http://www.skiingsport.net en-us Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:38:36 -0800 http://www.skiingsport.net/slalom-skiing/ To start with, slalom is a kind of skiing winter sport that is very popular in many countries. It involves skiing between poles (or gates) situated much more closer together than in Giant Slalom, Super-G or Downhill, thus causing quicker and shorter turns. Slalom" from the Morgedal dialect of Norwegian slalam: "sla," meaning slightly inclining hillside, and "lam," meaning track after skis. The originators of modern skiing classified their trails according to their difficulty. Slalam was a trail used in Telemark by boys and girls not yet able to try themselves on the more challenging runs. Ufsilåm was a trail with one obstacle (ufse) like a jump, a fence, a difficult turn, a gorge, a cliff (often more than 10 meters high) and more. Uvyrdslum was a trail with several obstacles. The rules for the modern slalom were developed by Sir Arnold Lunn in 1922 for the British National Ski Championships, tried by the FIS in 1928, and adopted for the 1936 Winter Olympics. Under his rules, the gates were marked by pairs of flags rather than single ones, were arranged so that the racers had to use a variety of turn lengths to negotiate them, and scoring was on the basis of time alone, not time and style. In the early 1980s, bamboo poles were replaced by hard plastic hinged poles known as "RapidGate(tm)" U.S. Patent # 4,270,873 by Peter Laehy and Stefan Dag or "breakaway gates." The new gates allowed skiers to take a much more direct path down a slalom course through the process of "cross-blocking" or "as shinning" the gates. The rigid nature of bamboo gates had forced skiers to maneuver their entire body around each gate, while the hinged gates require only that the skis and boots of the skier (as the FIS rules state) go around each gate, with the body passing through or on the inside of the pole. At the beginning of 1990s, flags were removed completely from slalom gates in international competition.

Technical events in alpine ski racing comprise slalom and Giant Slalom. This category distincts them from the "speed events" like Super-G and Downhill. A course is constructed by laying out a series of gates. Gates are formed by alternating pairs of red and blue poles. The skier must pass between the two poles forming the gate. (exactly speaking, the tips of both skis and the skier's feet must pass between the poles.) A course has 55 to 75 gates for men and 40 to 60 gates for women. For slalom the vertical offset between gates is around 9 meters (30 feet) and the horizontal offset around 2 meters (6.5 feet), although these figures have changed in recent times because of significant technical developments in ski equipment (namely, increased sidecut) which have revolutionized the sport. The gates are arranged in a variety of different configurations to challenge the competitor, including delay gates and vertical combinations known as hairpins and flushes. The worldwide governing body, FIS (Federation Internationale de Ski) has a set of regulations detailing what configurations are allowed or mandated for an official course.

Since the offsets are comparatively small in slalom, skiers take a fairly direct line and often knock the poles out of the way as they pass, which is known as blocking. (The main blocking technique in modern slalom is cross-blocking, in which the skier takes such a tight line and angulates so strongly that he or she is able to block the gate with the outside hand.) In modern slalom, a variety of protective equipment is used such as shin pads, hand guards, helmets and face guards.

All over the world, the rules for slalom skiing are supervised by the International Ski Federation. In the United States, skiing events including slalom are managed by the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association. For those who live in warmer weather, slalom skiing is defined as water skiing with only one ski through a course very similar to the downhill skiing version. The boat drives through the middle buoys while the skiier cuts through the water from side to side, rounding a buoy on each pass

With the invention of "shaped" skis around the turn of the century, equipment used for slalom in international competition changed considerably. World Cup skiers usually skied on slalom skis at a length of 203-207 centimeters in the 1980s and 1990s but by the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, the majority of competitors were using skis measuring 160 cm or less. The downside of the shorter skis was that athletes found that recoveries were more difficult with a smaller platform underfoot. Over concern for the safety of athletes, the FIS began to set minimum ski lengths for international slalom competition. The minimum was initially set at 155 cm for men and 150 cm for women, but was increased to 165 cm for men and 155 cm for women for the 2003-2004 season. American Bode Miller hastened the shift to the shorter, more radical sidecut skis when he achieved unexpected success after becoming the first Junior Olympic athlete to adopt the equipment in giant slalom and super G in 1996. A few years after that, the technology was adjusted to slalom skis as well. ]]> Sat, 08 Nov 2008 08:14:53 -0800 http://www.skiingsport.net/slalom-skiing/ http://www.skiingsport.net/snow-skiing/ Snow skiing is the most popular winter sport in the World from a group of sports utilizing skis as primary equipment. There are some things you'll need to make certain that you have before you head off on your snow skiing vacation: good skis, poles, and boots are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to making sure that you have all of the right equipment. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding. Although snowboarding shares the general characteristics of skiing sports, it evolved from surfing and skateboarding and so is not considered a type of skiing. Each and every one, from expert skiers to very small children are able to enjoy the slopes each year. Worldwide resorts offer accommodations for those of all walks of life; and between downhill skiing and cross country skiing, there's a way for everyone to be able to enjoy this wonderful sport. You don't have to be an internationally traveled jet setter to enjoy this sport, either. And what's more snow skiing vacation packages are available for every budget.

Talking more about this amazing winter sport, skiing can be grouped into two main categories. Nordic skiing is the oldest first-born category and includes sport that evolved from skiing as done in Scandinavia. Nordic style bindings attach at the toes of the skier's boots, but not at the heels. Alpine skiing includes sports that evolved from skiing as done in the Alps. Alpine bindings attach at both the toe and the heel of the skier's boots. Like with many other disciplines, such as Telemark skiing, there is some crossover. However, binding style and history tend to determine whether a style is considered Nordic or Alpine. Therefore, in view of its lack of a locking heel, and its roots in Telemark, Norway, commonly Telemark is considered a Nordic discipline. ]]> Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:07:28 -0700 http://www.skiingsport.net/snow-skiing/