Michael Wimbs stood at the starting gate and stared down the massive Austrian mountain.
It took the Barrie Special Olympics athlete four years of discipline and hard work to get there - and then a 25-minute gondola ride to the top.
"Definitely feel like I'm standing on top of the world," the 31-year-old Wimbs recalled.
"So often we've been told we can't do it. Can't go to work. Can't go to school. But you know get them on a pair of skis - totally different story."
Wimbs was among 148 Team Canada members who competed recently at the Special Olympics Winter Games in Austria.
The skier won a gold medal in the alpine advanced super gold slalom event.
His Barrie teammates Jade Irvine, a snowshoe racer, brought home a silver medal in the 4 X 100 metre relay and downhill skier David Whyne won silver in the alpine intermediate slalom and bronze in the intermediate giant slalom.
Climbing that mountain in Austria was rich in symbolism for Wimbs, who enrolled in Special Olynpics programs 15 years ago.
"It was a dream come true. It's a four year venture, starting with regionals. Gym five days a week. On the ski hill five days a week," he said.
"Standing there in the gate, it's just me and the mountain. You're gonna do what I tell you and that's it. I'm gonna beat you and that's the end of it. I'm not going home empty-handed."
Wimbs has accomplished more than most people.
He doggedly completed his university degree in Psychology, taking seven years instead of what would usually take four.
He has his driver's license.
Now, he proudly has a gold medal too and that victory tastes especially sweet because of what it communicates.
"The message of inclusion. We're still seeing people with disabilities shunned and being cast away. What I saw in Austria was phenomenal," Wimbs said. "People with intellectual disabilities are just people. Welcome us. Include us. Accept us."
Wimbs applauds the Barrie Special Olympics program and what the entire Special Olympics organization can do for people.
He'll never forget the looks of joy on the faces of athletes on the podium and his own accomplishment.
"It's taken a lot of effort but at the end of the day standing on top of the world is a feeling that I'll have no other time. It shows us that we're capable."
His gold medal win only really sunk in after his podium moment when Wimbs was alone in the quiet of his room.
"Wow. This is incredible," he recalled thinking. "No one else in the family is an Olympian and I am. Not bad."
The Barrie Community Special Olympics provides year round athletic programs for over 200 athletes in 13 different sports.
For more information go to Special Olympics Ontario - Barrie
