Hanlon is hoping to head to Europe next month (pending COVID-19 and safety plans) to continue his development as a Para-alpine sit-skier.

He has been included in an Australian development team and is hoping to gain international classification in Norway to be able to compete in the major events.

Snow Australia's Para Program manager, Annie Geiger, told The Daily Advertiser that the 23-year-old from Weethalle has been impressive on the slopes in winter.

"From what our coaches are saying, he's progressing really well and really quickly in the sport," Geiger said.

"Another one of our sit-skiers, Sam Tait, who has been on the team for a few years, has really enjoyed having Josh on the team as a fellow sit-skier.

"He's found that Josh has helped push him as well. They've been able to push each other in training and when I spoke to Sam, he's been ecstatic about that."

Hanlon, who played football with Tullibigeal, Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong and North Wagga, only tried sit-skiing in 2019, less than a year after losing his legs and right hand in a life-threatening illness. Immediately, he turned heads.

"We had Josh come through national qualification last year which is run by us, so we already had eyes on him in terms of his potential," Geiger said.

"We'd actually been informed by Disabled Winter Sport Australia who are another really great organisation. They are really the entry-way into the sport, enabling participation and organisation for people with a disability getting in to winter sport.

"I got a phone call from one of their resort coordinators saying they had someone special in Josh. He'd been out on the snow with him a couple of days and called me and gave me a heads-up."

Hanlon came through the Snow Australia futures program last year, and then had some time in the United States in the northern winter.

This year, Snow Australia's Para Sport put him forward for a scholarship with NSW Institute of Sport.

"It's really there to help push him along and fast-track him a bit," Geiger said.

"He already had some great athletics skills from his footy days, I understand, and our coaches and strength and conditioning provider at NSWIS are all really impressed with him and how he is physically as well as the knowledge that he brings across from his previous sporting life."