Stephen Burkert is a physical therapist who combines his passion for winter sports and outdoor athletics by treating snow sport athletes.
Steve started his business Snow Beast Performance out of a CrossFit gym near Burlington, VT. He took his lifestyle to cater to snow athletes and apply their needs to the mountain.
His model is to screen and prepare all athletes for the snow season. He conducts formal programs to limit potential injuries. Each athlete, either skier or snowboarder, has specific interventions tailored to their sport.
Common injuries Steve treats are not any different than what is seen in typical PT clinics. He treats mainly overuse injuries from poor repetitive movement but emphasizes PTs treating on the mountain should have a strong knowledge in concussion rehab.
If any PT, PTA or student is interested in this area, Steve recommends gaining the experience in this area to understand the demand to ski or snowboard. Steve also became a ski and snowboard instructor to learn the language of educating this population.
Steve holds a Snowboard Performance and Injury Support Group on Facebook to further spread insight and knowledge to snow athletes.
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The Northeast Regional Virtual Conference hosted by APTA CT, MA, NH and RI Chapters will be available until January 31.
PARTING SHOT
35:49 “If you have a passion for something, go after it. It might not be something that seems to make sense but as physical therapists, we’re naturally givers.” – STEPHEN
