Portraits of Adventure / 3 Trackers / Donald “Scooter” Renninger
Scooter
Brandywine Ski Resort, Ohio
February 2026
What Scooter found on the mono ski surprised him. He describes it in terms of the motorcycle, the edge of the ski on a carving turn, the feeling coming around that edge, the g-force. He says it's like taking a turn on his motorcycle in the middle of winter when there's snow on the ground. The thrill of it, living on the edge a little bit. He hadn't expected that translation, but once he felt it he understood why he'd come back.
Two years ago, on a road he liked, that edge nearly killed him.
Donald Renninger goes by Scooter, he was an avid motorcycle rider. He'd done an iron butt, a thousand miles in 24 hours, building toward longer distance riding. He had rigged a wind barrier, heated gloves, a heated vest running off the bike's battery so he could ride in the 20s. On May 23rd, heading home from work on a twisty road he liked, he took a left-hand turn faster than he should have. He tried to split a speed limit sign and a tree, but clipped the sign with his left handlebar. That's the last thing he remembers before waking up on the side of the road, perpendicular to the pavement, his legs twisted beneath him, unable to feel them, back on fire.
A man on a bike had already stopped, help was coming, Scooter asked where his legs were. When he found out, he reached over and untwisted them himself, then tried to crawl. He knew he was paralyzed, he says, but he wasn't going to just lie there. He grabbed gravel and didn't move. His motorcycle was upright in the trees about ten feet back, lights still on. He asked the man to go turn the key off so the battery wouldn't die. Then he caught himself, he had bigger problems than a dead battery. He texted his wife before the ambulance came: I wrecked my motorcycle and I got hurt. He knew she'd be wondering where he was. They were supposed to make it to their daughter's hockey game that night.
He's been in a wheelchair for nearly two years. One of the first things he wanted to do after the injury was ski again. He was just getting comfortable when the accident happened, teaching himself to ski after watching his kids in ski club. He got online, found 3 Trackers, and showed up for nine lessons that first year back.
He describes it in terms of riding his motorcycle, the edge of the ski on a carving turn, the feeling coming out of a turn, the g-force, it surprised him how similar it felt. He says it's like taking a turn on his motorcycle in the middle of winter when there's snow on the ground, the thrill of it, living on the edge. He hadn't expected that similarity, but once he felt it he knew he’d be back.
Getting outside in winter is hard now for Scooter. Temperature regulation is difficult, snow on his ramp at home means work before he even gets to the car. He says there's nothing good about being in a wheelchair in winter, but enures to get out on skis anyway. When he's on the hill the everyday back pain disappears. He doesn't know if it's the focus or being outside or something else. Scooter doesn't spend much time trying to figure it out, he's improving, he's tired at the end of each day, and it's worth it. He wants to ski with his family eventually, which he thinks might be in one more year. He also wants to get back to cross-country skiing, that was his first winter sport, before downhill, before the accident. He's already thinking about how to build his own sit-ski rig out of PVC if he has to.
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