Jim Finch Dies at 72 After Building Basalt Adaptive Skiing Legacy

Jim Finch won four Paralympic medals, including two golds, while living in a wheelchair after losing both legs mid-thigh. He did this while running marathons, flying his own plane, and eventually becoming the face of adaptive skiing in Basalt.

That is the summary. The reality is more complex. Finch died March 25, 2026, at the Waters of Excelsior in Minnesota, where he had relocated in 2022 following a stroke. He was 72. Before the move, he spent decades turning Basalt into a hub for disabled athletes, not just as a participant, but as an organizer and instructor.

Let’s look at the timeline. Finch was born in Minneapolis in 1954. One month after graduating from Principia College in Illinois in 1976, he was trimming trees for his grandfather. An accident amputated both his legs above the knee. He was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

Most people would have retired from high-performance sports. Finch started them. He played wheelchair basketball for the Rolling Gophers. He ran the Twin Cities, Grandma’s, Boston (twice), and Chicago marathons. He qualified for the 1980 Paralympics in the Netherlands, winning two golds in track relays, a bronze in the 400-meter run, and a silver in the 100-meter breaststroke.

He didn’t just compete. He studied. He earned an MBA from Indiana University in 1981. He worked as a commercial banker and finance director for the Sydness U.S. Senate Committee in North Dakota. He became a business consultant. In 1990, he got his private pilot license and bought a Piper Cherokee 180. He called flying his plane his most meaningful accomplishment because it gave him freedom.

The shift to Colorado happened in 1995. Finch was skiing in Aspen with his family when he learned about Challenge Aspen, a nonprofit teaching disabled people to ski. He closed his consulting business in North Dakota and moved to Basalt. He didn’t just join the community; he led it. He was elected President of the Board of Challenge Aspen in 1996. He became a certified ski instructor.

In 1998, he qualified for the U.S. Disabled Olympic team for the winter Paralympics in Nagano, Japan. He didn’t medal in his four ski events, but he was there. He also competed in the National Foundation of Wheelchair Tennis tournaments in the mid-80s, ranking in the top ten of the Open Division. He played doubles with able-bodied and disabled players equally well.

Finch’s life wasn’t just about athletic glory. It was about adaptation. He moved from the Midwest to the Rockies, from banking to nonprofit leadership, from track and field to alpine skiing. He built a life around mobility when he lost his legs.

He died in Minnesota, far from the mountains he helped make accessible to others. The Waters of Excelsior is a care facility. It’s a quiet end for a man who lived loudly.

For the folks in Basalt, Finch wasn’t just a local hero. He was the reason adaptive skiing became a viable, organized sport in the valley. Challenge Aspen grew under his watch. The infrastructure for disabled athletes in the area owes a debt to his decision to move there in the early 90s.

He leaves behind a legacy of medals and a community that learned to ski because he decided to stay.