONTANA
“I was trying to figure out how to turn and whatnot, but kept falling over. Then, out of nowhere, another dude with one leg saw me skiing, came up to me, and told me to keep going. He quickly skied off, and I was like, was that real? It was divine intervention, or whatever you want to call it.”
Vasu Sojitra’s story begins with adaptation. After losing his right leg to a childhood infection, he learned to ski using one leg and a pair of outriggers. Through trial, error, persistence, and family support, he transformed what might have been a societal constraint into another form of exploration. Growing up in New England and later in Montana, he entered a culture of skiing that rarely made space for bodies like his. But instead of asking to be included, Vasu redrew the boundaries of the sport.
“I’ve always believed that a pro athlete is someone who gives to the sport more than they take away. For me, it’s a lift as you climb kind of thing.”
What sets Vasu apart is the clarity with which he approaches movement. He skis not to defy gravity but to question who belongs on the mountain in the first place. His balance, honed through years of backcountry travel and mountaineering, is both literal and symbolic. His advocacy, too, extends this ethic. Through projects with adaptive athletes and racially diverse communities, Vasu reframes “access” as something far deeper than infrastructure. It’s permission to exist fully.
“My favorite kind of conditions are very specific: Four inches of cream cheese. Outriggers tend to get caught in really deep powder, which I still love skiing, but I have to be pretty mindful of how I place my outriggers. But if it’s four inches of cream cheese, I can just surf it and pretty much turn my brain off, which is a welcome relief.”
Now one of the most recognizable figures in adaptive sports, Vasu carries his visibility with insistence. His motto is “ninja-sticking through the woods to center intersectional in the outdoors.” His skiing, fluid and fearless, reveals that the body doesn’t lack; it invents. If he’s not taking on an athletic first of his own, be it skiing Denali or running UTMB, he’s helping another adaptive athlete accomplish their own first. Advising and testing with The North Face design team, Vasu has been a key element in the creation of Universally Designed gear and clothing for the brand.
Career Highlights
● Director/Producer, Video Part, Adaptive Avalanche, Lotus Producers (2024)
● Video Part, Aikyam, Faction Skis (2024)
● Director/Producer/Video Part, Modify, Lotus Producers (2023)
● Video Part, Out on a Limb, T-Bar Films (2013)
● First Disabled Person to Ski off Denali alongside Pete McAfee (2022)
● First Disabled Person to Ski the Skillet, Mount Moran, WY (2022)
● First Disabled Person to Ski Fuhrer Finger, Tahoma, Mt. Rainier, alongside Pete McAfee (2022)
● First Disabled Person on crutches to summit Cotopaxi, Ecuador (2022), Granite Peak, MT (2017), and Grand Teton, WY (2024)
● First Disabled Person on crutches to run the 28 km Run the Rut (2017) and UTMB MCC 40km (2024)
● First Disabled Person to ski an Alaskan Spine (2022)
● Video Part, Winter Starts Now, Warren Miller (2021)
● Video Part, The Approach 1 and 2, The North Face (2021, 2022)
● Video Part, ASCEND, The North Face (2021)
● Founder/Board President, Inclusive Outdoors Project
● Founding Member of the Para Collective
● Lead Director, Lotus Productions
● Founding Member of Outdoor Opportunity Coalition
● Board Member for The FIFA Accessibility Advisory Board
● Member of the REI Inclusive Design Advisory Council
● Former Member of The North Face Explorer Fund Council
● Former Advisor of the REI Cooperative Action Fund
https://www.instagram.com/vasu_sojitra
https://www.vasusojitra.com/