Following the end of the Second World War, there was a systematic development of ski sport for persons with a disability as injured ex-servicemen returned to the sport they loved. In 1948, the first courses for skiers with a disability were offered. From then on, the development of skiing was rapid. Up until the 1970s, amputees and visually impaired athletes were the only athletes who skied. With the introduction of the mono-ski, people in wheelchairs (paraplegics and double above-the-knee amputees) were also able to begin to ski and race.

In 1910, the International Ski Commission was founded. The International Ski Association (FIS) was the follow-up organization founded during the 1924 Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix, France.

The first documented Championships for skiers with a disability were held in Badgastein, Austria, in 1948 with seventeen athletes taking part. Since 1950, ski races for athletes with a disability have been carried out around the world.

The first Paralympic Winter Games took place in Örnsköldsvik in Sweden in 1976, with the official events of Slalom and Giant Slalom and three distances in Nordic Skiing, plus relays for both visually impaired athletes and athletes with a severe disability.

Downhill was added to the Paralympic programme in 1984 in Innsbruck, Austria, and Super-G was added in 1994 at Lillehammer, Norway.  Sit-skiing or mono-skiing, was introduced as a demonstration sport at the Innsbruck 1984 Paralympics and became a medal event at the Nagano 1998 Paralympic Games.