Alpine Skiing – Bakuriani 2025

ALPINE SKIING

Alpine skiing, a thrilling sport featured in EYOF, offers young athletes the excitement of racing down snow-covered slopes at high speeds. It combines adrenaline, skill, and stunning mountain scenery, making it an exciting winter activity that fosters competition, and a love for the outdoors. Join the fun and challenge yourself on the slopes!

BASIC RULES

Slalom, Giant Slalom and Team Parallel are on EYOF program and part of disciplinary techniques of alpine skiing discipline.

Slalom is the shortest alpine ski race, with a time of 50″-60″ and the most number of turns. Skiers have to ski down a course, weaving through a series of gates set up in quick succession until they reach the finish line. In slalom, skiers have to touch the gates as they pass through them, so they wear special protection on their hands, legs, and face. The slalom race consists of two runs on the same slope but on different courses. The winner is determined by the skier with the shortest combined time from both runs. The one with the lowest total time of the two runs is the winner.

Giant slalom is a race with an average distance of 20-30 meters between the curves and takes about one to one and a half minutes to complete. The track has wider curves compared to the slalom, and the gates are used to mark the course instead of poles. It doesn’t require as many safety protections because the gates are hit less often. The race is split into two runs on the same slope but on different tracks, with all competitors that finish the first run participating in the second. The one with the lowest total time of the two runs is the winner.

Team parallel in alpine skiing involves teams racing head-to-head on identical course. Each team consists of up to six skiers (minimum two boys and two girls) who compete in pairs. The competition follows a knockout format where teams face off in a series of rounds. Skiers race through gates set on wider curves, showcasing speed and precision. The team with the fastest combined time from their runs advances to the next round until the champion team is determined.

HISTORY

Skiing has an ancient history. The birth of modern downhill skiing is often dated to the 1850s, when Norwegian legend Sondre Norheim popularized skis with curved sides, bindings with stiff heel bands made of willow, as well as the Telemark and Christiania (slalom) turns.

ANCIENT ORIGINS

Skiing can be traced to prehistoric times by the discovery of varying sizes and shapes of wooden planks preserved in peat bogs in Russia, Finland, Sweden and Norway. Ski fragments discovered in Russia have been carbon-dated back to circa 8000-7000 BC. It is virtually certain that a form of skiing has been an integral part of life in colder countries for thousands of years.

FIRST COMPETITIONS

Skiing changed from a method of transportation into a sporting activity during the late 19th century. The first non-military skiing competitions are reported to have been held in the 1840s in northern and central Norway. The first national skiing competition in Norway, held in the capital Christiania (now Oslo) and won by Sondre Norheim, in 1868, is regarded as the beginning of a new era of skiing enthusiasm. A few decades later, the sport spread to the remainder of Europe and to the U.S., where miners held skiing competitions to entertain themselves during the winter. The first slalom competition was organized by Sir Arnold Lunn in 1922 in Mürren, Switzerland.

OLYMPIC GROWTH

Men’s and women’s Alpine skiing both debuted on the Olympic program in 1936 at Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The only event that year was a combined competition of both downhill and slalom. In 1948, this was held along with separate downhill and slalom races. Four years later, the giant slalom was added, and in 1988, the super giant slalom became a fourth separate event.

ALPINE SKIING AT EYOF 2025

Venue	Disciplines / Events	Categories (Age)	Athletes Quota (Aa)	Team Officials Quota (Ao)
Bakuriani Alpine Skiing Course (Didveli Ski Resort) https://maps.app.goo.gl/2MhPW6dc1uaSCLuGA	Boys Slalom Giant Slalom Team Parallel Girls Slalom Giant Slalom Team Parallel	2007-2008	4 Boys 4 Girls	4 Ao

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