Introduction

Do you know that people have been skiing for 7000 years? Yes, there are primitive carvings of skiing in Sweden from 5000 B.C. The word “ski” comes from the Nowegian word “skio” which means a split piece of wood.

Skiing is using a ski to glide on snow. Skiing was primarily used for transport until 1850. Since then it has also become a sport. There are different types of skiing. Alpine, which is downhill skiing, Nordic, which is ski jumping, and cross country skiing.

Where do you ski?

You ski on a snowy mountain. A snowy mountain can only be found in cold places, such as US, Japan, Canada, France, Bulgaria and Switzerland. You cannot ski in Singapore because it is too hot and there is no snow.

Does it need to be a very high slope? The tallest ski mountain Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in Yunan, China, is 4700 meters tall but the lowest is 78 feet tall, called Spring Mountain Ski Area in Pennsylvania, USA.

What equipment do I need?

If you want to go skiing you need to have ski equipment: you need ski jacket, ski pant, ski goggle, ski helmet, base layer, mid layer and a scarf.

You need skis to move! The length of your skis depends on your hight and what level. The taller you are the longer your skis. If you are novice the shorter your skis. There are special skis for powder, cross country and racing.

Your boots should be tight all the time. You should only able to wiggle you toes but your heel should not be moving.

How do you stop on a slope?

To learn how to ski first you need to learn how to stop. Beginner skiers can stop by doing a triangle. If you are a expert skier you can stop by doing a parallel stop.

To do a triangle stop, point the tips of your skis together without crossing them. Push into the inside edge of each ski to slow down.

To do a parallel stop, place your weight on the outside ski, turn your skis parallel and dig into the snow with the inside edge of both skis.

How do you turn on a slope?

It is important to learn how to turn on a slope because you need to control your speed. If you go down straight it will be very scary.

Here is how you make a left turn. First you stick the pole in the snow. Next you put more weight on the right ski and dig into the snow with the inside edge of that ski.

To do the right turn just do the opposite.

What are the levels of a slope?

The levels of a slope is in four different colors. Green is the easiest. Ski here if you are a beginner!

Blue is a bit harder than green. You can ski here if you know how to turn confidently. Red is for advance skier who can make parallel turns. Black diamonds is for expert, because the slope is steep and bumpy.

Conclusion

Skiing is a very good sport, it helps you by being not scared of falling. It takes alot of practice. The trick is to learn skiing when you are little.

Glossary

• parallel: franch frice two feet together.
• Nordic ski: a kind of ski-jumping and cross country
• Alpine ski: a kind of ski-skiing down the hill
• transport: Moving from one place to another
• cross country: over country side instead of a tract
• Norwegian: its a language from Norway
• Primitive: simple or crude
• Triangle stop: a kind of stop where you point the tips of the ski together