Alpine skiing is quite a fun sport to engage in or watch on TV as skiers glide down the snow-covered mountains at breathtaking speeds. The word Alpine comes from the central Europe mountainous terrain of the Alps where the game originated. This incredible sport is the main highlight of the Winter Olympics, where players compete in six different events. If you want to learn about alpine skiing or to start skiing, sit tight and dive right in.

What is alpine skiing?

Alpine skiing is a winter sport that sees skiers ski down a slope while sometimes navigating sharp turns and gates, depending on the type of event.

Types of alpine skiing events

• Speed

The speed event category consists of the downhill and super-G disciplines and gives skiers only one chance to ski down the slope as fast as possible, and the fastest emerges the winner.

• Technical

The technical alpine skiing category includes the slalom and giant slalom events, where skiers complete two runs, navigating sharp turns and carefully positioned gates.

Alpine skiing disciplines

• Downhill

Downhill is the simplest form of this sport, where skiers make one run down the slope with minimal turns and maximum speeds of up to 130 km/h.

• Slalom

Slalom is the shortest and fastest alpine skiing event and has the most turns. It usually involves competitors making two runs on the same slope. After the first run, the course changes to include new gate positions, and only the qualifying players proceed to the second run.

• Giant slalom

The giant slalom is like the slalom above but has wider turns, fewer gates, and higher speeds.

• Super G

The super-giant slalom, denoted as super-G, consists of a shorter race course than the downhill event but is faster and longer than the giant slalom. As a speed event, it only has one run where the fastest skier wins.

• Combined events

The combined events of alpine skiing consist of a downhill run and two slalom runs. However, the courses for the two separate events are shorter than usual, and all times get tallied to determine the fastest total time.

• Mixed team parallel slalom

The mixed team event is the newest entry debuting in the 2018 Olympics, where four skiers, two men and two women, from one country face off against teams from other countries.

Tips for skating like a pro

If you get goosebumps watching people ski on TV and would love to master the basics of alpine skiing, the below tips will come in handy:

How to train for skiing

• Boost your muscle power

Although it might seem like a non-strenuous sport, skiing requires a lot of muscle power, so you should focus on strengthening your hamstrings, quads, hips, and glutes that get worked the most.

• Master balance

Stability is crucial in alpine skiing and so work on your hip muscles and your core to offer stability to sensitive areas like your knees.

• Build endurance

To be a skiing pro, you must be able to endure doing run after run without tapping out and so work on your endurance.

• Increase cardio activity

As you train as a skier, bump up your cardio by engaging in activities like biking or running that get your heart and lungs pumping.

Great alpine skiing exercises

• Walking lunge with rotation
• Hip Clocks
• Hip roll
• Lifts
• Squat reverse lunge
• Chops
• Lateral ski jumps

Bottom Line

Alpine skiing is fun to watch and participate in, and you can become a pro with proper training. Work on building muscle power and master stability, and then you can glide down all your troubles away!