Winter Fun Made Accessible

iSkate founded by Dorothy Hamill

Few recreational activities can rival the thrill of winter sports. Thanks to a growing number of adaptive winter sports programs, children (and adults) with disabilities can enjoy skiing, skating, ice hockey and sleigh riding.  We’ve compiled this brief guide to adaptive winter sports so you’re prepared to hit the ice or the slopes, just in time for the season’s first big freeze or snowfall.

Ice Skating

Founded by Olympic gold medalist and figure skater, Dorothy Hamill, Kennedy Krieger Institute’s I-Skate program in Baltimore, Md. is an example of a program that gives children with disabilities including cerebral palsy, spina bifida, muscular dystrophy, cancer and amputated limbs and paralysis the chance to ice skate. Adaptive ice-skating makes use of equipment such as adaptive ice skates, walkers, ice sleds and helmets to make it possible for skaters to participate safely.

“When I learned to skate,” Hamill told the folks at the KKI, “the motion of gliding on the ice and the fresh air on my face felt like heaven. And learning to handle yourself on the ice, mastering something difficult gives you a sense of pride. I want to give that experience to these children so they will be able to say ‘I can skate.’” 

For information about adaptive ice skating programs in your area, visit Gliding Stars.org. 

Adaptive downhill skiing

There’s nothing new about adaptive skiing. It was first popularized by veterans of World War II, German skier, Franz Wendel and Austrian, Sepp "Peppi" Zwicknagel, who both lost legs during combat. Wendel and Zwicknagel devised ways to adapt their skis so that they could enjoy the physical and psychological advantages of the sport despite their disabilities. According to Disabled World, “For a long time, disability skiing was restricted to amputees, but in 1969, blind skier Jean Eymore, a former ski instructor before he lost his eyesight, began a skiing program in Aspen, Colorado for blind skiers. The first international competition, the World Disabled Alpine Championships, was held in France in 1974.” Today, adaptive ski programs exist all over the world. For information about adaptive skiing in your area, visit Disabled Sports.org.

Adaptive Cross Country (Nordic) Skiing

Nordic skiing doesn’t require a trip to a ski resort, or time spent negotiating long lines and chair lifts. As long as there’s snow, skiers can go outside, get a great cardiovascular workout and enjoy the beauty of nature. Depending upon one’s disability, cross-country skiing can be done standing or sitting and with or without adapted poles. Those with visual impairment will ski with a guide who will give them commands to keep them safe. Skiers who aren’t able to stand can use a “sit ski” that will need to be adjusted for the skier and their particular disability. Note that sit skiing takes a great deal of upper body strength.

Sled Hockey

This fast-growing sport is appropriate for anyone with a disability that prevents them from standing up while playing hockey. One reason that the sport is so popular, says Disabled Sports U.S.A. is its similarity to traditional ice hockey. The only significant difference is that the game is played sitting down. According to the sport’s national governing body, the United States Sled Hockey Association, “Even able-bodied individuals enjoy the sport of sled hockey, but are generally at a disadvantage due to the superior upper body strength of a wheelchair user. Typical athletes have spinal cord injuries, neurological disorders such as CP or spina bifida, loss of one or both legs, or otherwise generically unable to or have difficulty walking.” For information of getting involved in sled hockey in your area, visit the USSHA. 

Snow Boarding

One of the newest winter sports, adapted snow boarding is gaining in popularity.  Teaching techniques and equipment for people with a variety of disabilities are quickly evolving and becoming more sophisticated. Updated in 2013, the American Association of Snowboard Instructors’ Adaptive Snowboard Guide provides comprehensive training for instructors interested in working safely and effectively with snowboarders with disabilities. “The sport made its official Winter Paralympic debut in the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia. Classifications exist for deaf competitors, blind competitors, people with physical disabilities and those with intellectual disabilities,” according to Disabled World.