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Para-Alpine Race Information

Last Updated (Tuesday, 12 January 2010 16:21)

Para-Alpine Race Key Information pdf_picto

Disabled Racing Information


With the increasing number of Disabled (DA) ski race events added to the FIS and ACA calendar, the following document was developed to increase the alpine Officials awareness of disabled race information. The rules in the FIS ICR apply, as do the rules issued by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as a supplement to the ICR.
The race officiating requirements for disabled races parallel those of able-body races.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Athletes with a physical disability compete in all 4 alpine events: Downhill, Super-G, Slalom and Giant Slalom. Disabled alpine athletes compete & use the same venue as the able bodied athlete's and at high level events use the women's team venue.

COMPETITORS

Athletes in Alpine Skiing events must combine speed and agility while racing down slopes at speeds of up to or more than 100km/h. Competitions includes male and female athletes with a physical disability such as spinal injury, cerebral palsy, amputation, and visual impairments. Athletes compete based on their functional ability, allowing athletes with different disabilities to compete against each other.

CLASSIFICATION

There are eleven classifications for athletes with a physical disability (eight for standing and four for seated) and three for athletes with visual impairments. The classifications are based on disability and type of equipment required by the disability.

Visually impaired

B1 - Totally blind (no sight)
B2 - Partially sighted (visual acuity of 20/60 - limited sight)
B3 - Partially sighted (visual acuity above 20/60 to 6/60 -more sight than B2)

Standing

LW1 - double above-knee amputees
LW2 - single leg amputee with outrigger skiers
LW3 - double below-knee & one arm partial amputee (3 limbs affected)
LW4 - skiers with prosthesis
LW5/7 - skiers without poles
LW6/8 - skiers with one pole
LW9/1 - disability of arm and leg (after amputation)
LW9/2 - disability of arm and leg (cerebral palsy)

Sitting

LW10 - mono skiers (high degree of paraplegia, no muscles in lower body)
LW11 - mono skiers (lower degree of paraplegia, with muscles in lower body)
LW12/1 - mono skiers (lower degree of paraplegia, lower incomplete paralysis)
LW12/2 mono - skiers (double above-knee amputees)

RULES

Alpine Skiing is governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) through the International Paralympic Alpine Skiing Committee (IPASC) and the Federation International de Ski (FIS). The IPC rules can be found at www.asdracing.org . FIS ICR rules are available on www.ski-fis.com .

The athletes in certain Paralympic classifications (e.g. single-leg amputees who ski without a prosthesis & sit-ski users) use special poles called outriggers. Outriggers have short ski blades on the end and help the skier with balance.

Some athletes with a physical disability compete from a sitting position using a sit-ski, also called a mono-ski. As the name suggests, mono-skis have a specially fitted chair over a single ski. The chair includes seat belts and other strapping, as well as a suspension device to minimize wear and tear on the skier's body.

In all visually impaired classes (B1 - B3) a guide is obligatory and the competitor and his guide are a team. Blind skiers are directed through the course by sighted guides using only voice signals or radio communication to indicate the course to follow.
All competitors in the totally blind class (B1) must wear approved backed-out goggles during the competition.
No physical contact between the guide and competitor is allowed during the race. The distance between guide and athlete in technical events (Slalom and Giant Slalom) must not exceed two direction changes and in speed events (Downhill and Super G) must not exceed one direction change.
In partially sighted classes (B2: visual acuity of 20/60 & B3: visual acuity above 20/60 to 6/60), the guide must ski in front of the athlete. For totally blind classes (B1), the guide can ski either in front or behind the athlete.

DISCIPLINES

Downhill (DH): Skiers are timed as they race down a long, steep course that may include turns and jumps. They must pass through a relatively few number of gates that are used as checkpoints. The penalty for missing a gate is disqualification. Each athlete is allowed only one run down the course and athletes' times determine the order of finish.

Slalom (SL): The Slalom is a technical event. The course is shorter than other Alpine Skiing events with a high number of gates (30% - 35% of vertical drop +/- 3 direction changes) that the athletes must negotiate. The penalty for missing a gate is disqualification. Each athlete completes two runs on the same day on different courses. Times from the two courses are added to determine the order of finish.
Giant Slalom (GS):
The Giant Slalom is also a technical event. In comparison to the Slalom, the course is longer, there are fewer turns, and the turns are wider and smoother. The number of gates is determined by the vertical drop and the penalty for missing a gate is disqualification. Each athlete completes two runs on the same day on different courses. Times from the two courses are added to determine order of finish.
Super Giant Slalom (Super-G):
The Super-G is a speed event. The course is shorter than a Downhill but longer than Giant Slalom and Slalom. The number of gates is determined by the vertical drop, with a minimum of 35 direction changes for men and 30 for women. Gates are set at least 25m apart and the penalty for missing a gate is disqualification. Each athlete is allowed only one run down the course. Athletes' times determine the order of finish.

Preparing for the Coaches/Team Captains meeting:

The Race Secretary lists the racers entered, separately for each gender, for visually impaired athletes, standing athletes, and sitting athletes (for slalom), in ascending order of points. For other disciplines, the group order is visually impaired athletes, sitting athletes, and standing athletes. For visually impaired athletes, the name of the guide is included adjacent to the name of the racer. This is done because the guide and the athlete both have to complete the course successfully, and the guide gets the same award as the racer.

The only athletes you can expect to have 'points' are athletes who have been in previous national championships or who have competed in NorAm or other international events. In addition, the competitor card number and club or team each athlete belongs to appears on the page. As with points, the only athletes likely to have competitor card numbers are athletes who have previously competed in National Championships or international events.

The Junior category is restricted to those competitors whose 20th birthday falls in or after the calendar year in question. For the next competition year, 06/07, a Junior is one whose birthday falls in or after 1987.

Also included is the disability 'classification' for each athlete and the 7 digit 'factor' which corresponds to his or her classification and the discipline. The numerical factors for each classification differ for each discipline. A text and picture overview of disability classifications and the numerical factors appropriate to each can be found at www.asdracing.org .

At the coaches meeting, coaches check the card number, points, disability classification, and numerical factor for each of their athletes. Classification is a very sensitive issue and a trained 'classifier' will be in attendance to deal with possible disagreements and athletes who have not been previously classified. Once everyone is happy, the draw proceeds.

The Draw:

The draw is done in 6 stages.

  1. In the first stage, visually impaired women and their guides, the first seed is randomly drawn, other point holders are listed in ascending order of points, and racers without points are randomly drawn.
  2. In stage 2, the same procedure is followed for visually impaired men and their guides.

(Visually impaired women and men both run at the beginning of the race to get the best possible course conditions).

  1. Stage 3 applies this procedure to standing women (slalom).
  2. Stage 4 is sitting women,
  3. Stage 5 is standing men (slalom)
  4. Stage 6 is sitting men.


In the results, a separate draw has been made for each of the six categories, and they appear in this order on a single start list (because the numbers are small).

Start Order:

DH, SG, GS

SLALOM
  1. Visually Impaired Women
  2. Sitting Women
  3. Standing Women
  4. Visually Impaired Men
  5. Sitting Women
  6. Standing Men
  1. Visually Impaired athletes
  2. Standing athletes
  3. Sitting athletes


Recording Times:

For DA technical races, the times for each athlete are multiplied by the 7 digit number associated with his or her disability, to produce a 'factored' time for each run. These factored times are then added, converted to minutes, seconds and 100ths of seconds, and then sorted within each of the six groups, for each gender from fastest to slowest. (For speed events, only one 'factored' time is used.)

Results:

The single start list produces at minimum, 6 sets of results.
  1. visually impaired women and their guides
  2. visually impaired men and their guides
  3. standing women
  4. sitting women
  5. standing men
  6. sitting men
  7. and by grouping all the juniors in ascending order of times, a 7th set of results is produced


For FIS DA races, the IPC results program produces the race entry, draw and results, and also produces points, penalties and results that can be sent electronically to Zurich.

For non-FIS DA races, persons familiar with Excel can use Excel for easy and accurate race entry and draw information then use the IPC program to calculate the results.