Alpine skiing

Alpine skiing (or downhill skiing) is a recreational activity and sport involving sliding down snow-covered hills with long, thin skis attached to each foot.

Competitions

Various alpine skiing competitions have developed in the history of skiing, and elite competitive skiers participate in the annual World Cup series, as well as the Winter Olympic Games. Broadly speaking, competitive skiing is broken up into two disciplines: Freestyle and Racing. Racing involves making fast turns around gates in an attempt to get the fastest overall time down a course. Slalom, GS, Super-G, and Downhill are the 4 racing disciplines, with Downhill being the fastest event and Slalom being the most technical. Freestyle skiing incorporates events such as Moguls, aerial acrobatics, and skiier cross.

Related Topics:
History of skiing - Winter Olympic Games - Freestyle - Gates - Slalom - GS - Super-G - Downhill - Moguls

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Competitive skiers often enter the world of competitive skiing through junior-level racing at ages as early as 9, which varies from state to state. Junior racing becomes most competitive at the high school level. A typical high school meet combines slalom, GS (Giant Slalom), and SuperG (Super Giant Slalom). However, in some states, only slalom is raced. The most dedicated and serious junior racers often opt to attend private high schools known as "ski academies", where athletes are exposed to a regiment of physical conditioning, intense ski race training, and conventional schooling. Many national team members come out of such schools. Somewhat outside the domain of the traditional FIS governed events lie newer forms of competitive skiing. Speed skiing involves competitors striving to achieve the highest total speed, with no gates or anything else to worry about. Freeskiing is another emerging sport growing quickly in popularity. In freeskiing competitions athletes start at the top of a usually unskied mountain and ski a route down that involves wide, fast turns as well as cliff drops. The competitors are judged on the technical difficulty of their route and any tricks (such as backflips) that they perform on the way down.

Related Topics:
FIS - Speed skiing - Freeskiing

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