I'm a cross country skier and i'm completely blind. I have a guide who skies ahead of me with a mike and a speaker on his back aimed at me. He constantly talks so i can follow him. Lets me know about turns and hills coming up. On really fast downhills I grab his pole (the side I grab depends on the turn in the hill) as going around turns and simply relying on verbal commands is much too risky for us totally blind folks. For the ones with very little but still some vision they also use the speaker but the guide does not need to say as much and pole holding on downhills is not as important. For the legally blind ones who see pretty well they have a guide who usually just wears a brightly coloured bib for them to follow, a speaker is not required. It is a very adaptive sport as the guide is the only major change. All gear and technique is the same.