 |
All About Skiing
by Walter Silten
http://www.skiingaz.com
Strap on a pair of long skis, catch a lift to the top of a
hill and then move smoothly down hill over the snow. That's
skiing. Skis used to be made out of wood but wood can be
heavy so know skis are made out of fiberglass. Binding
attach your feet to the skis to keep them firmly in place.
Today, people ski for recreation but skiing was first used
to get from one place to another through the snow.
The father of modern skiing is Sondre Norheim from Norway.
He invented the bindings that let the skier turn while
still going down hill. Sondre started calling down hill
skiing "slalom" until later it was called Telemark skiing.
Matthias Zdarsky later invented a better kind of ski
binding to attach skiers' feet to the skis and because of
this, down hill skiing was developed.
Most skiing done in this country is done at ski resorts for
people who want to vacation where its cold. The people
staying there either own their own ski equipment or they
can rent them from the resort. Ski-lifts are also part of
ski resorts and these carry all skiers to the top of a hill
so they can ski back down. Resorts also mark their routes
for skiers that let them know how steep the hill is.
Resorts have marked routes and if you're not a used to
skiing then it is probably a good idea to stick to the
routes known as runs, trails or slops. Each run has a name
and is rated according to the level of difficulty, green
circles means the slope is gentle and used by beginners,
also fondly known as "bunny slopes." Blue squares are for
medium skiers and black diamond...well, just the word black
should say it all but just in case, these slopes are for
expert skiers and can be very steep.
Another kind of skiing is called cross country skiing and
people who like to hike and explore like to do this kind of
skiing. A really extreme form of skiing is called heli-
skiing where a helicopter takes skiers up to the summit of
a mountain and the skiers go down. Most people don't think
about snow skiing until the Olympics come up, but many
people ski all year-round. Organizations like the
International Ski Federation and the International Olympic
Committee hold snow skiing competitions in many forms of
skiing.
Skiing is not only for the wealthy, like some may think. It
has even spawned a culture of "ski bums," where all these
people do is ski all during the season. When season is over
they look for menial jobs to get by until the next ski
season rolls around. Skiing is a fast and exhilarating
sport and thousands of people flood the slopes yearly and
as long as there is snow on the slopes, skiers will be
skiing down them.
Submit An Article
|
|  |
