Provided photo Harley Meagley trains for alpine snowboarding at Whiteface Mountain on Thursday, Jan. 9.

LAKE PLACID — For many of the nearly 60 athletes, coaches and staff with Invictus Team U.S., being able to train together in the Olympic Region for a week was a “once in a lifetime” opportunity.

The team was in town from Sunday, Jan. 5 to Friday, Jan. 10 for a training camp for the Invictus Games, which are scheduled for Feb. 8 to 16 in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia.

The Invictus Games “give soldiers who are wounded, injured or ill in body and soul a greater awareness and recognition in society and to support their path in rehabilitation,” according to the team’s website.

The games have grown to include 25 member nations, according to its website. The 2025 games are slated to feature 523 competitors hailing from 23 countries. The athletes will compete in a total of 11 adaptive disciplines.

While the games were founded in 2014 by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, this year will be the first iteration to include winter sports. The games will feature alpine skiing, alpine snowboarding, biathlon, Nordic skiing, skeleton and wheelchair curling, alongside the games’ traditional sports making a return — indoor rowing, sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball, swimming and wheelchair rugby.

Provided photo Michael Haley cross-country skis at Mount Van Hoevenberg on Wednesday, Jan. 8.

Many of the athletes compete in multiple sports. Although some of the athletes came into the week with minimal experience in winter sports, the potentially daunting learning curve in front of them was not a barrier. Ivan Morera, one of Invictus Team U.S.’s co-captains, explained the mentality athletes approached the week with.

“We really love a challenge,” he said. “We’re doing this to challenge ourselves to see how far we can go and push ourselves in our new state of physical abilities and our new state of mind.”

Morera said the games offered him a chance to prove to himself and those watching that as he recovered from injury, his perspective on life was defined by what he could push himself to accomplish, not what he was prevented from doing.

“I look at it as I’m challenging myself to do something new,” he said. “And whether I win a medal or not, I’m going out there for me and to represent my country with integrity and honor and show other people that just because I’m injured doesn’t mean I’m out of the fight and doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy life and participate in competitive sports.”

Morera said one component of his job as a team co-captain was to help allay nervousness that other athletes express leading up to and during the Invictus Games. He said his message revolves around his mindset toward the games.

“I just say, ‘Go out there and have fun,'” he said. “That’s what it’s really about. It’s about focusing on your ability — what you can do, not what you can’t do. That’s what we’re working on. We’re working on improving ourselves through our recovery journey and adaptive sports play such a key role in that.”

Morera said training for the games and competing have a positive impact on the athletes that extends far beyond scores, times or placements in a competition.

“They help build confidence,” he said. “They help build a new purpose in somebody’s life. It gives me a reason to go work out and train, not just stay home and get depressed. Exercise and activity are huge parts of my mental health, so as long as I’m active, I’m good to go mentally.”

Moses Debraska, a member of the wheelchair curling team said that he particularly enjoyed the team aspect that curling offered. He said he recently sustained a leg injury that reduced his mobility, but wheelchair curling offered him the chance to be a part of and contribute to the team regardless of his lack of mobility.

“I enjoy how much of a team sport it is,” he said. “Only as a team can we compete.”

Morera, who will be competing in skeleton, biathlon, indoor rowing and seated volleyball said he and his fellow Invictus athletes were grateful to train at the top-caliber venues the region offers, such as Mount Van Hoevenberg.

“The sledding facility was incredible,” he said. “Being able to train at the same facility that Olympians and Paralympians train at is a complete honor for me. I was in awe. Champions train here.”

Adam Foutz, an athlete who trained in skeleton and biathlon, agreed.

“It was exceptional training,” he said. “I’ve done a few other things with some other organizations, but nothing at this level. The coaching and instruction were just exceptional. I think every athlete I spoke to, we all left with more skills in the sports we tried out for and also with the atmosphere and experience, all around, we grew together and just knowing that we’re in such a historical location in Lake Placid and just the significance of that really hit home.”

Foutz said that as part of the athlete’s time in Lake Placid, they were able to tour the Olympic Museum and watched a screening of the 2004 film “Miracle,” which told the story of the story of the 1980 Olympic U.S. men’s ice hockey team’s legendary quest for the gold medal in Lake Placid, which included an upset of the heavily-favored Soviet team.

“That (movie) just really tied it all together,” he said. “You’re realizing that you’re in history, realizing that this is the first winter games for the Invictus Games that we’re training for. To be able to go through the history of the Olympics at the location where the winter games were held and then to be able to know that we’re on a trajectory and pathway to a similar experience for adaptive athletes, wounded or injured, and I think that’s incredible.”

Mary Porter is a retired family medical doctor and Army Major who served as a Brigade Surgeon in Iraq is a lifelong alpine skier. At age 54, she said she had been skiing for the past 50 years of her life. In 2021, she was diagnosed with ALS and said she had to give up traditional skiing. Soon after her diagnoses, she was introduced to adaptive skiing.

“I had not even really realized that it was a thing until the ALS Association and Challenge Aspen got a hold of me and let me know, ‘hey, there’s this opportunity if you want to start learning how to ski,'” she said. “So, I did and I’ve been at it since then. This is my fourth season of adaptive skiing and it’s been incredible.”

She said the adaptive skiing learning curve was steep at first, but that her prior skiing experience helped ease the transition, as some of the skills, such as reading the terrain, carried over. Porter said she enjoyed training at Whiteface, and experiencing the charm Lake Placid has to offer.

“The State Police had escorted us into town and we came into Lake Placid in the dark,” she said. “All of the Christmas lights were beautiful and we could see all these faces in the windows waving at us as we were coming into town. It was unexpected and really heartwarming.”

Debraska, who said that he had just moved from a small town, said being in the area made him miss it dearly. While training at the nearby Saranac Lake Civic Center, over 50 people from the area — including school children and local veterans — came out to cheer on the team at a scrimmage held on Tuesday, Jan. 7.

“It was rejuvenating in many ways to see and experience the Saranac Lake community come together to be there with and for us,” he said.” It meant so much to the team and I. Having folks from the town gather as a crowd to cheer, shout, support and encourage helped me remember the power of sport, competition and enjoy being able to be on the wheelchair curling team.”

Porter thanked the Gary Sinise Foundation and the other organizations who teamed up to make the training camp possible.

“The Gary Sinise Foundation sponsored us coming out,” she said. “That was my first time with them, and they were just amazing to work with. We couldn’t have done it without them, as well as the company that supplied all of the accessible vans. Gary Sinise really did a lot for us and it helped with team building and solidifying relationships. Having that ability to have the time together that Gary Sinise provided for us was irreplaceable.”

Debraska said the event’s logistics were handled very smoothly, which allowed the athletes to focus on the experience and training. He thanked the volunteers of the Lake Placid Curling Club, who helped run the wheelchair curling training during the week.

“I am beyond thankful and grateful for the amazing volunteers of the curling team that selflessly gave their time, energy and effort to be there with and for us,” he said. “For sharing life, for choosing and wanting to be there with and for us.”

Foutz expressed similar thoughts, adding that the athletes were profoundly grateful for the opportunity.

“Every athlete left here feeling more encouraged, more inspired, just made better by the experience, the training day in and day out and being able to grow together,” he said. “The foundation created a very safe and encouraging environment. We all left as family, united and ready to compete.”

For more information on the Invictus Games, visit invictusgamesfoundation.org. For more information on the American athletes competing in the games, visit invictusteamus.com.