David was a surfer and water skier before injuring his back in a motorbike accident at 18 years of age. He came across para-snow sports by accident, while researching the term “skiing” as a sport for disabled athletes, initially thinking it was about water skiing. In the late 1980ies he met first Australian Paralympian Ron Finneran at Thredbo, where he attended an orientation week organised by Disabled Wintersport Australia (DWA). Having ridden motorbikes before his accident, he took to sit skiing immediately.  

Equipment for sit-skiing was very basic at that time, and quite different from the sophisticated rigs in use today. Munk broke multiple sit-skis during his orientation into the sport. Soon after, and with new equipment, he competed in his first National Championships, performing quite well. 

During his skiing career Munk spent 12 seasons training in Thredbo and often based himself out of Winter Park, Colorado (USA) during the Northern season. After making his Paralympic debut at the 1988 Games in Innsbruck (Austria), Munk won two bronze Paralympic medals: one in Super G LW11 at Albertville 1992, and one in the Giant Slalom LW11 at Lillehammer 1994. 

One of the team’s assistant coaches in Albertville was Steve Graham, who later served as Australian head coach between 1994 and 2014. Munk credits Graham for being one of the most influential people in his skiing career alongside former Para-Alpine team manager David Howells. 

Despite his success, Munk never got to win a medal in what he claimed to be his favourite event, the Downhill, and missed out on his fourth Games, at Nagano 1998, due to a kidney infection.

Munk now lives in Byron Bay and competes locally and Internationally in adaptive surfing competitions. He is an Australian Champion and has competed in four adaptive World Championships.