10 things you need to know about the Winter Olympic sport of Alpine Skiing
Venue: Rosa Khutor Alpine Center
Gold medals on offer: 10
Dates: Sunday February 9 – Saturday February 22
Carving: A series of clean turns using the edges of skis. Carving turns can vary from tight turns to giant ‘S’ shaped swoops.
Piste: French for a groomed course on snow or the groomed portion of a ski area
Tuck: A tight, forward-lean position used for fast downhill runs. The skier is in a squatting position with the arms tight against the sides and skis parallel.
Briton Jeanette Kessler was a double world medallist and competed in the first-ever women’s Olympic alpine skiing event in 1936, finishing eighth. She co-wrote one of the first ski tourism books – Ski Holidays In The Alps.
Konrad Bartelski’s second place in a World Cup downhill race in 1981 remains the best ever performance by a British skier at that level.