WALLPAPER OF WINTER

Alpine skiing (or downhill skiing) is a recreational activity and sport involving sliding down snow-covered hills with long skis attached to each foot. Alpine skiing takes place at specially developed ski resorts where trees are cut, slopes are manipulated, snow is groomed and avalanches are controlled to facilitate the activity. Additionally, alpine skiing resorts employ various forms of mechanical ski lift to raise the skiers up the mountain.

The term "skiing" commonly refers to alpine skiing where one visits a ski resort, purchases a lift ticket, dons cold-weather clothing, skis, ski boots and often ski poles, and embarks on a chairlift, gondola lift, or other means of mechanical uphill transport. Upon reaching the summit, the skier disembarks from the ski lift and travels downhill, propelled by gravity, usually along a marked route known as a piste, "run," "trail," or "slope". Most ski resorts use mechanical equipment to "groom," or pack down and smooth, the snow surface on certain ski trails.

Alpine skiing developed in the Alps beginning in 1889. In Winterthur, Switzerland, Odd Kjelsberg may have been the first person in the Alps to try skiing. Previous to this time, the predominant Alpine winter sport had been tobogganing.

The sport 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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 (GS), super giant slalom (super-G), and downhill (DH) are the four racing disciplines, with downhill being the fastest event and slalom being the most technical, where speeds can reach 55kmph compared to downhill which can exceed 100kmph, showing the clear distinction between the two disciplines.The Giant slslom 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 hillSource URL: http://worldofcelebrityz.blogspot.com/2009/08/wallpaper-of-winter.html
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