What is known as alpine skiing today traces its origins to Norway thousands of years ago. Norwegian rock drawings 5,000 years old depict a man on skis holding sticks, and the oldest skis – more than 4,500 years old – were found in Hoting, Sweden. Icelandic poetry lauds Viking King Harold Hadrade (1046-1066) as a fast skier. Nordic skiing itself comes from Telemark County in Norway in the late 1800s. By 800 years later, skiing for fun was popular even among children.
True alpine began in the Alps and other mountains in Europe as continental skiing, with much steeper slopes and faster downhill speed than Norway’s rolling terrain. Summer resorts in the Alps brought skiing in as an extension of their resort season – and the sport was soon popular with the affluent resort clientele.
By the late 1800s, Norwegians came to the U.S., Norway exported skis and skiing began its slow reach into what would one day become a multi-billion dollar industry. Telemark-born John “Snowshoe” Thompson carried mail on skis 80 miles over the Sierra Nevadas from Nevada to a mining town in California. By 1857, miners were holding downhill speed races. After World War I in the U.S., skiing gained popularity in America. By the 1920s, there were ski locations in the Adirondacks in Lake Placid, New York and in the Poconos in Pennsylvania.
By the mid-1930s, a few Austrian ski instructors came to the U.S. to escape Nazi Germany. The result was that Austrian ski know-how became prominent in American alpine skiing. Ski trails were created by President Franklin Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and by the end of 1939, there were CCC-built ski trails from Maine to the Rockies and Sierra Nevadas. Skiers flocked to the slopes. Cars brought even more skiers into the sport.
Skiing Techniques
Ski techniques evolved over time. Telemark and Christiana (known as Christie) turns were developed by the Norwegians to control downhill speeds. Nordic skis, therefore, had a boot mounted to the ski at the toe only, with the heel free to move up and down. Telemark turns were good for flat terrain, but not steep slopes. Alpine skiing, born in the Alps, needed a different technique. In alpine skiing, the boots are mounted to the skis at the toe and the heel. This provides more control to the skier.
Control and speed are the two most important parts of alpine skiing. The “stem,” a tecnical invention of Mathias Zdarsky of Austria, made skiing in slalom in a controlled manner a possibility for beginners – and opened up skiing to the masses. Speed, the other half of alpine skiing, marked the change from ski mountaineering to fast ski descent. The British invented the continent’s first alpine races, known as downhill and slalom.
Another technique was developed in 1918 by Austria’s Johann Schneider, whose system (based on Zdarsky’s) included the snowplow stem, the stem turn and the stem Christie, in order of ascending difficulty. Schneider’s ski school at Arlberg Pass attracted the best alpine skiers as instructors, and the techniques, chronicled by films from that time, projected the Arlberg technique to the world. By 1960, counter-rotation (wedel) and godille, marked another change in skiing technique resulting in the skier’s ability to make short, swift and more maneuverable turns.
Ski Disciplines
There are four alpine ski disciplines. Downhill and slalom were the first. The third, giant slalom, which combines both, first appeared at the Olympic Games in the 1952 Oslo Winter Olympics. The fourth, the Super G, a hybrid of the giant slalom and downhill, appeared during the 1983 World Cup and the 1988 Olympics.
Skill Levels and Run Types
Skill levels range from beginner to expert. Ski runs in the U.S. are characterized by marking systems that vary from resort to resort.
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Green Circle – Easy, fairly flat and smooth (also known as “bunny” slopes).
- Blue Square – Medium difficulty, steeper and narrower than green circles, may be groomed or left in natural state.
- Black Diamond – Steeper than blue square, featuring challenging terrain with moguls, double fall lines, unmarked obstacles and narrow passes.
- Double Black Diamond – For experts only, these trails are extemely steep, often left in natural state, and rarely groomed.
- Triple Black Diamond – Very rare, and the most challenging of all trail ratings.
- Variations – Many resorts have combinations, such as blue square and black diamond, two green circles, or two blue squares. These mean the trails are more difficult than a single color/shape.
Alpine Skiing Popularity
Since its fledgling beginnings in the U.S. in the late 1800s, alpine skiing today continues to increase in popularity. It is said that alpine skiing reinvents itself every decade, and new advances crop up every season. With the many alpine ski resorts available today, skiers have countless opportunities to get out on the slopes and enjoy some of the best and most spectacular outdoor recreation.
