Giant Slalom skiing

Differences between Giant Slalom and Slalom

Giant Slalom (GS) racers ski faster than Slalom racers because a GS course contains fewer gates separated by greater distances requiring significantly fewer turns, thus allowing racers to pick up much more momentum. GS gates themselves also differ from Slalom gates; in the Giant Slalom, gates are spaced in pairs with each pair consisting of two poles connected by a single fabric panel, whereas in the Slalom gates are single poles sans panels.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There are additional differences between the Slalom and Giant Slalom. In slalom, turns are much shorter (and thus much quicker) and so racers ski a narrower, more direct fall line. This narrower fall line holds Slalom racers in much closer proximity to the gates. As a result, a Slalom racer is likely to use a cross-blocking method to push gates out of the way in order to keep his center of gravity closer to the fall line during his run. In contrast, the fall line of a Giant Slalom run has much wider turns and thus is always less incumbered by gates. As a result, a GS racer will make much less contact with gates, and will do so using his inner shoulder rather than his outer pole.

Related Topics:
Fall line - Cross-blocking

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~