95-year-old blind veteran skis for the first time in 80 years and yodels all the way down

Harley Welsh, 95, was excited to try sit skiing for the first time. 

"It's never too late to try something new," he said.

Welsh, who is blind, spent more than a decade in the army and served in the Korean War.

On Friday, he went down Optimist Hill in Saskatoon.

"You only live once," he said before going up the hill.

Welsh said the ride was thrilling. He yodeled the entire way down. 

"It was great. I was trying to concentrate on the yodeling so I wasn't scared. A little bumpy but OK," Welsh said after his first run. He went down the hill at least seven more times after that. 

Welsh was supported by Jaimie Smith-Windsor, president of the Saskatchewan Adaptive Snow Ski Club.  

Smith-Windsor said that helping Welsh and others from the Sherbrooke Community Centre ski is one of the highlights of the year at the club. It's part of an annual event where the club tries to introduce as many people as possible to the joys of downhill skiing. 

"To go down the hill for the first time with a new skier, to hear their joy, to hear them yodel, to see their smiles, and to hear everyone cheer, I think that's just such an amazing thing," Smith-Windsor said.

"One of the questions we always ask new skiers is did you ever picture yourself doing this? And they embrace it. And I think that's just such an amazing thing."

Eric Anderson, communications lead for Sherbrooke Community Centre, said putting the event together is a blast. 

"It provides so much joy and wellbeing to residents, and I would say to staff and to family members as well," Anderson said.