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The basis for the emergence of alpine skiing were the Nordic ski disciplines of cross-country skiing and ski jumping. The first alpine changes of direction developed from the holding turns of the Norwegian ski jumpers. Mathias Zdarsky improved ski equipment in 1896 and developed the stem turn technique. The technology was further developed by Georg Bilgeri, Hannes Schneider and Anton Seelos, who developed the modern parallel technology with rotational movement in 1934. Around 1950, starting in Austria, the more effective and cheaper technique with counter-rotation of the hips, which is still used today, prevailed in Austria.
Alpine skiing is a competitive sport in which athletes ski down a ski slope. Here you follow a competition route marked by gates. There are a total of 5 different disciplines in the current competitions. The alpine skiing race track is a specially prepared ski slope. For the safety of the drivers, safety nets and padding are installed along the race track and special fall zones are set up. The poles of the goals are also flexible in order to offer as little resistance as possible when touched. Special protective clothing is still required for the racers.
The downhill and super G competitions are called speed competitions due to the high driving speed, while giant slalom and slalom are called technical competitions. In the alpine combination, speed and technique are combined. Speed competitions place great demands on the athletes' strength, endurance and courage. Technology competitions, on the other hand, require a high level of driving skill.
The international competitions in the Alpine Ski World Cup are regulated and organized by the International Ski Federation FIS. In addition to the World Cup, the FIS organizes the Alpine World Ski Championships every 2 years. Alpine skiing has been an Olympic discipline since the 1936 Winter Olympics. Important alpine skiing sport nations are Austria, France, Italy, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Switzerland, Slovenia, Croatia and the USA.
