Alpine Skiing - General information

Caption: a blind skier on a run.

"Alpine (downhill) skiing is one of the rare opportunities available which allows the blind individual to move freely at speed through time and space. An opportunity to embrace and commune with the primal force of gravity, thus experiencing the sheer exhilaration of controlled mass in motion, in a physically independent setting."

Brian Santos, Visually Impaired former Paralympic Champion.

IPC Alpine Skiing acts as the International Federation for the sport which is co-ordinated by the IPC Alpine Skiing Technical Committee.

Six events are on the Paralympic Programme: Downhill, Super-G, Super Combined, Giant Slalom, Slalom and Snowboard.

Skiers with blindness/visual impairment are guided through the course by sighted guides using signals to indicate the course to follow. 

Alpine skiing is practiced by all B categories (B1, B2 and B3). Blind skiing has been a part of disabled skiing from the beginning. The earliest disabled competitions, held in the 1970s, included blind skiers. Since then the blind have competed in every Paralympics and World Championships.