Snowsport

Snowsport covers a variety of different snow/ice based activities such as:

Alpine Skiing
Skiing is a popular sport that takes place on snow and artificial surfaces and, more recently, on indoor artificial snow slopes. It can be undertaken as a leisure activity or competitive sport and is suitable for most ages.

Competitive Alpine Skiing is carried out in the following categories
- Downhill
- Combined
- Super Giant Slalom
- Giant Slalom
- Slalom

Snowboarding
Snowboarding, like its surfing and skateboarding ancestry, is as much a lifestyle and culture as it is a popular sport. Its popularity is attributed to a freedom of expression rarely enjoyed by many mainstream sports.
Snowboarding can be enjoyed recreationally (for fun), with around 2 million people in the UK travelling to winter playgrounds every year, or competitively at both amateur and professional levels.

Frestyle
The three original disciplines of Freestyle (Acro, Moguls & Aerials) grew out of hot-dogging; a single run would include bump skiing, aerials and Acro tricks. The first competition took place in 1971 in the USA, sponsored by K2.

Awards were given for fastest run, most unique etc. unfortunately as the awards given rose in value, the competitors tried more and more varied and dangerous manoeuvres. After a spate of injuries, including a broken back the competition was broken up into three component parts - the modern three disciplines of Freestyle skiing. From that moment on inverted aerials were no longer allowed in moguls skiing.

Cross Country Skiing
The modern events in which athletes compete in at the World Cup and Olympics are the (distances presented in Female/Male format) 1.5 km Sprint, 10km/15km Individual Start, 5km/10km Pursuit (athletes change skis), 30km/50km Mass Start and the 4x5km/4x10km Relay.

Ski Jumping
Ski jumping has been part of the Olympic Winter Games since the first Games in Chamonix Mont-Blanc in 1924. The Large Hill competition was included on the Olympic programme for the 1964 Olympic Games in Innsbruck. Ski Jumpers are not only judged on their distance but also on their shape and style on the landing.
Three ski jumping events are held at the Olympic Games:
- Indvidual Normal Hill
- Individual Large Hill
- Team Event

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