BOISE - This summer up at Bogus Basin has been full of fun and activities for many people. But for one Boise man living with MS, that fun was cut short when he realized the challenges of getting on the recreation area's newest attraction - the mountain coaster.
"No one had ever told me what it was like so it was all in my imagination what it would be like," Gordon Myre said about his dream of riding the coaster.
When he eventually made his way to the entrance to the ride, Myre, who uses a scooter to get around, faced a major roadblock.
"I said 'how am I going to get there?'" Myre said. "'There's a road that goes over there' they said. I took my scooter there, at the end of the road then the road was blocked off. Then once you get there you still had stairs to get to."
Without a ramp to bypass the stairs, his goal of riding the coaster was squashed, so he left.
"As much money as they spent to put this in, you would've thought they would've thought about accessibility because that's high in everybody's idea when they build buildings nowadays," Myre said.
On Sunday afternoon, he was finally able to get on the coaster with the help of a wheelchair and four Bogus Basin employees.
"Once they started carrying me up I wasn't nervous at all, I felt pretty comfortable," Myre said.
They carried Myre up the stairs and pushed the wheelchair through the line until it was his turn.
While Myre was able to eventually ride the coaster, this situation could happen again to someone else with a similar disability.
Nate Shake, Bogus Basin's director of mountain operations, says the ride was actually designed to have a ramp with it.
"Unfortunately due to the construction season last season and then getting started this season and contractor availability, we haven't built the ramp yet," Shake said.
He says the designs are drawn and the plans are in place to put a ramp at the coaster this fall.
"We wanted to show that the ride is accessible and that folks can ask for help when they need it," Shake said. "We are on a mountain and it makes things difficult at times to get around and move around. Folks need to ask us for help and we're more than happy to provide that."
Shake also says over the last few years they've taken a look at overall accessibility at the resort especially in the lodge.
"We put in two accessible restrooms last summer one on each floor in the Simplot Lodge, put in a paved ramp, we paved some parking to allow for more accessibility," Shake said.
Shake says one way to ask for help if you want to ride the coaster is to call ahead so they can plan transportation once you're at the resort and a way to get up the stairs.