Alpine skiing

"Off-piste" skiers—those skiing outside ski area boundaries—may employ snowmobiles, helicopters or snowcats to deliver them to the top of a slope. Back-country skiers may use specialized equipment with a free-heel mode, including 'sticky' skins on the bottoms of the skis to stop them sliding backwards during an ascent, then locking the heel and removing the skins for their descent.


Alpine ski racing has been held at the Winter Olympics since 1936.^[1] A competition corresponding to modern slalom was introduced in Norway at Oslo in 1886.^[2]

History[edit]

The ancient origins of skiing can be traced back to prehistoric times in Russia, Finland, Sweden and Norway where varying sizes and shapes of wooden planks were found preserved in peat bogs.^[4] The word ski is related to the Old Norse word skíð, which means "split piece of wood or firewood."^[5] Skis were first invented to cross wetlands and marshes in the winter when they froze over. Skiing was an integral part of transportation in colder countries for thousands of years. In the 1760s, skiing was recorded as being used in military training. The Norwegian army held skill competitions involving skiing down slopes, around trees and obstacles while shooting.^[6] The birth of modern alpine skiing is often dated to the 1850s, and during the late 19th century, skiing was adapted from a method of transportation to a competitive and recreational sport.^[4] Norwegian legend Sondre Norheim first began the trend of skis with curved sides, and bindings with stiff heel bands made of willow. Norheim also trended the slalom turn style.^[4] The wooden skis designed by Norheim closely resemble the shape of modern slalom skis.^[7] Norheim was the champion of the first downhill skiing competition, reportedly held in Oslo, Norway in 1868.^[4] Norheim impressed spectators when he used the stem christie in Christiania (Oslo) in 1868, the technique was originally called christiania turn (norwegian: christianiasving or kristianiasving) after the city (first printed in 1901 in guidelines for ski jumping). The telemark turn was the alternative technique. The christiania turn later developed into parallel turn as the standard technique in alpine skiing.^{[8][9][10][11]}


The term "slalom" is from Norwegian dialects slalåm meaning a trail (låm) on a slope (sla).^[5] In Telemark in the 1800s, the steeper and more difficult trails were called ville låmir (wild trails). Skiing competitions in Telemark often began on a steep mountain, continued along a logging-slides (tømmerslepe) and was completed with a sharp turn (Telemark turn) on a field or frozen lake. This type of competition used the natural and typical terrain in Telemark. Some races were on "bumpy courses" (kneikelåm) and sometimes included "steep jumps" (sprøytehopp) for difficulty.^[12] The first known slalom competitions were presumably held in Telemark around 1870 in conjunction with ski jumping competitions, involving the same athletes and on slopes next to the ski jump.^[8] Husebyrennet from 1886 included svingrenn (turning competition on hills), the term slalåm had not been introduced at that time.^[2][13] Slalom was first used at a skiing competition in Sonnenberg in 1906.^[14] Two to three decades later, the sport spread to the rest of Europe and the US. The first slalom ski competition occurred in Mürren, Switzerland in 1922.