Skiing

Skiing attracts millions of people every year. This recreational sport is competitive as well as practical for exercise, traveling, military purposes and for areas which experience heavy snowfall. Participants wear special boots attached to skis (a.k.a. long runners) to travel across the snow. Skiing can be a year round sport although most locations do not offer the correct conditions all year long.

Climbing a mountain or hill can be exhausting as well as time consuming. In order to get the most from a day of recreational skiing, a motorized system of chair lifts is used to get participants to the top of the mountain or hill. Lifts provide skiers and snowboarders hours of additional enjoyment in the time and energy they save. Lifts are an additional fee and vary in price at snow resorts.

Stunts and tricks have been incorporated to enhance the sport. Competitive events take place around the world and are recognized by the International Olympic Committee and International Ski Federation. Most competitions incorporate jumping, speed and accuracy.

Types of Skiing:
1. Alpine skiing, also called downhill skiing, is the how the majority of people participate. Categories of alpine skiing include freestyle, heliskiing and competitive classes (slalom, giant slalom, Super-G, downhill and disabled skiing).

2. Nordic skiing, also called cross country or backcountry skiing, is used as a way to travel across snow. The bindings used in nordic skiing are attached to the toes and use a free-heel method as opposed to attaching at both the toe and heel in alpine skiing. Categories of nordic skiing include cross country skiing, telemark, ski touring, ski mountaineering, ski-flying (“ski jumping”) and skijoring.