Skiing Essay, Research Paper

SKIING

Skiing is a competitive sport, recreation, and a way of travel. Skiing is a leading winter sport and there are many events in which you use skis. When skiing you are traveling on long, narrow runners gliding on the snow. Skiing was developed in the 19th century by farmers in Norway for fun. After the automatic ski lift was developed, the sport grew all over the world.

The equipment used in skiing are skis, boots, ski poles and bindings. The skis are made of fiberglass, plastic, metal, or wood. Skis range in length from 4 – 10 feet, and in width from 3 – 4 inches. The are curled up at the front and form a tip. The longer the ski, the faster the skier will go. Bindings are mounted into the ski and can be adjusted to fit your boot size. The ski boots protect your feet and fasten into the bindings. Ski poles help the skier balance, stop, gain speed, and get up when you fall.

Different types of skis are used for downhill skiing, cross country skiing, and ski jumping. Downhill skis have a groove and steel edges along the bottom. Cross country skis are narrower and lighter then down hill skis. Jumping skis are long, heavy and have three grooves along the bottom.

The basic skills of skiing are controlling turning, pressure, edging, and balancing while moving. The wedge turn is the first maneuver a skier learns. The wedge is when you spread out your legs, then put the front of the skis together. This helps a skier stop. When the skier has conquered that maneuver, they would do the hockey stop. This is when the skier puts there skis together and quickly turns to the side skidding on the snow. When skiing, you should put your skis parallel to each other and close. This allows for sharp, fast turns. The position you should be in when skiing is bend your legs, and put your weight on your heel.

There are many dangers in skiing. First, you have to be in shape, and be able to get up from a fall. Some common injuries you could acquire during skiing is an ankle, arm, or head injury. Although these are the most common, there are more serious injuries. Sometimes you can have a small fall, which could be fun, if you fall the right way. Skiing is such fast sport, skiers could go up to 150 mph. If you fall this fast, it could be fatal.

In conclusion, skiing is an exiting sport. If you ski the proper way it will definitely be an enjoyable day for many people. People even make a career out of skiing. Finally, skiing is my favorite thing to do.