Increasing number of ski instructors for people with disabilities

In Italia, there are 1,100 ski instructors with a specialisation in accompanying people with disabilities on the snow, representing 7% of the total (15,381), with a clear prevalence in the Alpine regions. Luigi Borgo, president of the National College, explains: "In the last five years, the number of Alpine skiing, cross-country skiing and snowboarding instructors has increased, and after attending the 90-day training course that takes place throughout an entire winter season, they also choose to specialise: a further six days of courses on technical and didactic topics and two days of examinations with a cost of 500 euro charged to the individual instructor to safely take people with physical, visual and cognitive disabilities onto the snow".

The results are astounding if it is true that these instructors are able to offer, for example, those who do not walk the chance to slide on snow in an immaculate environment, with unimaginable effects on self-esteem and self-awareness: 'As the National College,' continues the president, 'we believe a lot in ski-therapy and, among other activities, we have organised the "Tip top mountain" open days, promoted by the National Observatory for Disabilities and under the aegis of the CAI. In the next ski season, in Valle d'Aosta, Trentino and Veneto, we will offer those who request it days on the snow with our specially trained instructors'.

Alongside specialised instructors, the spread of winter sports among people with disabilities also passes through the activities that some ski clubs do in the area, such as Freewhite in Sestriere, which has over 400 members. In 1998, once he left competitive skiing, Gianfranco Martin, silver medallist in the combined at Albertiville 1992, followed his sister Monica who was a guide for the visually impaired skier Gianmaria Dal Maistro: 'The Paralympic world won me over,' recalls the founder and technical director of Freewhite. 'I was coach of the Italian Paralympic ski team for five years and also a classifier/trainer for the Italian Paralympic Committee. At that point, I thought I would bring my approach as a professional who knows the sport at a high level to raise the quality of Paralympic winter sports'. So, came the master courses for some instructors, the first 3-, 4-day group stages for people with disabilities were held, which today, twenty years later, have significant numbers, having involved more than 2,500 fans; Freewhite organised the Paralympic World Cup for three years and the World Championships in 2011. A snow system has been set in motion that attracts fans from all over Italia: 'Our instructors, with their specific skills, are able to make anyone ski, from those with spastic tetraparesis to those who do not communicate, from those who are not autonomous to those who live on a respirator. Nothing is impossible and a turn done well, in the silence of the slopes, is an adrenalin rush. I love my peaks and I want them to belong to everyone and for everyone'. Sport becomes a pretext to get closer to the mountains at 360 degrees and all the time of the year: 'Sport,' is Martin's conviction, 'breaks down barriers and skiing is perfect inclusion: our members ski on the same slopes as the able-bodied, they use the same facilities, so they don't feel different but perfectly included in a tourist system that has made slopes and facilities accessible, with reserved access. Which are also used in summer for a Via Lattea capable of giving itself all year round: "When I started more than twenty years ago, I thought I was a bit crazy, with very-too-high quality targets in technical management. Today, when the phone doesn't stop ringing for information and when I take people with disabilities skiing, I understand that there are new needs to be met and the many smiles repay the effort'.