Special Olympics Cross Country Skiing is cross country skiing where all participants have a physical or mental disability.

Special Olympics cross country skiing is a winter sport which promotes superior physical conditioning while providing a competitive environment for athletes with physical or mental disabilities. Special Olympics cross country skiing events are designed to be appropriate for athletes of every ability level. Individual events offered in cross country skiing range from the 500 meter race to the 10K. In addition to these traditional events, Special Olympics offers events for lower ability level athletes to train and compete in basic cross country skiing skills. The development of these key skills is necessary prior to advancing to longer competitive events. As in all Special Olympics sports, athletes are grouped in competition divisions according to ability level, age and gender.

The goal of cross country skiing is to finish a race in the shortest amount of time.

Cross country skiing was first introduced at the 1977 Special Olympics World Winter Games. At the 2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, 350 athletes competed in cross country skiing. As of the 2005 Special Olympics Athlete Participation Report, 41,616 Special Olympics athletes compete in cross country skiing.

Bindings
Boots
Poles
Skis
Winter Gear

Training for cross country skiing involves building an athletes comfort level with the sport. Physical training is designed to increase strength, stamina, and endurance for high-level competitions such as the Special Olympics.

Angulation - arcing the body at the hip, knee and ankle joints to achieve a higher degree of ski edge

Christy Turn - a skiing turn with a skidding phase

Diagonal Stride - the equivalent of walking in cross-country skiing

Double Poling - using both poles at the same time to thrust the body forward as opposed to the diagonal stride poling method

Herringbone - moving forward on cross-country skis in a stepping mode with the ski tips further apart than the tails, forming a herringbone pattern in the snow

Inclination - leaning of the body in the direction of the turn to engage ski edges and resist centrifugal forces from the turn

Kick Turn - a way of turning to the opposite direction of travel by kicking one ski to a 180 degree position followed by the other ski

Parallel Skiing - skiing the the skis parallel. Skis can be either together or apart

Sidestep - moving laterally in small steps on cross-country skis

Straight Run - traveling straight down a hill with the skis parallel and the body on the skis in balance

Telemark - a stable position used in turning or on variable terrain; the lead leg is forward of the body while the trailing leg follows in a kneeling configuration

Waxing - applying a coating to the bottom of the skis to reduce friction

Wedge Turn - also called the snowplow turn. Its an elementary turn with the skis in a wedge position where the tips of the skis are closer than the tails

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