Jack Michael Wade lost the use of his legs 25 years ago, but he never lost his spirit of adventure.
Wade, 51, of Golden was killed in a skiing accident at Arapahoe Basin on Thursday when he crashed hard on his sit ski.
“He lived to ski — he loved to ski,” said Richard “Steve” Wade, his brother. “He was amazing.”
Born in Denver, Wade started skiing while he was a student at Skinner Middle School, Steve Wade said.
He graduated from North High School and moved as a young adult to Steamboat Springs, where he worked as a drywall installer and at the Tugboat, a longtime local pub. Wade skied every chance he got, his brother said.
In 1986, Wade got into a traffic accident, along with another brother, Spencer, who was also in the truck.
The two were driving near Steamboat when a vehicle sideswiped their pickup, Steve Wade said. Neither man was buckled in, and both were tossed from the truck, which rolled end-over-end down the side of a mountain.
Spencer Wade suffered multiple injuries but made a full recovery. Jack suffered spinal-cord injuries, and his life as a paraplegic began.
“He never let it get him down,” Steve Wade said. “He had a really positive attitude. He was always upbeat.”
Beside skiing, Wade enjoyed and excelled at paraplegic cycling, and he often rode his bike, which he pedaled using his arms and hands, on a trail over Vail Pass.
Wade was celebrating his 25th year of paraplegic skiing this season. The Summit County Coroner’s Office did not disclose his injuries or say whether he was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash.
He has been married for 32 years and is survived by his wife, Vicki, and their daughter, Tash; his parents, Richard and Jacque Wade; brothers, Jerry, Spencer and Steve; sisters, Jill Wade Larsen, Stephanie Wade DeMott and Cheryl Wade Casados; and his mother-in-law, Carole Harrison. Memorial services are pending.
Wade had a great sense of humor and loved playing practical jokes.
At a recent family dinner, spare ribs were served and Wade chowed down, stripping rib after rib down to the bone. He slyly left a pile of bones on the plate of his sister Stephanie, who is a vegetarian.
“Everyone was trying to determine who was eating all the ribs, and he blamed it on Steph,” Steve Wade recalled. “He did it, of course, with a little-boy smile.”
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com
