Archive for category Ski
Alpine Skiing Has Been Resurrected
Posted by admin in Alpine Skiing, Ski on July 3, 2011
Remember those days of alpine skiing: you learned to snowplough and you practiced and finally perfected it. You were then instructed in the next lesson to forget about the snow plough. Now you are going to learn parallel. The skis were long and difficult to maneuver from turn to turn and your burning legs and your beads of sweat blurred the whole purpose for being on the slopes. Some of you gave up alpine skiing altogether and some switched to snowboarding, a sport that had a proven record for fast progression.
Thanks to the 1990′s and modern technology, alpine skiing has re-established itself as the user friendly snow sport. Ski manufacturers realized that by producing a more user friendly ski that was shorter and wider, alpine skiing could appeal to the masses. The alpine skis of today possess more shape, defined by side cuts. These deeper side cuts and shorter skis allow the beginning and intermediate skiers to maneuver the skis better and to carve turns more easily. For the more advanced skier, the skier has to modify their stance to allow the new shaped skis make the turns and do more of the work for them. The 1990′s skis marked a revolution in alpine skiing. Read the rest of this entry »
Sand Skiing – The New Extreme Sport
Posted by admin in Sand Skiing, Ski on July 3, 2011
Are you so in love with the slopes that winter flies by much too fast leaving you with ski withdrawal symptoms long before you are ready to give it up? If you just can’t get enough of winter skiing, you just might be interested in a relatively new phenomenon slowly sweeping the world – sand skiing.
What is sand skiing? It is simply the brand new extreme sport. From Palm Springs, California to Dubai, from Abu Dhab to Idaho, it’s the latest extreme craze.
There are two types of sand skiing. Downhill and cross-country both of which more or less mirror their snow ski counterparts.
Downhill sand skiing involves finding a dune, hill, or mountain, climbing to the top of it and skiing down it. Is it fun? Lots – except for the part where you have to climb up the hill. You’ll find no ski lifts, no trams, not even a rope tow. If you want to get up the hill, you have to climb it on your own. Nevertheless, the lack of these niceties doesn’t seem to have prevented newcomers from being drawn to the sport.
Cross country sand skiing involves skiing finding a nice long scenic stretch of sand covered land, strapping on the ski boots and skis and having at it. Nothing strengthens the muscles and increases stamina like cross country sand skiing. Read the rest of this entry »