Sports

Alpine Skiing

Candace Crawford zooms down the icy mountain on skis, her body almost touching the ground as she turns.

Canada's Candace Crawford competes in the women's giant slalom during PyeongChang 2018. (Javier Soriano/Getty Images)

What's it all about?

Ever thought it would be cool to strap two pieces of wood to your feet and throw yourself down a giant hill at super fast speeds? Then you're ready to carve through alpine skiing!

How it's playedCarousel with 7 slides.

The sport: Both men and women compete in ski events. In almost all the events, skiers do the runs solo. Only the mixed teams event has them competing against another skier.

The events: There are 11 different events with names like super-G, giant slalom and downhill. Lots of fast action to watch! (See pictures below.)

The equipment: Two pieces of wood on their feet, a helmet, a pair of poles and those skiers are zooming down the mountain!

The strategy: Don't fall! And don't miss a gate or it's an automatic disqualification. These events are fast, and athletes can really get hurt, so staying safe is key.

The points: It's all about time. Depending on the event, the fastest skier wins based on one run or the combined time of two runs.

The athletes: Alpine skiing is one of the toughest winter sports. Athletes use their whole body while going down hills at over 125 kilometers per hour. That takes lots of strength, skill and concentration.

Did you know? The word ski comes from the Norwegian word skith — it means a snowshoe.

Things to watch for

Germany's Andreas Sander takes part in the men's downhill 3rd training at PyeongChang 2018. (Dimitar Dilkoff/Getty Images)

Downhill skiing

Downhill is fastest alpine skiing event, reaching speeds of over 130 kilometres per hour.
It features a long course, high vertical drop and very few turns.
A skier's placing is based only on one run.

Bostjan Kline of Slovenia competes during the men's super-G at PyeongChang 2018. (Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

Super Giant Slalom

Nicknamed the super-G.
It has more gates than downhill, but fewer than slalom or giant slalom.
Skiers only get one chance to go for gold in super-G.

James Crawford of Canada makes a run during the men's alpine combined slalom at PyeongChang 2018. (Sean Haffey/Getty Images)

Alpine Combined

If you like both downhill and slalom, this is the one to watch.
Skiers start with a downhill run. If they're successful, they move on and do a slalom run.
Their placing is the combined time of the two runs.

Action packed facts carousel. Use the next button to navigate through the slides.

In the downhill event, skiers can reach speeds of over 130 kilometres per hour. That's faster than the speed limit on a regular highway!
The first recorded straight downhill race was held in California in the 1860s. That's over 140 years ago! The skis only had toe straps to keep them on the feet.
Skiing is the only six-letter word in English that has two "i"s right in the middle.
Skiing is old! Ski fragments that date back to around 9,000-10,000 years ago were discovered in Russia.