Alpine Skiing - Disciplines
Alpine Skiing or Downhill Skiing is also the name of the sport that you generally see on television in Skiing competitions worldwide. Alpine Skiing is an Olympic Sport and basically consists of the following disciplines:
Downhill
The Downhill Race at times almost resembles Speed Skiing with men reaching speeds of 130 km/h and women reaching around 100 km/h. The contestants try to get down as fast as possible, keeping the most aerodynamic position for as long as possible and minimizing air and surface resistance. Jumps are often used. There are no gates to Slalom around but many designed of runs place jumps or turns in certain places to make the run more technically challenging. This Alpine Skiing Discipline uses the longest runs with the biggest vertical difference. In the men's competition, descents are made of 800 to 1100 vertical meters. The women's competitions use 500 to 800 vertical meter descents.
Slalom
This Alpine Skiing Discipline is a fast-paced and highly technical discipline. This event has the shortest course as well as the quickest turns. Contestants have to make their way down the slope as fast as possible turning quickly from one side to the other side of flexible gates. The gates are closely set to each other forcing the skier to make quick edge changes.
Combined
This event features a Downhill and two Slalom runs. The combined courses are shorter compared to the regular versions.
Giant Slalom
The Giant Slalom is generally similar to the Slalom event. It uses shorter runs but with more gates. The skier performs two runs on two different courses on the same slope. The men's competition uses slopes with a vertical difference of 300 to 450 meters and 56 to 70 gates. The women's competition uses slopes with a vertical difference of 300 to 400 meters and 46 to 58 gates. Due to the many gates, the Giant Slalom is slower than the other Alpine Disciplines but the action is still explosive as skiers have to make aggressive quick turns around the closely set gates.
Super-G
Is a combination of Downhill Racing and Giant Slalom. In the Super G, longer and highly technical turns are made around flexible gates. Likewise, it features a shorter course than Downhill and longer than the course used in Giant Slalom. The men's competition uses slopes with a vertical difference of 500 to 650 meters with at least 35 gates. The women's competition uses slopes with a vertical difference of 400 to 600 meters with at least 30 gates. This Alpine Skiing Discipline is a high speed thrill ride combining the speed of racing with the technical turns of the Slalom.
There are various disciplines in Downhill Skiing, and it pays to know the set of rules to follow and the tricks and techniques that contestants are required to do on each competition. This also goes for spectators. Watching this type of Skiing will be more exciting if you know the finer points of the events.
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