Mono skier with the ski in the up position
ready to load on the chair lift.

Skiing is one of many sports that can be enjoyed by people with disabilities. Many ski resorts frequented by non-disabled individuals are shared by people with a wide variety of disabilities. Equipment that people with disabilities use may be different, but individuals with spinal cord injuries, brain injuries, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, visual and hearing impairments, post polio syndrome, and a wide variety of other disabilities go to the slopes each year to enjoy the snow.

While someone with a disability may go to any ski area that a non-disabled person may go to because of the Americans with Disabilities Act, there are really only a handful of ski areas with schools that specialize in working with people with disabilities. For example, on the west coast of the United States, special ski schools which are separate from the schools for non-disabled skiers are at Bear Mountain in Southern California; Alpine Meadows at Lake Tahoe in Northern California; Park City, Utah; Vail, Colorado; Breckenridge, Colorado; and many other mountains. Numerous ski schools exist on the east coast, as well. Some mountain resorts donate space to adaptive ski schools, others donate tickets for skiers with disabilities, whereas others do both. For example, while the Park City, Utah, ski area charges skiers with disabilities for lift tickets, instructors are paid by the resort as a donation and not by the adaptive ski school. In contrast, Squaw Valley Resort in Northern California charges $10.00 for a ski buddy ticket and the disabled skier.

Outriggers used for adaptive skiing.

This article will deal with the clientele involved in these schools, the site of the schools, and the special equipment used for adaptive snow skiing. In particular, this article will use as an example the National Ability Center which has an adaptive ski school at Park City, Utah.

The Park City Adaptive Ski School, like many of the adaptive schools, has both a full-time professional staff and instructors who teach non-disabled skiers. The National Ability Center Adaptive Ski School has a small staff with only a few instructors. However, between 15 and 30 instructors work both at the non-disabled ski school and the adaptive ski school. Some instructors at Park City and other ski schools have disabilities themselves and serve both as instructors and role models for other skiers with disabilities. At Park City, about 3% of all ski instructors who teach skiers with and without disabilities have disabilities themselves. Their disabilities include brain injury, SCI, and others. In addition, the Park City Ski School has about 350 volunteers who work with disabled skiers. This ratio of instructors to volunteers is typical at these schools. Most adaptive ski schools are open year-round and teach water-skiing, horseback riding, fishing, and other sports during the summer. Adaptive ski schools rely heavily on private and corporate donations.

Commonly, adaptive ski schools have two types of programs-lessons and ski buddy programs. Lessons range from two hours at schools like Park City or Lake Tahoe's Alpine Meadows to half-day or all day at schools such as Big Bear Resort in Southern California. The price includes equipment, one or two instructors, and the lift ticket for the day and can range from $60.00 for a 2-hour lesson to $80.00 for a day, depending on the individual school. The ski buddy program such as the one at Park City offers a trained volunteer ski buddy for the entire day for a charge of only $15.00. The adaptive ski schools give a surprising number of lessons each season. The Park City school, for example, averaged over 6,000 lessons last season. About 20% of those who take lessons at the Park City Adaptive School have spinal cord injuries, almost 50% have developmental disabilities, and the rest are mixed, including 2-4% who have visual impairments. This is a typical mix of clients for the other ski schools, as well.

Skier loading on lift chair.

 

Equipment

and Clothing

Types of ski equipment used by people with disabilities is as varied as types of disabilities themselves. There are, however, certain common considerations and common characteristics of the equipment. For most people with neuromuscular impairments (this includes stroke and spinal cord injury as two examples), an important consideration is thermoregulation.

Unlike the non-disabled population, individuals with diminished sensation or diminished circulation due to lack of use of part of their peripheral musculature area are at risk of frost bite and other cold-related skin damage, more so than the population of non-disabled skiers. Care must be taken to dress warmly and wear comfortable boots. In addition, because of the danger of foot and finger frost bite, a number of additional options are available. Electric socks, boots, and gloves offer warmth for the non-disabled skier, but for skiers with diminished sensation, the electric heating elements may be too hot and cause burns. Electric gloves and boots can work but must be tested and monitored.

Mono skier on giant slalom course at
Bear Mountain Resort.

Another physiological problem that warrants caution is over exertion. With many types of neuromuscular disabilities, lung function is limited by paralysis of the chest and abdominal muscles. Since skiing is a sport that takes place at high altitudes, the amount of oxygen consumption for someone with limited lung function may be severely limited. During heavy exercise, such individuals may have shortness of breath and fatigue if they work too hard. Therefore, individuals with limited lung capacity must keep a low work load.

 

Ski equipment itself can be very different for people with different types of disabilities. For those with partial paralysis or skiers with visual or hearing impairments, conventional ski equipment may be used with special instruction. For a skier with visual impairment, a non-disabled instructor usually skis close behind and verbally directs the skier to turn right or left or slow down or speed up. Most skiers with visual impairments are not fully blind and have some, although poor, vision. These skiers wear jackets that display the words Blind Skier as a means of identification by non-disabled skiers. The instructor wears a jacket that displays the words Blind Skier Instructor to alert other skiers not to go between them.

 

For all levels of adaptive skiing, conventional ski equipment has undergone a revolution in the last two years. Even if a skier uses conventional skis, in the last two years ski design has undergone a radical change to a new curved design. Last season, Élan developed the parabolic ski, while Head developed the Cyberski. Both of these skis are very wide at the tips and narrow at the center, compared to a conventional ski that is fairly flat throughout its length, although a little wider at the tips and tail. With curved skis, by merely leaning on one ski or the other, the ski bends to expose the outer curved edge to the snow causing the skier to turn. By the ski initiating the turn, less leg and hip strength is required by the skier, and smooth turns can be initiated with little effort. This new technology has allowed skiers with weak muscles to raise the level of their skiing and enabled people who would not be able to ski standing to at least ski beginning terrains.

If the disability is severe enough, instead of standard ski poles, outriggers may be used as an assistive device for balance. Outriggers are modified Canadian crutches with a small ski on the end. A release cord under the handles controls the angle of the small ski so that when pulled the ski can rotate with a serrated edge pointed downward to assist in braking. When the ski is in the flat position, it can be used for balance and control. Outriggers are manufactured by companies such as Spokes in Motion, Shadow, and Yetti.

For individuals with severe disabilities who require even more balance than outriggers can provide, skis have been mounted to walkers, and the individual may ski on skis while leaning on the walker for support. There are no manufacturers of walkers with skis mounted to them.

When paralysis or simply a lack of muscle control such as severe spasticity makes it impractical to stand on skis, several other types of skis have been developed. While there are variations in the design of these skis, all types of skis share certain factors in common. First of all, the individual sits on the ski and uses outriggers as a balance aid. Second, the skis employ a shock absorber in their base to smooth out rough terrain or bumps. The upper bucket assembly connects through a binding to a standard ski. In the past, conventional skis were used as for a non-disabled skier. In the last two years with the development of curved skis (as mentioned previously) this new technology is being investigated for mono ski use and so far looks very promising.

Another common design factor is that the skis have been constructed to allow them to be placed on lift chairs and be carried with their occupant up to the mountain. To sit on a lift chair, a non-disabled skier simply stands in front of the moving lift chair and sits on it as it moves underneath his or her legs. The skier is then lifted up the mountain. At the top end of the lift, the non-disabled skier stands up and skis off the chair. But for the skier who is on one of the mono or bi skis that he or she sits on, the ski is too low to the ground to allow the ski to rest on the lift chair. Here a lock is released and the ski is pulled to an extended up position. The lift then comes behind the ski and the chair slides easily under the bucket of the ski. The mono or bi skier rests on the back of the lift chair to the top of the lift. At the top end of the lift (up mountain), like the non-disabled skier, the skier with disabilities skis off the lift and the ski drops and locks to the down position. A harness is provided with these skis for emergency evacuation if the lift jams or becomes broken.

There are two types of adaptive skis a skier sits on­the mono ski, a bucket with only one ski underneath and a bi ski, a bucket with two skis underneath. The advantages of a mono ski are more speed and maneuverability than a bi ski, but the mono ski requires more muscle strength to handle. Mono skis are manufactured by Yetti, Shadow, J and K, Grove, and a number of other companies. Such skis can be made of titanium, iron, steel, aluminum, or chomalloy. They range in price from $1,500 to $3,500 and weigh from 15 to 30 lb on average.

The technique used by mono skiers is not that different than that used by non-disabled skiers. To push across a level or uphill terrain, outriggers are used to push forward the same way a non-disabled skier would use ski poles. Unlike a non-disabled skier, however, who lifts the skis alternately to push up a steep terrain, absent extremely strong upper body muscles, the mono skier, in many cases, becomes dependent on ski buddies and instructors to push up a steep terrain.

Skiing downhill requires good coordination for all skiers. By leaning forward on the ski to shift body weight and by pushing on the outriggers, the skier moves down the hill. Turning involves shifting the weight side-to-side on the frame of the ski. The idea is to unweigh the outside of the ski so that the inside edge tracks deeply into the snow. Snow skis are shaped to turn automatically when the inside edge is weighted by bending the ski to present a curved edge to the snow.

Since weight shifts are critical to successful turns, the frame must be strapped tightly to the skier so that it becomes a part of the upper body and slight shifts in position will shift the loading on the ski. But once the ski is padded and shaped for a skier, from then on the turns are fluid, smooth, and graceful.

When the paralysis is too great, such as with an individual who has quadriplegia or severe spasticity due to cerebral palsy, the bucket sits on two wide skis for better balance and support. These types of skis are called bi skis. They are made by Mountain Man, Milti, and other manufacturers and cost between $2,000 and $2,500. If the paralysis or spasticity is too great for the individual to use his or her arms to control the skis with outriggers, then two tethers can be attached to the ski to allow the instructors to control balance and turn the ski.

The time needed to train a skier with disabilities is about the same as the time to train a non-disabled skier. Within a few days of lessons, a mono skier can be trying the same intermediate terrain as a non-disabled skier.

Skiier using a bi ski

Competitive Skiing

Today, skiers with disabilities, including mono-skiers, are involved in elite international competitions. Almost every nation that competes on the World Cup Circuit and the Winter Olympics now fields an elite (National) disabled ski team. Historically, these athletes have competed in various classes based on their particular disability and a functional classification. This system allows for the awarding of many medals, creating a Special Olympics image, and is confusing to the media. Currently under evaluation is a Handicap Factor system that is intended to level the playing field and in theory allow the awarding of a single gold, silver, or bronze medal for a particular race. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Alpine Technical Committee is continuing to study this in a variety of competitions, both domestic and international. Disabled ski racing has made incredible progress since 1984. Racers now compete in all the alpine disciplines and since 1994 have been officially recognized by the FIS. In some competitions cash prizes are also awarded to the top athletes.

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