Athletes who compete in FIS Para races have to undergo a classification process by the International Paralympic Committee/FIS. In Alpine and Nordic there are three types of skiers; visually impaired; standing and sitting. In Snowboard there are only standing riders that have classes for lower and upper limb impairments. 

Visually Impaired Alpine Skiers must ski with a Guide who skis ahead of the athlete . The guide may speak through a Bluetooth device or speaker and verbally guides the athlete down the racecourse.

Standing athletes have a physical impairment, such as a missing limb or weakness on one side of their body. Standing athletes can use outriggers - tiny skis on the ends of their poles - for balance if they wish (but don’t have to). They may also use other aids such as prosthetics.

Sitting athletes have limited use of their lower body and use a sit ski (otherwise known as a ‘rig’).

Within these categories, there are numerous subcategories, which indicate how disabled a person is. The greater the disability, the more time is taken off your overall race time in order for fairness amongst competitors. This can make a big difference!

Not all disabilities are classifiable for FIS Para Snow sports. For example, deaf individuals and intellectually disabled individuals are currently not eligible for classification. If individuals have more than one classifiable disability, they are classified according to their most severe disability.

Racers’ disability category correlates to the Factor they get. The Factor is a number between 0 and 1, by which your overall time is multiplied. For example, if your run took 34 seconds, and your factor was 0.86, your overall time would be 29.24 seconds. The more severe your disability, the lower the Factor. This is done to try and even out the differing levels of disability between competitors and to ensure a fair race.

Paralympic Classification - a visual guide