Who Am I?

I am Alvaro Bayona (1983), an elite athlete with paraplegia. I was a mountain guide, companion, and sports coach/trainer.

In 2010 I suffered a serious accident caused by an avalanche while snowboarding.

You can see this whole story in the documentary “Camí a Alaska”

Today, after years full of new personal challenges, I have achieved countless projects and virtues thanks to a positive attitude and a huge motivation to continue practicing what I consider my greatest passion, extreme sports.

Since I started using a wheelchair, my goal has been to consistently practice and compete in the sports I dedicated so many years to: skiing, surfing, kitesurfing, wakeboarding, and paddle surfing. I have become a pioneer, both nationally and internationally, in adapted paddle surfing, and I am proud to say that thanks to this sport, I have been able to start a small business manufacturing patented wheelchairs for water sports.

My main goal has been to share my own experience, both personal and athletic, with many other people going through similar situations. To this end, I organize numerous talks and conferences where I encourage attendees to practice these sports, learning the necessary techniques to overcome any limitations imposed by fear under these physical conditions.

I dedicate a lot of time to researching, creating, testing, traveling, competing, meeting people and getting involved in many other projects to do my bit and thus be able to offer my support to any action linked to social awareness for this area that has been left in someone's hands.

I participate in various competitions, edit short films and documentaries about the effort involved in being a wheelchair athlete, and organize open days funded by my meager budget, with a lot of love and always accompanied by good friends. I've given interviews to different media outlets to promote these adapted sports and to ensure we are valued equally, or even more so, which is how I believe it should be in the sporting world! Unfortunately, scholarships, grants, or any kind of institutional support are minimal, if not nonexistent.

I am launching the “ALVIN BAYONA FOUNDATION” with the aim of raising the necessary financial resources for the proper development of the adaptation processes that each of these sports disciplines requires and which I personally lack, and to offer a positive image and benchmark for adapted sports through the tools I am designing and building for this purpose. I want to make known the numerous possibilities of practicing sports like those mentioned to people with similar physical limitations.

Don't hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have. I'd be happy to chat and share my passion in a more personal and direct way.

You can find my contact information on the WhatsApp button on the website or by email at the following address ( info@fundacioalvinbayona.cat )

Thank you!