Alpine skiing (or
"
downhill skiing") is the
sport of sliding down
snow-covered
hills on
skis with fixed-heel
bindings. Alpine skiing can be contrasted with
nordic skiing, in which skiers use
free-heel bindings. (Types of nordic skiing include
cross-country,
ski jumping and
Telemark.)
Alpine skiing may take place at a
ski
resort where mechanical
ski lifts have
been installed to transport skiers up the mountain and where snow
is groomed,
avalanches are controlled and
trees are cut to create trails. Alternatively, alpine skiers may
pursue the sport in less controlled environments; this practice is
variously referred to as
ski touring,
backcountry skiing or
extreme skiing.
The sport is named for the European
Alps where
it originated in the late 1880s.
Today, it is popular wherever the
combination of snow, mountain slopes, and a sufficient tourist infrastructure can be built up, including
parts of Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand
, the South American
Andes and East
Asia.
History
Alpine skiing evolved from
cross-country skiing when
ski lift infrastructure was developed at
mountain resorts to tow skiers back to the top of
slopes, thus making it possible to repeatedly enjoy skiing down
steep, long slopes that would be otherwise tiring to climb. The
towing also allowed for development of equipment and technique, as
it eliminated the need for cross-country capability, most notably
allowing the use of hard boots and fixing the heel down for better
ski control.
Ski touring is the name for
skiing that takes place outside ski resorts, using muscle power for
ascents and requiring slightly different equipment.
Technique
The main technical challenges faced by skiers are simply how to
control the direction and speed of their descent. The downhill
skiers gain such control through making alternating left and right
turns. Typically, novice skiers use a technique called the
"
snowplough/snowplow" to maintain
comfortable speed and come to a stop by pointing one or both skis
inward, but more advanced skiers use more difficult but more
elegant and speedier methods. One popular method of turning is
called
parallel turn; it involves
keeping both skis parallel to each other while alternating the
weight distribution between them in order to force them turn in a
particular direction. The angle of the ski in relation to the slope
(called edge angle) is also important as it determines the
resistance (
friction) created by the edges
of the skis. Modern advanced skiing technique is dominated by
"
carving". To "carve" at a higher speed,
a skier rolls his or her knees from side to side while keeping the
upper body and hips facing down the hill and maintaining direction
straight downward, so that only the knees and feet are involved
into making turns. This technique allows modern "parabolic" skis to
turn using the radial properties of the edges of the ski without
skidding or slowing down, creating a smooth arc.
As skiers gain confidence, they may tackle steeper, longer and more
uneven slopes (including
off-piste and
ungroomed runs) at higher speeds. In North America, the easiest ski
runs are
marked by green circles,
and are typically fairly flat and smooth. Sometimes known as "bunny
slopes", they are usually groomed by specially equipped
snowcats every night. A blue square marks slopes of
medium difficulty; these
blue squares may be steeper or
narrower than
green circles, or they may be left in a
natural state rather than machine-groomed. A
black diamond
run is yet steeper than a
blue square and often involves
challenging terrain such as
moguls,
narrow passes, unmarked obstacles, double fall lines, or
gladed sections. A
double black
diamond is for experts only; these trails are steep, rarely
groomed and often left in a completely natural state. There is no
standard for these designations, however, and each ski resort
determines them relative to their own terrain difficulty. So, for
instance, a blue-square (mid-level) trail at one ski mountain may
be markedly more difficult than a black-diamond (expert) trail at
another mountain. In Europe the system is based on colour alone.
North American green circles, blue squares, black diamonds, and
double blacks correspond to European green, blue, red, and black
trails, respectively.
Different snow and weather conditions, such as dry air in low
temperatures or spring conditions, or icy crust, or fresh powder
require different skiing techniques and equipment.
Competitions
Ski racer competing in a Giant Slalom race
Various alpine skiing competitions have developed in the
history of skiing. Broadly speaking,
competitive skiing is broken up into two disciplines: racing and
freestyle.
Racing involves making fast turns through gates in an attempt to
attain the fastest overall time down one or two runs of a race
course. Elite competitive skiers participate in the annual
World Cup series, as well as the
quadrennial
Olympic Games and
the biennial
World
Championships.
Slalom (SL),
giant slalom ,
super giant slalom , and
downhill (DH) are the four racing disciplines.
Slalom is the most technical, with speeds that can reach 55kmph.
Downhill is the fastest, where speeds can exceed 100kmph, showing
the clear distinction between the two disciplines. The Giant slalom
event is also considered a technical event and the Super-giant
slalom considered a speed event, as similar speeds are reached as
in the downhill discipline. There is also a
"combined" event that includes one
downhill run and two slalom runs on a single day. In 2005, the
FIS (Fédération
Internationale de Ski) introduced a new event to the World Cup
calendar called the
super combined,
or super combi, consisting of one shortened downhill run and just
one slalom run.
That year, the FIS also introduced an alpine
team racing event at the World Championships in
Bormio
, Italy
. Ski
racing is controlled by a set of rules which are enforced by FIS.
These rules include such things as regulation ski sizes, sidecuts,
boot heights, binding risers and other regulations such as
limitations to chemical substances found in winning racers as well
as many other things which all ensure one particular skier has no
advantage over another. Next year (2008) these regulations are set
to be changed in order to make it harder for racers to complete a
race course. Some changes include increasing the minimum ski length
and also the sidecut which will make the ski turn less tightly.In
2008 ski lengths were increased as it was found by physiotherapists
that the shorter skis combined with the constant knee jerking
movements were considered unnecessarily harmful to racers knees due
to the turning radius of the skis (especially the slalom skis)
therefore the F.I.S made the minimum ski length for women in slalom
155 cm and men 165 cm. Other size minimums were put in
place in the other three events.
Freestyle skiing incorporates
events such as
moguls, aerials, and
sometimes "
new-school" events such
as
halfpipe, big air,
slopestyle, and
skiercross. Together with
extreme skiing, new-school freestyle skiing
is also sometimes known as
freeskiing.
Until relatively recently, freestyle competitions also included an
event called ballet, later renamed "acro-ski."
In addition to racing and freestyle, other types of alpine skiing
competitions exist. One discipline administered by the FIS but not
usually considered part of racing is
speed
skiing, in which competitors strive to achieve the highest
total speed in a straight line, with no gates or turns. Numerous
non-FIS competitions have emerged over the years. More traditional
events include
gelandesprung jumping (
ski jumping for distance on alpine equipment),
and "
powder 8" contests; among the more
recent introductions are "big mountain" or "
extreme skiing" contests, in which athletes
start at the top of a 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 routes and any tricks they
perform on the way down the hill.
Organization of alpine ski competition
Ski
competition rules and scheduling are managed internationally by the
International Ski
Federation (FIS) based in Switzerland
. Each participating nation worldwide is
represented by a national association that manages the sport in
that respective nation.
In the United States, alpine skiing competition is managed by the
U.S. Ski and Snowboard
Association (USSA). The USSA organizes all levels of skiing
competition from grassroots through the U.S. Ski Team and the
Olympics.
Most organized skiing competitions are dependent on a cadre of Race
Officials and course workers who plan, organize and run the events.
Alpine ski races are usually organized by a Race Organizing
Committee (ROC), led by a Race Chair. Race Officials include the
Chief of Race, starters, timers, gate judges, referees, a jury and
others who organize the event and ensure it is run safely and
according to governing body rules. Under the leadership of a Chief
of Course, course workers erect safety systems (usually nets),
prepare and maintain the surface of the race course, erect and
maintain other equipment such as a start tent, a finish area and
the gates through which competitors must pass, and remove any fresh
snow that may fall during the event. A
FIS World Cup downhill, for example,
requires a team of several hundred course workers that may spend
over two weeks preparing a course prior to a week of racing, during
which the course workers will continue to maintain the course. Race
Officials and course workers are usually volunteers, but may
include paid staff and, in some European countries, members of the
military. Most regular venues of major alpine ski races have a
local ROC which remains in place from year to year. An example of
an organization of volunteer course workers are the
Whistler Weasel Workers.
Recreational Ski Racers at a NASTAR race
Ski trail ratings
North America
In North America, a color–shape rating system is used to indicate
the difficulty of trails (otherwise known as slopes or
pistes). Australian ski slopes also share the same
rating system.
There is no governing body that assigns difficulty ratings to ski
trails. Instead,
ski resorts assign
ratings to their own trails, marking a given trail according to its
relative difficulty when compared with other trails at that resort.
As a result, identically-pitched trails at different resorts can
have different ratings. Some skiers and snowboarders may interpret
this as manipulation of ratings of their slopes to appeal to as
wide an audience as possible; in fact, it is an attempt by ski
areas to conform to the trail rating conventions.
This means that a black diamond at one resort is not necessarily a
black diamond at another; it could be a blue square or double
black. Thus, the NSAA advises all skiers, of all ability levels, to
work their way up from an easy slope so that they can become
familiar with the trail markings at a ski area.
Although slope gradient is the primary consideration in assigning a
trail rating, other factors come into play — including trail width,
normal
snow conditions and whether or not the
resort regularly
groom the
trail.
Ski trail difficulty ratings in North
America
Trail Rating |
Symbol |
Level of difficulty |
Description |
Green circle |
 |
Easiest |
The easiest pistes at a mountain. Green Circle trails are
generally wide and groomed, typically with slope gradients ranging from 6% to 25% (a 100% slope
is a 45 degree angle). |
Blue square |
 |
Intermediate |
Intermediate difficulty slopes with
grades commonly ranging from 25% to
40%. These slopes are usually groomed. Blue Square runs comprise
the bulk of pistes at most ski areas, and are usually among the
most heavily-trafficked. |
Black diamond |
 |
Difficult |
Amongst the most difficult at a given
mountain. Black Diamond trails tend to be steep (typically 40% and
up) and may or may not be groomed, though the introduction of
winch-cat has made the grooming of steep
slopes both possible and more frequent. |
Double black diamond |
 |
Expert |
These trails are even more difficult
than Black Diamond, due to exceptionally steep slopes and other
hazards such as narrow trails, exposure to wind, and the presence
of obstacles such as steep drop-offs or trees. They are intended
only for the most experienced skiers.This trail rating is fairly
new; by the 1980s, technological improvements in trail construction
and maintenance, coupled with intense marketing competition, led to
the creation of a Double Black Diamond rating. |
Variations |
 |
Various |
Variations such as doubling a symbol
to indicate increased difficulty, or combining two different
symbols to indicate intermediate difficulty are occasionally used.
One example is a diamond overlapping a square to indicate a trail
rating between a Blue Square and a Black Diamond. Mont Tremblant in Canada utilizes two blue squares right next to
each other to indicate the same thing. Many resorts in
Summit
County , Colorado use a double
diamond with an "EX" in the center to mark a trail even more
difficult than a double diamond. Bogus Basin, a resort near
Boise, Idaho, uses orange diamonds, which are more difficult than
double black diamonds. Other U.S. resorts, such as Smugglers'
Notch, Vermont, and Mt. Bohemia, Michigan, use triple black
diamonds. The combination of symbols is comparatively rare at U.S.
ski areas; most ski resorts stick to the standard 4-symbol
progression. |
Terrain parks |
 |
Various |
Terrain
parks are whole or portions of trails that can offer a variety
of jumps, half-pipes, and other special
"extreme" sporting obstacles beyond traditional mogul. The trails are typically represented
by an orange rectangle with rounded corners.Usually, the terrain
park will carry its own trail rating, indicating the level of
challenge. A terrain park with a Black Diamond or Double Black
Diamond rating would contain greater and more challenging obstacles
than a park with a Blue Square rating. |
Europe
In Europe, pistes are classified by a colour-coded system. The
actual color system differs in parts for each country - in all
countries blue (easy), red (intermediate) and black (expert) are
being used. Shapes are not always used - sometimes all ratings are
circles as being defined in the basic rules of the German Skiing
Association DSV. The three basic color codes of the DSV have been
integrated into the national standards DIN 32912 in Germany and
ÖNORM S 4610 f in Austria. The ratings are:
- Green: (Spain, France, Scandinavia, UK, Poland) Learning or
"Beginner" slopes. These are usually not marked trails, but tend to
be large, open, gently sloping areas at the base of the ski area or
traverse paths between the main trails.
- Blue: An easy trail, similar to the North American Green
Circle, and are almost always groomed, or on so shallow a slope as
not to need it. The slope gradient shall not exceed 25% except for
short wide sections with a higher gradient.
- Red: An intermediate slope. Steeper, or narrower than a blue
slope, these are usually groomed, unless the narrowness of the
trail prohibits it. The slope gradient shall not exceed 40% except
for short wide sections with a higher gradient.
- Black: An expert slope. Steep, may or may not be groomed, or
may be groomed for moguls. "Black" can be a very wide classification,
ranging from a slope marginally more difficult than a "Red" to very
steep avalanche chutes like the infamous Couloirs of Courchevel
. France tends to have a higher limit between
red and black.
- Double or triple black diamond: (Scandinavia) Very or extremely difficult
pist.
- Orange: (Austria, Switzerland, certain other areas) Extremely
difficult.
- Yellow: In recent years, many resorts reclassified some black
slopes to yellow slopes. This signifies a skiroute, an ungroomed
and unpatrolled slope which is actually off-piste skiing in a
marked area. Famous examples are the Stockhorn area in
Zermatt
and the Tortin slopes in Verbier
. In
Austria, skiroutes are usually marked with orange squares
instead.
Alpine slope classification in Europe is less rigidly tied to slope
angle than in North America. A lower angle slope may be classified
as more difficult than a steeper slope if, for instance, it is
narrower and/or requires better skiing ability to carry speed
through flatter sections while controlling speed through sharp
hairpin turns, off-camber slope angles or exposed rock.
Japan
Japan uses a color-coded system, but shapes do not usually
accompany them. Some resorts, mainly those catering to foreigners,
use the North American or European color-coding system, adding to
the confusion. When in doubt, check the map legend. The usual
ratings are:
- Green: Beginner slopes. These are usually near the base of the
mountain, although some follow switchback routes down from the
top.
- Red: Intermediate slopes. At most ski areas in Japan, these
constitute the majority of the slopes (40° to 60°, depending on how
the slopes are accounted).
- Black: Expert slopes. These are the steepest and most difficult
slopes at the ski area. The difficulty of these compared to
like-classified slopes at other ski areas is heavily dependent on
the target audience.
Japan has
more than 1000 ski areas (115 in Nagano Prefecture
alone), many of them small and family-oriented, so
comparisons between slope classifications in Japan and "equivalent"
slopes in Europe or North America are minimal.
New Zealand
- Green: Beginner, but a lot more difficult than North American
greens. Some people say that New Zealand greens are as hard as
American and European blues or even blacks.
- Blue: Intermediate, with an increase in gradient and usually a
tighter and less open trail.
- Black: Difficult, steeper and narrower than Blue
- Black Diamond: More difficult that Black - dubbed "Expert"
- Double Black Diamond: More difficult than Black Diamond -
dubbed "Tricky"
- Triple Black Diamond: Most difficult of all runs - dubbed
"Suicidal"
Snow and weather

This
terrain park begins with
three jumps, each with a variety of entries.
Skiers and snowboarders can encounter a wide range of snow and
weather conditions, in part due to the location of specific resorts
and global weather patterns at the time.
Natural
snow ranges in consistency from very
light and fluffy to dense and heavy, depending upon atmospheric
conditions as it falls. Snow is often measured by moisture content,
or the amount of water in a given volume of snow. Some areas of the
United States' Rocky Mountains, for example, can receive
considerable amounts of snow with moisture content as low as three
to five percent; in the Northeastern United States and the Alps,
moisture content is more typically 15 percent or more. Snow made by
mechanical
snowmaking often has moisture
content of 35 percent or more.
Temperatures play a critical role in snow moisture content, but
other atmospheric conditions are also relevant. Air currents and
other factors determine snow crystal shape; obviously, the farther
apart given snow crystals are, the more air is contained in the
newly settled snow, resulting in lower net moisture content in a
given volume of snow. Snow produced mechanically typically has high
relative moisture content and low amounts of loft because the
crystal structure resembles small, dense pellets.
Even the fluffiest snow has mass, and snow typically settles under
its own weight after time. This is one reason why untouched snow
measuring 20 cm on the day it falls might be measured at
15 cm the day following. Snow is also subject to
sublimation — a process by which
water can go directly from a frozen state to a gaseous state
without first melting. It is this same process that ultimately
makes ice cubes shrink in a freezer.
There are other factors that impact snow beyond its moisture
content and crystal shape, however. Snow is impacted by wind,
sunlight, skier traffic, ambient air temperature, relative humidity
and grooming equipment; all of these factors combine to change snow
crystal shape and density over time.
Thus, skiers and snowboarders typically encounter a wide range of
snow conditions over the course of a season. Some of the more
common conditions include:
- Powder: Light, fluffy snow, found during and immediately after
snowfall. Skiing and snowboarding in deep powder snow is a favorite
among skilled, experienced skiers and snowboarders; sometimes known
as "powderhounds" hunting for the next big dump. Because Western
snow generally has a lower moisture content, western powder is
lighter and easier to ski than heavier eastern powder. Utah and
Colorado snow is especially known for being extremely light and dry
as well as a lot of snow found in New Zealand.
- Groomed or corduroy: Snow that has been tilled by a grooming
machine. This snow condition is favored by beginners and the
majority of recreational skiers, in that it tends to be relatively
forgiving, easy to turn upon, and requires less skill to negotiate
than powder snow.
- Granular snow: Snow with large crystals, i.e. small pellets.
Depending on sun and temperature conditions, it may be wet granular
snow — meaning that there is a considerable amount of unfrozen
water in it, or loose granular snow, which has no unfrozen water.
Wet granular snow will form a snowball; loose granular snow will
not. Wet granular conditions are often found in the springtime.
Loose granular conditions are generally produced when wet granular
snow has re-frozen and then been broken up by snowgrooming
apparatus.
- Corn snow: The result of repeated daily thaws and nightly
re-freezing of the surface. Because of the thaw-refreeze cycle,
snow crystal shapes change over time, producing crystal shapes
somewhat akin to wet granular, but larger. True corn snow is a
delight to ski or ride.
- Ice/Hard-Pack: Skiers and snowboarders typically regard any
snow condition that is very hard as "ice". In fact, true ice
conditions are comparatively rare. Much of what is perceived to be
ice is actually a frozen granular condition — wet granular snow
that has refrozen to form a very dense surface. Telling the
difference is comparatively easy; if one can get a ski pole to
stand up in it, the surface is likely to be more of a frozen
granular surface than an icy one — and while it is certainly not as
enjoyable as many other snow conditions, skilled skiers and
snowboarders can successfully negotiate it. In fact, ice is a
preferred condition among racers, in that the surface tends to be
quite fast and race course conditions tend to remain more
consistent during the race, with fewer ruts developing on the
course. Another form of icy condition can be found at higher
elevation resorts in the Rocky Mountains and in Europe; direct
sunlight can melt the top layers of snow crystals and subsequent
freezing produces a very shiny, slick surface. This true ice is
also common in Vermont, where it is affectionately called "Vermont
Powder."
- Crust: A crust condition exists when soft snow is covered by a
harder upper layer upon the surface. This crust can be created by
freezing rain (precipitation formed in
warmer upper levels of the atmosphere, falling into a temperature
inversion at which surface temperatures are below freezing, and
freezing on contact with the ground), by direct sunlight, and by
wind loading which packs down the upper layers of the snowpack but
leaves lower layers more or less unaffected. Crusts are extremely
challenging conditions.
- Dust on crust: A trace of new snow on top of crust.
Undesirable.
- Spring conditions: A catch-all term ski areas use to describe
conditions when numerous different surface types can be found on
the mountain — usually in the later part of the season, although
the term is sometimes used during an extended midwinter thaw. The
term also generally reflects the presence of bare spots and/or
areas of thin cover. With spring conditions, the snow is usually
firm in early morning (even reaching frozen granular status if left
ungroomed), breaking a softer corn or wet granular surface mid-day,
and is often very soft and mushy in afternoon (many skiers refer to
this type of snow condition as "mashed potatoes," due to its
heaviness). In some instances when the snow is untracked, sun
baked, slightly dirty, with the consistency of a snow cone, it is
called "tecate powder". The speed with which conditions change on a
given spring day is directly related to the exposure of the slope
relative to the sun. In the northern hemisphere, east- and
south-facing slopes tend to soften first; west-facing slopes
generally soften by mid-day. North-facing slopes may hold on to
their overnight snow conditions throughout the day.
- Windblown: A type of snow that forms when powder isn't skied on
for a long period of time. It is essentially powder past its
expiration date. The consistency is that of a thick and "sticky"
powder, that provides lots of resistance; it often is covered by a
crust of hard packed snow. It is prone to happening in large, open
areas where there is little shelter from the wind. Its appearance
often fools inexperienced skiers to believe it is fresh powder,
much to their dismay.
- Variable: This snow type is a catch-all term for snow that can
be tracked out, spring corn, packed powder, hard pack, and even
powder. It is a "mixed bag," if you will, of conditions.
See also
References
External links