Riding On Insulin | Action sports + Alaskan adventure retreats for kids, teens and adults with type 1 diabetes - Blog

Show us your stickers!

Mon, 18 May 2020 23:16:27 GMT

We recently ran a contest on social media asking for photos of your Riding On Insulin stickers in action. Over the past few years we've given out a bunch of different stickers to our campers and they've made it everywhere from a skateboard in Philadelphia to the welcome sign at The Arctic Circle in Alaska.

When you come to a winter shred camp, your helmet name-tag (which is actually a sticker -- SO much cooler than masking tape) will be inside your welcome sling bag! One less thing to worry about on Saturday morning.

Thanks, Sticker Mule for making such rad stickers that we can write on and actually stay put on snowboards!

Meet Schwabby: ROI Coach and T1D Paraglider

Wed, 24 Jul 2019 21:15:27 GMT

Trying to design a daily routine or decipher the ins and outs of blood sugar control to keep numbers in zone is immeasurably difficult, and I won’t claim that I’ve figured it out. In my everyday life, I have good days and bad days when it comes to my BG levels, and I feel I am in a constant battle for more good days. While it hasn’t made this management any easier, outside of work and school I love pursuing adventure sports that push me out of my comfort zone; and learning to govern this disease and adapt my normal management procedures to fit into the constraints of sports like backcountry skiing, spelunking, and paragliding has been immensely gratifying. Paragliding has become a particularly obsessive passion of mine, and offers some unique challenges to diabetes management.

After taking lessons and getting my paragliding license, I started flying at some of the smaller hills around Bozeman to perfect my launches and landings. This meant a lot of short hikes and vigilant monitoring of blood sugars as launching and landing any aircraft takes finesse, correct timing, and mental capacity that would be hindered by lows. This motivated me to look into CGMs, and I started using a Dexcom which has been an unbelievably helpful tool in management in and out of sports. After a couple hundred flights off the training hills (150-250 vertical feet) and “the M” (900 vertical feet), I was pushing for longer flights. I remember flying Mt Baldy in the Bridger mountain range with two friends, a 4,500ft peak that took two and a half hours of hiking, two glucose treatments to stop dropping BGs, and finally a 20-minute flight. This was the first time I truly got to feel like I was in the air with other people as my friends Jerad and Eric and I were near each other enough that we could holler back and forth. I learned the hard way on this flight that temperature drops about 3.3˚F per 1,000ft which adds to the cold of the constant wind imposed by moving through the air, all resulting in excruciating pain in my hands as they started to thaw about 5 minutes after landing!

My flights became much longer as my group of paragliding friends and I found conditions for lift. We started in ridge lift at Point of the Mountain near Salt Lake Utah. Ridge lift is caused by wind hitting a hillside and moving vertically up and over the hill; under a paragliding wing, we can climb higher up into the sky in this vertical airflow. Here my flights changed immediately from minutes in duration to 2 or 3 hours in the air, thousands of feet above where we launched, taking in incredible views of the expansive Wasatch mountain range and the city below. I found more sites to soar in ridge lift, including one of my favorites in Montana that has brought me up a few thousand feet above paradise valley, watching the sunset cast orange and pink light onto the Absaroka mountains as I make my approach for landing.
Blood sugar management posed a new challenge due to the duration of these flights.

Luckily, flying does not require much physical exertion, but the hike up to launch can certainly be enough to lower BGs over the following hours. I managed my numbers by keeping my Dexcom on my flightdeck (a flat surface positioned somewhat in my lap that has a mounting surface for flight instruments (and CGMs!)) and treating lows with glucose tabs and only treating highs with insulin if my BG was above 300 (and then only half of what my correction factor on my pump would suggest). I liked glucose tabs because they act fast, but after almost dropping one treatment, I have been experimenting with a small Camelback-water-bladder that I fill with Gatorade so that I can treat without worrying about dropping anything.

After experiencing some longer flights, I wanted to move to the next challenge in free-flight: thermals. A thermal is a column of rising warm air caused by uneven heating on the ground. Winter was fast approaching, which meant there was one place to go to learn how to use thermals: Valle de Bravo (Valley of the Brave) in Mexico. Upon arrival at launch I found nearly 100 other pilots from around the world setting up and taking flight and I learned to turn and climb in a thermal by following the leaders in the sport. After reaching a sufficient height (usually at the base of the clouds, 5-6 thousand feet above the valleys) we could start to journey away from the launch area, crossing mountain passes and valleys, searching for more thermals to stay up near the clouds along the way. I quickly found that the rush and reward of passing through clouds, looking down to gain a unique perspective of mountainous jungles of ponderosa pine, and staying in the air for hours as I tried to make my way to the next town, came with the hazard of not finding another thermal and sinking out in very unfamiliar territory. One flight found me landing in a small farming village where I didn’t have more than a vague idea of where I was, didn’t know enough Spanish to explain where I wanted to go, and taxis seemed few and far between. I was glad to have packed a lot of extra fast acting sugars, and eventually a cab driver stopped, pointed at me, and exclaimed “Paraglider!” with a smile before he offered to take me back to the town where most pilots stay, and where I met back up with my group.

In this sport where plans are never followable due to reliance on unreliable weather, getting lost is a frequent inevitability, and mental focus and stamina are pushed usually a bit beyond their limits, I’m glad to say that I haven’t felt that Type1 diabetes is holding me back. I approach each flight with the mentality that I will need to treat lows, highs, my pump could fail, and I could be lost, and I prepare with enough supplies to make sure I won’t run into danger in flight, or on the ground after an unplanned landing. I’ve found that staying prepared and diligently monitoring BGs has allowed me to manage a number of extreme sports without fear of diabetes complications. I’m now teaching beginner paragliding lessons as a licensed instructor, researching flexible wing mechanics in a PhD program at Montana State University, and preparing for a paragliding competition in central Canada where I’ll be setting my sights on long distance flights along the western border of Banff National Park (wish me luck, eh?). I’ll end my little monologue with the best piece of advice I’ve ever received: ‘Whenever you are faced with an opportunity to try something that makes you nervous – be it a career move, a ski trip, a trading card game competition, anything – don’t let that fear stop you. Take a deep breath, don’t panic, and send it.’

Meet the Coaches: Louise Johnson

Wed, 26 Jun 2019 18:54:30 GMT

Donate to Louise's ROI Coaches Crew page here.

When someone asks me what I "do", I say I "am" a homeschool mom. My three children represent every level: elementary, middle and high school. Everything about them keeps me busy. If someone asked me where I saw myself in five years, five years ago, volunteering with ROI would not have been part of that vision. Not at all.

Five years ago, I was a homeschool mom of two. Our youngest, Avery, was four and our life was typical. When Avery was five and a half, we made the devastating discovery that his blood was over 500. My husband and I cried. We knew what that number meant. We had checked his blood with his daddy's meter.

My first exposure to T1D came on an early date with my future husband. We were going on a hike. To me, it was simple stroll across a meadow. It was not a hike. To him, it was an adventure. It was also an opportunity to introduce me to a box of Nutri-Grain bars, sugar in a tube, and his propensity to bring a huge container full of fear and supplies.

We went to the opposite extreme in the months ahead. He passed out on me twice.

The first time I had no clue what to do. The second time I knew to call an ambulance and have them meet me off the nearest exit ramp. We were in bumper to bumper traffic. I did not want it to control my life. I wanted 'normal', but ignoring diabetes was not working.

Honestly, we did not have anyone to train me. He had diabetes since he was seven. Treatment, diet, and lifestyle had changed through those years, but this bride had not been part of those developments. And, he loved his patterns and routines. Some things that should have changed had not.

Yes, we cried over Avery. While my husband stayed with the older two, I drove Avery to the ER ahead of a snow storm. I stopped crying long enough to focus on the weather and the mountain and the fact that I had no idea where I was going.  We were traveling an hour from home where my child could be treated.   I know that trip well now. Every three months we make it. I cried again in the ER and the admissions nurse ordered me to stop. He said, "You know it is diabetes and anything else that would make his blood sugar that high, you don't want him to have."

I stopped crying. Perspective. I did not want Avery to have anything else that would make his blood sugar that high. When we left that hospital I threw away every flier that we received. It all said the same thing - "life can be normal".   We were going to have normal. Avery was not going to be denied the things that make childhood magical. His daddy grew up in a time and under care that required his momma to say 'no'.

But, let's be real. Those of us who live with T1D know that normal only looks that way to the outside world. Normal requires a medium sized box of supplies and 'fear'.    Preparedness and awareness.

We camp in places where I can keep a bag of snacks in the tent. Bear bags are a bit beyond my comfort zone, because I'd rather not have to deal with that at 4 a.m. If Avery wants to do that when he is older, that is up to him. He takes his pump off to play football and gets to drink G2 Low Sugar after a practice. We hike with drinks that he can't have otherwise. And, just like the other two, he was given the opportunity to learn a snow sport.

The kids and I were all on the mountain a lot more this year and I noticed two things. For one, Avery and I spent a lot more time in the lodge than previous years. To improve his HB1C we have him under tighter control and we had to learn to compensate for that. I also noticed that not one T1D came through the children's lesson program where I teach skiing (also not on my radar five years or one year ago!). I knew why, but it broke my heart. Skiing with diabetes just takes more work.

That led me on a quest that led me to Riding On Insulin. My heart is to see all of our T1D's have normal. My place in that for right now, in this time, is to give other parents the opportunity to allow their children to learn to ski. Ironically, I did not teach mine. They can do it, with a medium sized box of supplies. For them, there should be no fear. We are taking care of them. Preparedness and awareness.

Donate to Louise's Coaches page here.

First-Ever Riding On Insulin Surf Camp

Wed, 09 Jan 2019 01:35:53 GMT

Dustin Askim, ROI Program Director

The Vegas desert dweller is in his fourth year working for ROI. He was diagnosed in July 2012, is a proud Montana native, dog-lover, movie fanatic and merch maestro. (On a related note, he loves alliterations)

In partnership with the highly respected nonprofit, Indo Jax Surf Charities, Riding On Insulin is beyond stoked to announce our first-ever surf camp in Summer 2019.

The three-day surf camp for ages 7-17 will take place at Morro Strand Beach in Cayucos, California on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, July 30-August 1. There will be surf sessions all three days from 9 AM - 12 PM.
Register and get more details here. The cost for the 3-day camp is $250. You can fundraise your camp fee here.
All equipment, including surfboards, wetsuits and life vests are provided for this event.

Indo Jax is the absolute best at what they do, teaching disadvantaged, medically fragile, special needs and, very soon, T1D kids and teens, how to surf. This is Indo Jax's first time teaching T1D kids how to surf, which is where ROI comes in. We will have Sean Busby, Dustin, as well as a few coaches there to join in on the fun and provide the very important T1D mentorship role.

The camp takes place at Morro Strand State Beach near Cayucos, California. It's smack dab in the middle of Southern California and Northern California, meaning no more than a four-hour drive for families. There is a nice campground right on site and plenty of lodging options nearby. Please see the "Make it a vacation" page for more lodging details.

Indo Jax believes that the ocean, and learning to surf, has profound healing properties and can build self-esteem. They have seen that children who take part in their surf camps inevitably move from a feeling of skepticism and reluctance around the ocean to empowerment and confidence, giving them the sense that “If I can surf, I can do anything!”

There is also a campground right on site. Cayucos is a four-hour drive from the Los Angeles area and about 4.5 hours from the San Francisco area.

Please email Dustin@RidingOnInsulin.org with any questions.

ROI + Type 1 Willpower

Fri, 04 Jan 2019 08:01:06 GMT

By Dustin Askim, ROI Program Director
The Vegas desert dweller is in his fourth year working for ROI. He was diagnosed in July 2012, is a proud Montana native, dog-lover, movie fanatic and merch maestro. (On a related note, he loves alliterations)

When a person living with T1D faces burnout, or gets frustrated and overwhelmed by the disease, all we need to jumpstart our "betes battery" is a little inspiration from an unexpected place, or a reminder the T1D community is a tight-knit family.

When I spoke with the founders of a nonprofit called Type 1 Willpower, located in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, they provided me with the jolt of inspiration I needed, both personally and professionally.

Type 1 Willpower was founded by an inspiring young person living with T1D, named Will, and his parents, Shaun and Joe. Just four years after diagnosis, Type 1 Willpower has already achieved 501(c)(3) status, started its own Turkey Trot, and donated more than $35,000 to various organizations, including $2,775 to ROI for five winter camp scholarships in 2019.

Read below for more about Type 1 Willpower from co-founder, Joe Oliver. Sean and I are super stoked to meet the family very soon in the Poconos to kick off the 2019 season.

William’s father, Joe, writes “William was diagnosed December 8, 2014 at the age of 4. He is now 8, turning 9 in February. His story is like many others. William started exhibiting many of the warning signs of Type 1 diabetes. His mom Shaun noticed and we took him to the doctor. Shaun caught it early, so his BG was "only" in the 400s at diagnosis. He is currently an Omnipod and Dexcom user.

In September 2016, we participated in a 5K to raise money for JDRF. On the drive home from the race, William asked, "Why can't we have a 5K in Mountain Lakes to raise money for Type 1 diabetes?" We then went to a jazz concert in NYC that had a $10,000 fundraising goal. William saw the event had raised $6,700, and told me that we only had to donate another $3,300 for them to reach their goal.

When I explained that that's not how it works, he wasn't satisfied. Finally, after his first year at Camp Nejeda, he exclaimed, "All kids with Type 1 diabetes should go to Camp Nejeda." After another economics lesson, William asked if we could pay for other kids to attend camp because "we have money".

At that point, it was clear to me and Shaun that we had to do more to help others living with Type 1 diabetes. Simply donating money to various causes was not going to be enough for William. So we formed Type 1 Willpower with a few family members and friends in June, and our history is currently being written. We're so proud to have donated more then $35,000 this year to various organizations.

As for meeting Benji, his parents live in our hometown of Mountain Lakes. When Benji came home for Thanksgiving break, he saw our lawn signs all over town advertising the inaugural Type 1 Willpower Turkey Trot. His mom called me and asked about our organization. I invited them to to join us and asked to get Benji and William together (learning that Benji plays lacrosse was a huge bonus as William loves to play the game). So we met on Thanksgiving morning and Benji told us all about Riding on Insulin and how impactful it can be for kids living with Type 1 diabetes. Your camps fit perfectly with our core mission, so it really was a no-brainer to donate a portion of our Turkey Trot proceeds to ROI.

We're really looking forward to the Pennsylvania camp. It will be William's first time snowboarding. He's a heck of an athlete and doesn't lack in confidence (but I'm still not sure that he has any idea what he's in for). Regardless, I know it's going to be so much fun.”

Coaches Crew Tips for Riding & Skiing with T1D

Mon, 10 Dec 2018 23:55:24 GMT

Charlie Rabe, longtime T1D, Level 2 PSIA Snowboard Instructor:
"Typically you have a ton of pockets on your gear. Knowing where your stuff is located can be critical. For that reason, I assign pockets for my diabetes supplies that stay constant through the season. Example: right ‘hand warmer’ jacket pocket is always my candy pocket, or low supplies pocket. Candy pocket just sounds more fun. Also, all the sour patch kid sugar that spills out is confined to that one pocket and the rest stay pretty clean."

Emily George, T1D, skier and graphic designer:
" I reuse a M&M's Minis tube for my low supplies (any kind of candy in there really) for a winter coat. The key difference between this tube and a standard glucose tab tube is the cap is attached. Easy to pop open with a glove on and resealable. No fumbling with taking gloves off and opening wrappers. Also: keep a hand warmer near your pump."

Geoffrey Kruse, Insulin Pump software developer for Tandem Diabetes Care:
"Pumps should be worn as close to the body as possible (innermost layer) to prevent exposing it to extreme temperatures and wind chill. This includes tubing for tubes pumps. The insulin in exposed tubing can freeze pretty rapidly. I’ve seen pumpers who have the pump nice and warm next to their skin but the tubing is hanging out."

Pockets, pockets, pockets
Otherwise, be prepared to carry a backpack with slow AND fast-acting carbs, BG meter, glucagon, testing supplies, etc. Just like fruit snacks can melt sitting in the sun, granola bars and other go-to carb snacks can freeze on the hill. Packets of honey or glucose tabs are great because they won’t freeze like many other fast-acting carbs.

Test at the bottom of the chairlift before getting on
There’s nothing worse than getting on a lift thinking, I’ll test when I get on, and then when you test, and you have a low, you’re stuck on the lift with the chairlift continually stopping and starting. Even if you have the carbs with you on the lift, we tell families at Riding On Insulin that kids must have a BG of 100 or more before they can ride the lift.

Keep your equipment from freezing
This one’s easier said than done. When you’re on the mountain for hours in freezing temps, diabetes equipment doesn’t want to cooperate. Make sure to put your pump and CGM in an inside pocket. Same goes for your Dexcom and meter if you aren’t using a backpack. If your insulin pump tubing is exposed, and it’s cold enough, it can freeze inside the tubing. For this reason, it’s also good to carry a pen of rapid-acting insulin (even if you’re on a pump) just in case you skyrocket above 300 and need to come back down while your tubing thaws out. For tubeless pumps like OmniPod, we’ve found body heat keeps the pump warm enough under your clothing.

Bring spare sites and sensors:
Sites can be accidentally ripped out by literally (almost) anything, including long underwear, brakes on skis, snowboard bindings, jacket zippers, etc.

Temp basal rates:
If you’ve never used a Temp Basal Rate for your pump, talk to your doctor about the best rate for you. Physical activity at a higher altitude means your heart rate is higher; my doctors tell me that insulin is absorbed more rapidly with these conditions. Again, discuss with your doctor beforehand, but generally speaking, the ROI Elite Coaches team agrees that a temp basal rate or less Lantus the night before helps them avoid low BGs on the slopes.

Riding On Insulin Partners with Wears Woody

Thu, 29 Nov 2018 23:03:43 GMT

Riding On Insulin is stoked to announce an exciting partnership with clothing and lifestyle brand Wears Woody.

As ROI prepares to host more than 350 kids at its U.S. winter shred camps in 2019, Wears Woody is joining us in our mission to activate and connect with the Type 1 diabetes community through shared experience and action sports.

Cruising the country in its funky Wagoneer for the past six years, Wears Woody has built an amazing following and outfitted thousands living with or impacted by diabetes. Mike Norwood, the brand’s founder, has lived with T1D for forty years and he couldn’t be any more passionate for the cause and our partnership.

“I’ve always believed that diabetes should not be a barrier to a great, meaningful life. Being active and taking in all the outdoors has to offer is an important piece of that. The programs Sean and his crew have put together, and continue to build at ROI, align perfectly with the way I look at life and the mission at our company: Chase your wildest dreams and look great doing it.”

The partnership features three key elements for this inaugural winter season:

As a member of One Percent For the Planet™, Wears Woody will donate 1% of all company sales to ROI as its designated beneficiary.
“Flash sales” will take place at the Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Colorado camps, giving attendees the unique opportunity to purchase limited-edition, co-branded apparel and headwear on site. Don’t worry if you cannot attend these camps as we’ll offer product on a limited basis on our website throughout the winter.
ROI plans to co-host a very special event with Wears Woody at Meier Skis in Denver around the Eldora Mountain camp on March 2.

Stay tuned to Wears Woody and Riding On Insulin on Facebook and Instagram as more details and announcements emerge regarding our rad partnership.

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Riding On Insulin is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2004, based in Whitefish, Montana. With ski and snowboard programs across the United States, Canada and New Zealand, ROI empowers, activates and connects the global diabetes community through shared experience and action sports. In addition to establishing a comfortable environment, the organization strives to help families explore new passions, challenge T1D, and celebrate each other’s successes. For more, visit http://RidingOnInsulin.org.

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Wears Woody is a for-profit premium apparel and accessories manufacturer and retailer based near Cape Cod, MA. The company and its mission, Woody’s Drive Over Diabetes, proudly donate 25% of its profits to organizations that share its determination to make a difference in the lives of people impacted by diabetes. For more information, visit wearswoody.com.