Alpine skiing Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
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.
Alpine skiing evolved from cross-country skiing when ski lift infrastructure was developed at mountain resorts to tow skiiers back to the top of slopes, thus making it possible to repeatedly enjoy skiing down steep, long slopes that would be otherwise too tiring to climb up. Thus, the sport is popular wherever the combination of snow, mountain slopes, and a sufficient tourist infrastructure can be built up, including much of Europe, North America, and Japan.
The main technical challenges faced by skiiers are simply how to control the direction and speed of their descent. Typically, novice skiiers use a technique called the "snowplough" to turn and stop by pointing one or both skis inward, but more advanced skiiers use more difficult but more elegant and speedier methods. These more advanced methods are known as carving. To carve, a skier rolls their knees but keeps the upper body and hips faced down the hill, so that only the knees and feet are turned. This method is far faster and is used by downhill racers.
As skiers gain confidence, they tackle steeper, longer and more uneven slopes at higher speeds. The easiest slopes are marked by green circles, and are typically fairly flat and known as bunny hills. The mid-level difficulty is that of a blue square, and are more challenging but not as much as a black diamond. A black diamond is steeper than a blue square and usually involves challenging terrain. A double black diamond is for experts only, and is very difficult to ski. However, there is no standard for these designations, it is up to each resort owner to determine. So, for instance, a blue-square (midlevel) trail at one ski mountain may be markedly more difficult than a black-diamond (expert) trail at another mountain.
Various alpine skiing competitions have developed in the history of skiing, and elite competitive skiiers participate in the annual World Cup series, as well as the Winter Olympic Games. Also, there is highschool racing, which varies from state to state. A typical highschool meet combines slalom, GS (Giant Slalom), and SuperG (Super Giant Slalom). However, in some states, only slalom is raced. The racers make speedy turns around gates, and their run down the course is timed.
Alpine skiing competition events include:
Professional alpine skiers compete on the World Cup circuit in Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super-G, and Downhill races held at various sites in Europe, the United States, and Canada. Points are awarded in according to where the participant finishes in each individual race. At the end of the season, the personal accumulating the most points from all three race venues is the overall champion.
This is an Article on Alpine skiing. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About Alpine skiing Competitions
World Cup