Skiing with a Disability
There are lots of ways to get involved with snowsports if you have a disability, both in the UK and abroad.
Disabled skiing and snowboarding (also known as adaptive snowsports) has become a lot more widespread in recent years as more organisations develop to enable people with disabilities to enjoy snowsports. The 2018 Paralympic Winter Games was officially the most successful in Paralympics GB’s history, with snowsports athletes bringing home an incredible seven medals. Now, the success of these athletes is inspiring more involvement while constantly improving facilities are enabling more and more people to take to the slopes.
Whether you want to get involved as a skier, find an adaptive ski school or help out as an adaptive skiing volunteer, we've got plenty of resources below to get you started. You can find a handy list of disability snowsports equipment on our website. A great place to look for information and to find out more about how to get involved is Disability Snowsport UK. It’s an organisation that offers information and advice to anyone who wants to gain access to disabled skiing opportunities or learn more about them. Ski 2 Freedom is another organisation set up to enable disabled, special needs and disadvantaged children and adults to participate in snowsports and mountain activities.
Here are some more useful websites and resources:
- www.backuptrust.org.uk – Supporting people with spinal cord injuries
- www.basi.org.uk – British Association of Snowsport Instructors – runs adaptive skiing instructor course
- www.disabilitysnowsport.org.uk – The main UK snowsports website for skiers and snowboarders with disabilities
- www.efds.co.uk – English Federation of Disability Sport
- www.impossibledream.org.uk – Rent ski-bobs and ski equipment
- www.redpoint.co.uk – Adaptive ski holidays, courses and information
- www.scope.org.uk – Disability organisation in England whose focus is people with cerebral palsy
- www.ski2freedom.com – Enables disabled and special needs children and adults to participate in snowsports and mountain activities
- www.vitalise.org.uk – Alpine and cross country skiing holidays for the visually impaired
- www.skischule-a-z.at – A Ski School in the Alberg region of Austria that is particularly well set up for disability skiing, with sit-ski equipment in-house
