Skiing

I

Introduction

Skiing, winter sport in which people move across snow-covered terrain with long, narrow, specially designed boards called skis attached to their feet. Although people have been skiing for about 5,000 years, the sport did not become a popular form of recreation until the 20th century. Millions of people worldwide enjoy skiing for its exhilaration, sense of freedom, physical challenges, and fitness benefits.

II

Types of Recreational Skiing

There are two basic types of recreational skiing: Alpine, or downhill, and Nordic, or cross-country. The goal in recreational skiing is to ski competently on a variety of terrain and under various conditions. Competitive skiers go one step further, pitting their skill against the clock or against the skill of others. Skiing carried to its limits—on extremely difficult slopes or under extremely dangerous conditions—is known as extreme skiing.

A

Alpine Skiing

Alpine skiing derives its name from the mountain range the Alps in Europe, where the sport developed in the late 1800s as a means of moving down snow-covered slopes. Skiing spread to other parts of the world and is now done primarily at ski resorts on specially cut trails. A variety of lifts carry skiers up the hill. The most common lift in North America is the chairlift, which is a series of seats suspended from a motor-driven cable that pulls the seats up the mountain. Various surface lifts, which pull skiers up the hill while they remain standing on skis, include rope tows, T-bars, J-bars, and poma lifts (also known as platter pulls). Many larger areas have enclosed aerial lifts, such as gondolas or trams, which allow skiers to take off their skis and ride up the mountain inside specially designed cars suspended from cables. In Europe, cog railways and funiculars (cable railways) are also used to carry skiers up a slope.

Almost all ski resorts have equipment to make snow artificially when there is not enough natural snow to support the sport. Snowmaking equipment combines air and water with special additives and then sprays the mixture at very high pressure onto the slopes. Grooming machines smooth out the slopes and ensure that the snow has a uniform consistency.

---

---

B

Nordic Skiing

Nordic skiing, also known as cross-country skiing, can be done on almost any terrain that has snow and is not too steep. Nordic skiing is often done at cross-country ski centers, which have many kilometers of mostly flat trails prepared for skiers. Most have trails prepared for both the traditional diagonal stride and for the newer skating technique (see Skiing Fundamentals section of this article). Traditional trail preparation involves flattening out two tracks in which skiers can slide their skis. Skating trails are wider and smoothed out.

Telemark skiing is the downhill component of cross-country skiing, which incorporates some Alpine techniques. It is becoming increasingly popular among recreational skiers. A few ski areas have small ski jumps for learning basic jumping skills, but ski jumping is limited almost entirely to competition.

	More from Encarta
	•  Presidential Myths Quiz •  Coffee break: Recharge your brain