LW9

LW9 is a para-Alpine and para-Nordic standing skiing sport class, a classification defined by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC for people with upper and lower limb function problems, and includes cerebral palsy skiers classified CP5, CP6 and CP7, along with people with hemiplegia or amputations. For international skiing competitions, classification is done through IPC Alpine Skiing or IPC Nordic Skiing. A national federation such as Alpine Canada handles classification for domestic competitions. This classification is separated into two subclasses including LW9.1 and LW9.2.

Para-Alpine skiers in this classification have their choice regarding how many skis and ski poles they wish to user, along with the type of ski poles they wish to utilize. In para-Nordic skiing, skiers use two skis and have an option to use one or two ski poles. Outriggers are one type of ski pole LW9 skiers can use, which requires its own techniques to use. As there are a broad range of disabilities in this class, different skiing techniques are learned by competitors. Skiers missing an arm use a technique that corrects lateral balance issues resulting from the missing arm. Skiers with cerebral palsy have the introduction of ski poles delayed as skiers may overgrip them.

A factoring system is used in the sport to allow different classes to compete against each other when there are too few individual competitors in one class in a competition. During the 2011/2012 para-Alpine ski season, the LW9.1 factoring was 0.855 for Slalom, 0.8648 for Giant Slalom, 0.867 for Super-G and 0.8769 for downhill, and for LW9.2 was 0.9287 for slalom, 0.9439 for Giant Slalom, 0.9443 for Super-G and 0.9552 for downhill. In para-Nordic skiing, the percentage for the 2012/2013 ski season was 85-95% for classic and 82-96% for free. This classification has competed in its own separate events at the Paralympics and World Championships during the 1990s, but this changed during the 2000s. Skiers in this classification include Australian James Patterson, and French LW9.2 skier Solène Jambaqué.

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