5'8"
29
Pittsfield, VT
University of Colorado Boulder '21
Classification: LW9-2
Spencer Wood grew up in Pittsfield, Vermont, a small Green Mountain town where skiing is not a hobby but a way of life. He was on skis at age two and racing by age five. What he did not know at the time was the full story of why his right side moved differently than his left. Wood had suffered a stroke in utero, which resulted in hemiparesis: weakness affecting the right side of his body. His parents, Randy and Barb Wood, made the deliberate decision to allow him to develop as an athlete first, and to disclose the diagnosis to him at age 10, once his athletic identity was already established.
Learning about his hemiplegia opened the door to para alpine skiing as a formal competitive pathway. He furthered his development as a skier, attending the Killington Mountain School, a ski-racing and sports academy, graduating in 2015. In December 2014, Wood attended a race camp hosted by Disabled Sports USA, an organization that has introduced generations of athletes with disabilities to competitive adaptive skiing, and the experience clarified a direction. Inspired by meeting Ralph Green, a three-time Paralympian, he entered his first Para alpine race in January 2015.
He committed to pursuing para alpine competition at the highest level, joining the Stifel U.S. Para Alpine Ski Team in 2017. He competes in the LW9-2 classification, which covers standing athletes with impairments affecting at least one upper limb and at least one lower limb. In Wood's case, this classification encompassed the functional limitations in the right leg and arm resulting from his in-utero stroke.
Wood credits two people above all others with shaping his career: his mother, Barb Wood, who has been present at every stage of his development; and Andrew Weibrecht, the two-time Olympic medalist in super-G who provided inspiration and mentorship as Wood developed through the U.S. program. At his first Paralympic Games, the Paralympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, Wood competed in slalom and giant slalom (25th) in the men's standing division. He returned for the Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 with measurably stronger results: 12th in super-G, 14th in both slalom and super combined, and 16th in downhill. This significant improvement across multiple disciplines demonstrates what sustained training and drive can produce.
At the world championship level, Wood has competed at the FIS World Para Alpine Skiing Championships, competing in five disciplines across appearances. At the 2025 world championships in Maribor, Slovenia, he placed 13th in slalom and 21st in giant slalom in the men's standing division.
At the Paralympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, para alpine and cross-country events will be held at the same venues as their Olympic cousins: the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre in Cortina d’Ampezzo and the Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium in Val d...
Disability Pride Month is a time to recognize the history, achievements and experiences of people living with disabilities. It reminds us that disability is a natural part of human diversity, not a deficit or a condition that needs a fix.Team USA’s Par...
Paralympians Andrew Kurka, Patrick Halgren and Matthew Brewer cherished recent descents down Cortina d’Ampezzo’s revered Olympia delle Tofane race hill.Competing at the FIS Para Alpine World Cup in the Italian Dolomites ski resort, Jan. 30-Feb. 2, the ...
U.S. women (and one mixed team) shined in 2023 with world titles, record-breaking performances and some notable firsts.
