https://socialsporthub.com/journal/topics/alpine-skiing Stories on alpine skiing from SocialSportHub Journal. en https://socialsporthub.com/journal/a-slalom-course-is-parameterised-not-designed https://socialsporthub.com/journal/a-slalom-course-is-parameterised-not-designed The ICR hands a course setter a vertical drop, two spacing windows, a turn density and a required mix of combinations — then tells them the result should match the average ability of the first thirty competitors. Every course is different, and every course is the same problem. Sun, 06 Sep 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://socialsporthub.com/journal/alpine-skiing-is-four-points-on-one-axis https://socialsporthub.com/journal/alpine-skiing-is-four-points-on-one-axis FIS does not tell a course setter how many gates to use. It tells them how many direction changes to make per metre of vertical drop — and slalom's figure is five times giant slalom's, which is nearly twice super-G's, which downhill does not have at all. Sun, 06 Sep 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://socialsporthub.com/journal/how-a-mountain-becomes-a-racecourse https://socialsporthub.com/journal/how-a-mountain-becomes-a-racecourse FIS will not sanction a race on ground it has not homologated, and the dossier it requires is a portrait of what a venue has to be. Gradients and vertical drop take a few lines. Evacuation, water supply, uphill transport and cable runs take the rest. Sun, 06 Sep 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://socialsporthub.com/journal/the-gate-that-must-break-and-must-not https://socialsporthub.com/journal/the-gate-that-must-break-and-must-not FIS asks a gate panel to release from its pole when a racer gets caught by it and not to release during a normal collision. Two requirements that sound contradictory, both tested, and both answers to what a skier at speed actually does to a gate. Sun, 06 Sep 2026 09:00:00 GMT