It’s not a matter of if, but when adaptive snowboarding will be added to the rostrum of sports included in the Paralympic Games.

That was the apparent upshot of a meeting last Friday (March 19) at Nita Lake Lodge involving officials with the Canada-Snowboard, international guests who were in Whistler for the 2010 Paralympic Games, and at least one high-ranking official with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

Among the approximately 50 people who attended the reception and information session, there was a strong desire to see the sport added to the Paralympics. Tom McIllifaterick, CEO of Canada Snowboard, didn’t rule out its inclusion at the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia — though he admitted that given the work still to be done, the 2018 Games at a location still to be determined might be more realistic.

One official at the meeting said it normally takes about seven years from the time an application is submitted to the first Paralympic competition. That application has not yet been submitted.

“From my perspective I don’t think it would be fair to the Paralympic movement and to our athletes to push for inclusion before the sport and our athletes are ready,” McIllifaterick said.

On the other hand, if those involved in the sport can show the progress we’ve made and a plan to overcome the hurdles that remain, there may still be a chance of inclusion in 2014, he said.

Greg Hartung, IPC vice-president, offered encouragement to those who would like to see adaptive snowboarding become the sixth Paralympic sport.

“What you’ve got here is clearly an attractive proposition,” Hartung said. “I don’t think there’s an argument about the appropriateness of the sport.”

Hartung urged those involved in adaptive snowboarding to begin documenting the progress that has been made so far and nail down the details of the event or events, the structure and organization of such a sport, and submit a formal proposal.

Emphasizing that he was only speaking for himself, not the entire IPC board, Hartung added, “It’s the energy and determination of the people involved that would make it happen.”

Canada is an acknowledged leader in the development of the sport. Canada Snowboard launched its adaptive snowboarding program five years ago when Whistlerite Tyler Mosher — a snowboarder who was paralyzed from the waist in an accident here in 2000, but who has since regained some mobility in his legs — and asked, “‘Why don’t you do something about moving this forward as a sport?’” McIllifaterick said.

Mosher, incidentally, is the 2009 Adaptive Snowboarding World Champion and helped organize Friday’s meeting. The World Snowboard Federation Adaptive Snowboard World Cup and Canadian Nationals are scheduled April 2 in Mont-Tremblant, Que.

At least two delegates in the room expressed a desire to move ahead with the initiative for inclusion in the Paralympics post-haste.

“I’m just feeling as if I’m hearing what I heard two years ago. I want to hear more specifics, because I feel like I’ve jumped through a lot of hoops already,” said one, who identified himself as a member of the World Snowboard Federation’s Adaptive Snowboard Committee.

Another, who identified himself as being from the United States and as a member of the same committee, said point blank, “I think we’re ready to go for this in 2014.”

McIllifaterick said that as it’s envisioned now, snowboardcross is the event that’s best developed and most likely to have a strong case for inclusion in the Paralympics. Unlike the able-bodied version, which has time trials followed by head-to-head races involving four to six athletes each, competitors in adaptive snowboardcross would tackle the course one a time, either two or three times each. The athlete with the best combined time would be the winner, he said.

Slopestyle might have a chance to be included later, he said.

McIllifaterick said the categories would be the same as in Nordic and alpine skiing — standing, sitting and visually impaired. Another Canada Snowboard official said the classification system would be similar or the same as the percentage system now used to weight the varying levels of ability/disability within each category.

McIllifaterick, though, said that at the moment, there are far fewer competitors in the visually impaired and sitting classes than in the standing class. He added that athletes and officials still need to reach agreement on a set of guidelines for the design of the sit-snowboard apparatus to be used.

“We’re still in the fairly early stages and still refining some of the details,” he said.