Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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Sports with sighted guide (self.Blind)
submitted by Agile-Singer-754
Hey folks,
For any of you who do sports that have a sighted guide how did you find them? What makes a good guide for the activity that you do?
I was a spare guide for the blind skiers group one season, it was a volunteer option when I signed up for Nordic skiing club. Now I have moved someplace different but am wondering if its something I could do again.
For any of you who do sports that have a sighted guide how did you find them? What makes a good guide for the activity that you do?
I was a spare guide for the blind skiers group one season, it was a volunteer option when I signed up for Nordic skiing club. Now I have moved someplace different but am wondering if its something I could do again.
DrillInstructorJan 3 points 2y ago
I go running with a partner. We have a loop of rope that we both hold on to and I trust her with my life. For the last six months that's been basically the exercise I can get and I have to buy her a lot of nice lunches to compensate.
We had a (rare) bad experience with skiing (well, snowboarding). There's no reliable snow in the UK so we were going to go to an indoor slope, but the rule was that anyone who couldn't snowboard completely independently, which would pretty much always be the position I was in, needed one of their instructors. So the cost went up from just the slope pass, to the slope pass plus one of their instructors per hour, every hour, forever, which was crazily expensive. Screw those guys.
We had a (rare) bad experience with skiing (well, snowboarding). There's no reliable snow in the UK so we were going to go to an indoor slope, but the rule was that anyone who couldn't snowboard completely independently, which would pretty much always be the position I was in, needed one of their instructors. So the cost went up from just the slope pass, to the slope pass plus one of their instructors per hour, every hour, forever, which was crazily expensive. Screw those guys.
RJHand 1 points 2y ago
Fuckin scam if you ask me...
CloudyBeep 3 points 2y ago
Many ski resorts have programs for guiding disabled skiers. There are also guides needed for other sports like running and tandem cycling. You just need to contact blindness organizations and sporting groups for the blind in your area.
Agile-Singer-754 [OP] 2 points 2y ago
Thanks for your reply. I found the downhill skiing groups on Google, maybe they would have connections with any cross country skiers in the area. I'm not sure I'm a strong enough downhill skier.
oncenightvaler 3 points 2y ago
So when I was in high school and my gym coach wanted us to run laps round the track how I handled it is I had a towel and my guide would hold one end and I hold the other and run around that way.
I am happy now ten years later with the gym round the corner I normally use because the machines for bike and treadmill and eliptical stairs have dials on them instead of touch screen so it's easier to know what I am setting it to.
I am happy now ten years later with the gym round the corner I normally use because the machines for bike and treadmill and eliptical stairs have dials on them instead of touch screen so it's easier to know what I am setting it to.
noaimpara 1 points 2y ago
My dad guided me when we went skiing. He is VI as well but a very experienced skier who knows the area we were in very well vHe was basically going backwards to guide me and he vocalized a lot of things. He also taught me proper techniues before we went up. I only did easy tracks bit I had a lot of fun! Now I can do the easy tracks without a guide at all, but I have yet to build the confidence to do slightly intermediate stuff.
Agile-Singer-754 [OP] 1 points 2y ago
That's cool. I'm sure going backwards helps. Maybe I have to learn to go backwards on my cross country skis. It was a little bit of a trick to talk under your arm to describe the tracks when I guided before. I don't think I stuck with it long enough to be a pro. I think that group was fundraising for some headsets to make it easier.
noaimpara 1 points 2y ago
My dad tried taking me under his arm once too but since we’re basically the same height it was really uncomfortable so we ditched that real quick. I don’t know if that’s helpful at all, $1 my dad took of me the first time I actually tried doing it just so you can see how he actually went about it. Yes I did fall miserably but that’s because I didn’t know how to stop). As you can see it was a very easy track and no one was there at all. He’s speaking in French but he’s basically just saying "come towards me, go to the other side, now towards me, now to the other side, oh wait stoP STOP STOOOP"
Motya105 1 points 2y ago
If you’re interested in rock-climbing, blind climbers are always looking for callers, sighted people who tell the climber where hand and foot-holds are on the wall. Check your local climbing gym to see if they have an adaptive team that you can volunteer with
Agile-Singer-754 [OP] 2 points 2y ago
That's so cool, I might ask around for that. I did a little bit of indoor climbing in uni but I haven't since then.
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