Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing, which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for recreation or for sport, it is typically practiced at ski resorts, which provide such services as ski lifts, artificial snow making, snow grooming, restaurants, and ski patrol.
An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain.
Arapahoe Basin is an alpine ski area in the Rocky Mountains of the United States, in the Arapaho National Forest of Colorado. Arapahoe Basin is known for its extended season—usually staying open until early June, and sometimes into early July, whereas most other northern ski areas close in early April. Arapahoe Basin is located south of Loveland Pass on U.S. Highway 6 in Summit County.
Tuckerman Ravine is a glacial cirque sloping eastward on the southeast face of Mt. Washington, in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Although it draws hikers throughout the year, and skiers throughout the winter, it is best known for the many "spring skiers" who ascend it on foot and ski down the steep slope from early April into July. In this period, the temperatures are relatively mild but the natural snowpack — which averages up to 55 feet (17 m) in a typical winter — is still adequate to ski most seasons. The record-setting high winds atop Mount Washington scour a massive amount of snow from the surrounding highlands and drop it here or in the adjacent Huntington Ravine.
Aspen Highlands is a skiing mountain in Aspen, Colorado. It is famous for the Highland Bowl, which provides what some people consider some of the most intense, wild, and fun skiing in the state. The Aspen Skiing Company operates Aspen Highlands.
Freeriding is a style of snowboarding or skiing performed on natural, un-groomed terrain, without a set course, goals or rules. It evolved throughout the sport's formative early years as a contrary response to the highly regimented style of ski competition prevalent at the time. Snowboarders primarily refer to freeriding as backcountry, sidecountry, or off-piste snowboarding, and sometimes big mountain or extreme riding.
Glen Plake is a US National Ski Hall of Fame skier. He grew up in Lake Tahoe, skiing Heavenly Valley. He is known for his appearances in ski films such as Greg Stump's The Blizzard of Aahhhs. Plake has been named a pioneer of extreme skiing in America by ESPN. Glen has been the host of the RSN program Reel Thrills.
Freeskiing, or new school skiing, is a specific type of alpine skiing, which involves tricks, jumps, and terrain park features, such as rails, boxes, jibs, or other obstacles. This form of skiing resulted from the growth of snowboarding combined with the progression of freestyle skiing. "Newschoolers", or those who specifically ski in this style, as opposed to traditional freestylers, freeriders, big mountain skiers, and racers, are often found in terrain parks, which are designed specifically for tricks.
Heli-skiing is off-trail, downhill skiing or snowboarding where the skier reaches the top of the mountain by helicopter, instead of a ski lift.
Bill Briggs born on December 21, 1931, in Augusta, Maine, is notable as the first to ski the Grand Teton on June 15, 1971, and as a result is said to be the "father of extreme skiing" in North America. He is the director of the Great American Ski School, formerly located at Snow King Mountain in Jackson, Wyoming in the United States.
Doug Coombs was an American alpine skier and mountaineer who helped to pioneer the sport of extreme skiing, both in North America and worldwide.
Shane McConkey was a professional skier and BASE jumper. He was born in Vancouver, British Columbia and eventually based himself in Olympic Valley, California. Due to an itinerant childhood, he never identified with a single place, but he was said to have come from Boulder, Colorado. It was from here that he started his professional skiing career. He did so after dropping out of the University of Colorado Boulder to pursue his dreams.
Patrick Vallençant was a French alpinist/skier and pioneer in ski mountaineering.
Sylvain Saudan is an extreme skier, dubbed "skier of the impossible." He is noted for skiing down large and steep mountains, including those in the Himalayas, North America, Asia, Africa and Europe. In 1982, he entered the Guinness Book of World Records for conquering the highest most steepest slope ever skied.
Steep is a 2007 documentary about extreme skiing written and directed by Mark Obenhaus. Steep explores the history of extreme and Big Mountain Skiing, starting with its roots in 1960s and 1970s North America and Europe, with Bill Briggs' now famous first descent of the Grand Teton, and progressing through to the current day sport.
Ultimate Rush is a 2011/2012 documentary television series produced by the Red Bull Media House in association with Matchstick Productions, and marketed as a combination of stupendous action sports endeavour, coupled with a cinematic-approach to storytelling. Through its wide distribution in the United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Denmark, Austria and other territories, the series is evidence of the acceptance of extreme sports into mainstream television, and one of the most complete accounts thereof. The series focuses on the outrageous exploits of some of the best athletes in the world, and how they explore the fine line between extreme sports, philosophy and art. Most of the filming was conducted in the rugged backcountry of British Columbia, Alaska, the Rocky Mountains, the French Alps, the Himalayas and the Andes, but not at official events or secured sites.
Kristen Ulmer is a former professional extreme skier who retired from the sport in 2003 to further study and teach about overcoming fear.
This glossary of skiing and snowboarding terms is a list of definitions of terms and jargon used in skiing, snowboarding, and related winter sports.
Ski-BASE jumping is the recreational sport of skiing at a high speed off of a cliff or mountain and free-falling through the air, using a parachute to descend to the ground, therefore combining the two sports of skiing and BASE jumping. Participants often perform tricks or manoeuvres during the freefall and remove their skis mid-air in order to safely deploy the parachute and land.
