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Learn About Skiing From Our Experts
Featured article from Wikipedia:
What is Alpine Skiing?
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 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
up. 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 America Andes, and East Asia (mainly South Korea and Japan,
although the popularity of skiing is increasing in China as well).
The main technical challenges faced by skiers are simply
how to control the direction and speed of their descent. Typically,
novice skiers use a technique called the "snowplough/snowplow" to turn
and 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 altering the weight distribution
between them in order to turn them in any 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, a skier rolls his or her knees from side to side
while keeping the upper body and hips facing down the hill, so that
only the knees and feet are turned. This method of turning allows
modern skis to turn using the radial properties of the edges of the ski
without skidding or slowing down, creating a smooth arc. To maintain
the line of a parabolic ski, one must lean one's center of mass into
the turn.
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 slopes are marked by
green circles, and are typically fairly flat and smooth. Sometimes
known as bunny hills, they are usually groomed by specially equipped
snowcats every night. A blue square marks slopes of medium difficulty;
they are steeper than green circles and may be left in a natural state
rather than machine-groomed. A black diamond slope is steeper than a
blue square and often involves challenging terrain such as moguls,
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.
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