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Park City • Stephanie Boyles was a competitive mountain biker before arteriovenous malformation, a congenital disorder, took away her ability to ride a conventional bike.

So, she went the unconventional route.

Boyles, whose legs are partially paralyzed, regularly rides a hand-cycle near her home in Denver.

And every chance she gets, she heads for the mountains where she can barrel down a trail on a four-cross mountain bike.

Boyles was on one Friday, rolling on four wheels down the Flying Salmon Trail at Canyons Resort — one of more than 900 participants in the three-day No Barriers Summit.

The bikes have no pedals, and rely on gravity. They have hand brakes that can be adapted for use by those whose arms, as well as legs, are paralyzed.

"I would go insane without sports," says Boyles, a 47-year-old database administrator for an insurance company. "It's just as thrilling as before. I like the speed and the technical challenge of the trails. I like doing it with other people."

The No Barriers Summit underway through Sunday at Canyons Resort is co-hosted by the National Ability Center of Park City.

Participants from throughout the United States and several other countries are choosing from among more than 40 half-day clinics — from water-skiing to fly-fishing, painting to amputee soccer — for five sessions over the three days.

No Barriers Summit, a nonprofit, was founded by several friends in 2005, and regularly hosts "summits" to help those with disabilities stretch themselves physically, mentally and artistically. The summits have been held every other year in such places as Italy, Florida and Colorado, but are so popular that they will be yearly from now on, says board member Ron Kubit.

"They let you push your boundaries, but still do it safely," says Boyles.

Chris Read, program director for the Adaptive Sports Center in Crested Butte, Colo., ran the downhill four-cross mountain biking clinic on Friday.

"It's a way to get involved with a really cool community," Read says.

For those who are early in their rehabilitation from an injury or illness, "it's their first taste of a more intense independence," says Read, a graduate of the University of Utah.

Sarah Doherty was riding a downhill, four-cross mountain bike for the first time on Friday. "I feel like Mario Andretti!" she said after finishing the Flying Salmon run.

But Doherty is not new to sports. She lost her right leg and hip at age 13, in 1973, when she was hit by a drunken driver. She uses two forearm crutches.

Nevertheless, she summited Mount McKinley in Alaska in 1985 and was on the precursor to the USA Paralympic Ski Team from 1983-86.

Doherty, who lives near Vancouver, B.C., says being outdoors and active "just makes me psychologically feel good." Her daughter, husband and twin sister joined her on the four-cross mountain bikes Friday.

She and her husband, Kerith Perreur-Lloyd, co-founded the company Sidestix, which manufactures and sells carbon fiber forearm crutches and is one of the exhibitors at the summit. The Sidestix crutches can be fitted with showshoes, sand shoes or hiking tips.

Sylvie Fadrhonc, a physician's assistant at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City, volunteered on the four-cross track — but using her own hand-cycle — on Friday.

Fadrhonc, 31, was partially paralyzed in a car accident seven years ago, and uses a wheelchair.

Another volunteer was Dallin Rees, a mechanical engineering student at the University of Utah who is preparing to apply for medical school and volunteers at the National Ability Center.

Rees hopes to become a surgeon and invent surgical devices. But it's possible he'll also dabble in the ever-widening world of devices that help those with disabilities participate in sports.

"I'd love to do it on the side," says Rees.

kmoulton@sltrib.com

Twitter: @KristenMoulton