History

There are four types of Skiing – Alpine, Cross-Country, Freestyle and Nordic Combined Skiing.

Alpine Skiing has been practiced in the European Alps for at least 150 years.  In addition to adapting cross-country techniques to suit their steeper slopes, alpine skiers also found they needed slightly wider skis to go downhill safely, and developed different ways to use their poles and new turning techniques to match the more vertical terrain of the high mountains.

The sport became increasingly popular through the early 20th century with the development of T-bars, tows and ski lifts, as alpine skiers no longer had to climb up a slope before skiing down.

Alpine Skiing for both men and women debuted as an Olympic sport in 1936 at Garmisch-Partenkirchen.  In 1948, separate Downhill and Slalom races were added.  Super Combined was not contested at an Olympic Winter Games until 1988, in Calgary.  The Giant Slalom was added in 1952, and the Super-G in 1988.

Paintings thought to be at least 6,000 years old, discovered in Russia in the 1930s, show a hunter alongside some reindeer.  The hunter is wearing skis, clearly illustrating that using two wooden slats to travel quickly on snow has been central to survival in cold climates for centuries.

By the year 1500 the entire Swedish army was fully equipped with skis.  The Norwegian army held cross-country ski competitions as early as 1767.  The first civilian cross-country ski event took place in Tromso, located in Norway’s far north, in 1843.

Cross-Country skiers competed at the first Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix, France, in 1924, in 18-kilometre and 50-kilometre races for men.  Ladies’ Cross-Country skiing made its debut at the Oslo 1952 Olympic Winter Games.

The Cross-Country Skiing technique known as skating or free technique, became a separate Olympic competitive discipline at the Calgary 1988 Winter Games.

Freestyle Skiing began in that decade, when social change and freedom of expression led to new and exciting skiing techniques.  Originally a mix of Alpine Skiing and acrobatics, the first Freestyle Skiing competition was held in Attitash, New Hampshire, in 1966.

A relative newcomer to the Olympic Winter Games programme, Freestyle Moguls became an Olympic medal discipline in 1992, at the Games in Albertville, France. Freestyle Aerials were added for the Lillehammer 1994 Olympic Winter Games.

Making its Olympic Winter Games debut in 2010, Ski Cross, an event within freestyle skiing, is based on a simple concept: first across the finish line wins.

Throughout Norway in the 1800s, skiers gathered each winter for a series of ski carnivals consisting of small athletic competitions combined with some entertainment.

Considered the best of all the carnival athletes, a small group specialized in both Cross-Country Skiing, demanding endurance and strength, and Ski Jumping, requiring physical strength and technical control.

Men have competed in Nordic Combined individual events since the first Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix, France, in 1924.  The team event was introduced at the Calgary 1988 Winter Games, while the sprint event joined the Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games in 2002.


Technical

In Alpine Skiing, racers can reach speeds of more than 130 kilometres an hour, travelling down a vertical drop that ranges from 180 metres (slalom) to 1,100 metres (downhill) for men and 140 metres (slalom) to 800 metres (downhill) for women.  The vertical drop is made even more difficult because of a series of gates the skiers must pass through. Skiers who miss a gate must then climb back up and go through the missed gate or be disqualified.

In Cross-Country Skiing, racers use two basic techniques: classic technique, where the skis move parallel to each other through machine-groomed tracks in the snow, and free technique, where skiers propel themselves in a manner similar to speed skating, pushing off with the edge of their skis.  Free technique uses shorter skis and is slightly faster than classic - on average about eight per cent faster over an entire race distance.

There are three Olympic Freestyle Skiing events for both men and women.  Tricks in Freestyle Skiing include the twister, spread-eagle, iron cross, and the helicopter - an upright 360-degree spin.

In Nordic Combined Skiing the jumping portion occurs first followed by a free technique cross-country race.  The break between the jumping and the cross-country race can be as little as 35 minutes, or as long as a few hours.

Known as a “Gundersen” or pursuit start, the jumping results generate the starting seed for the cross-country race that follows, with the second and remaining athletes beginning seconds or even minutes after the best jumper.  Using pack-racing strategies, the athletes cluster into “trains” that chase down other athlete trains.  The winner of the Nordic Combined event is the first athlete across the cross-country finish line.


Major Players

Austria and the USA are the dominant forces in world Skiing and have each pick up medals at every Winter Olympic Games in history.


Bluffers’ Guide

Aerials are a Freestyle Skiing discipline where skiers perform airborne manoeuvres after skiing down a slope and taking off from a kicker (ramp).


Useless Information

Freestyle Skiers often perform forward and backwards somersaults before hitting the ground.