The 2026 Paralympic Games have kicked off this weekend, celebrating athletes with disabilities taking part in incredible sporting feats and competing at the highest level. Final year psychology student Ali Hall is a guide for visually impaired skier Hester Poole, and the two are heading to Milano Cortina for their first Games.
Competing together in Para Alpine Skiing, Ali acts as Hester’s eyes as they ski down the course — this involves skiing around gates on a pre-determined course in the fastest time possible.
In some other Paralympic sports, competing athletes are tethered to their guide and they run side-by-side. In skiing, however, this would be far too dangerous: “We both have microphones so when I ski in front of her I can make quick accurate decisions and convey them clearly so that she is safe but also fast.”
This takes an immense amount of skill and bravery from both — as a guide, Ali has to be an incredible skier in order to keep up with Hester and be technically good enough to coach her: “After racing for myself internationally and representing both Great Britain and Scotland in that time I decided that it was the right time to move onto developing my career in other aspects.” This brought him to the University of Edinburgh, where he has studied while completing his external ski instructor qualifications with the British Association of Snowsport Instructors (BASI).
While at Edinburgh, Ali was presented with a unique opportunity: “After reminiscing of past memories skiing with some friends, I was informed that the British Paralympic team were in need of guides who had relevant Snowsport knowledge and had competed at a high level.” He got in contact with his former coach, now in charge of the British team, and was introduced to Hester, who had goals to reach the Paralympic Games. The two have been skiing together since 2023.
Hester has been competing internationally since she was only 12 years old, and has been balancing competitive skiing with her school studies — she’s now heading to the Paralympics aged only 18.
On how it feels to be Hester’s guide, Ali notes: “It is a great opportunity for myself and it is heartwarming to give an individual with a visual impairment the chance to compete at a higher level than I ever did, and watch them grow and develop into a greater athlete and person.”
“I have since progressed further with my own Snowsports career using my knowledge from the Paralympic team to attain my ISIA badge and adaptive qualifications. The icing on the cake is that I still get to ski.”
Ali and Hester will be racing in Cortina on the 12 and 14 March. Tune in to Channel 4 to support them.
“File:Sochi2014 D1 DH M Perrine 01.JPG” by Jeff Crow is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.