Abstract
Handiski trips organised by associations are becoming more professional, thus limiting the constraints linked to each type of disability by combining: technological innovation, human intervention and architectural layout. Access to this practice is more particularly helped by the technological innovations of sit-ski equipment. The evolution of these chair-skis, ever more technical, implies a need to train volunteers by ESF-certified instructors. The trained pilot (volunteer) is encouraged to “stay in control of the device”. The aim is to present an image of a skiing duo, where one is “sitting”, while promoting an under-control skiing experience. Control happens through speed management, which is always advised to be reduced by the instructors. We assist to the promotion of sporting slowness, which opens the path to new manners of social interaction within ski resorts. Indeed, the application of the security conditions integrated into the training courses (added to speed control), sometimes excessive, strengthen the differentiation between the handiski group and “abled” skiers. This differentiation through sporting slowness is, in this case, linked to exaggerated security measures, which confer value to the pilot but that may also lead to the appearance of possibly negative images of disability.