It’s a sport that requires great courage and skill in equal measure: strength, agility, balance and technique. Although there have been significant advances in ski equipment and technology recently, the essence of the sport has remained constant. No judges are handing out scores; no marks are awarded for style; it’s strictly a numbers game in which the time it takes a skier to go from start to finish, passing through a series of gates on the way down, determines the outcome of each race. In literal terms, alpine skiing – so-called because it refers to skiing at or near the tree line – is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills or mountains on skis with fixed-heel bindings.

There are several kinds of alpine skiing, but it is most commonly divided into the six core disciplines ski racers compete in at the Olympics.

DOWNHILL

Because it involves the highest speeds and, as a result, the most significant risks, downhill is the most glamorous of all the alpine disciplines. The world‘s best downhill skiers, including Canadians Jack Crawford, Broderick Thompson and Cameron Alexander, are among the world’s best on the men’s side, following in the legendary footsteps of Erik Guay and the Canadian Cowboys and Ken Read and the Crazy Canucks. 

Featuring the largest vertical drop, skiers can reach upwards of 130 kilometres per hour on a typical downhill course. Famous sections of the Lauberhorn track in Wengen, Switzerland, and the Hahnenkamm course in Kitzbühel, Austria, crack the 150 KPH mark. 

With gates close together, the athlete must pass between two gates down the course. The turn radius on the turns is the largest of any of the disciples, showcasing the skier’s ability to handle speed and execute the perfect race line. 

Strategy and staying close to the fall line are critical in downhill. Given the risk, skiers push themselves to the absolute maximum while riding the longest skis of any discipline through challenging turns, shallow dips, flats, and jumps.

In addition the longer skis, the downhill poles feature a heavy curve to hug the racers’ body in an aerodynamic “tuck position.” The most daring of all alpine skiing disciplines downhill is also synonymous with the recreational sport of alpine skiing. 

Alongside super-G, it is often referred to as “speed skiing.” The title of downhill Olympic or world champion is one of the most prestigious prizes in the sport of alpine skiing, and Canadians have found outstanding success in recent years. Cameron Alexander won the world championship bronze in 2023, and Erik Guay was not far behind him, with the gold medal in 2011 and silver in 2017. Before that, Jan Hudec earned silver in 2007, before John Kucera struck gold in 2009.

SLALOM

While speed defines downhill, slalom is the opposite, emphasizing the skier’s technical ability in short, quick turns, often at the lowest speeds. With strategy critical, the athletes ski around single poles instead of flagged gates, taking advantage of the tactical shorter skis to make quick turns and keep a tight line. 

With an emphasis on aggressive skiing and getting ski boots just slightly around each gate, slalom is competed in two runs and a combined time. On the World Cup, the top 30 athletes from the first run compete for the podium in the second run, in reverse order. 

Originally skied with unflexible bamboo gates, the evolving nature of slalom has allowed athletes to adapt. They often sneak their skis around the base of the quick-release gates and block the rest of the gate with their leading hand, guarded by a piece of plastic fist protection, arm guards, padded gloves, and face shields. 

In 2023, Laurence St-Germain put Canada on top of the World Championship podium with a victory in the event, while some of her teammates, including Ali Nullmeyer, often find themselves among the high-ranking athletes. 

SUPER-G

Super-G (super giant slalom) is the little sibling to downhill and big sibling to giant slalom, combining the technical aspects with immense free-flowing speed. With that, it’s included alongside downhill as the traditional “speed events.”

While first appearing at World Cups in 1982 and added to the Olympics in Calgary in 1988, the event has brought immense success for Canadian skiers, with Erik Guay winning the super-G World Cup title in 2009-10, Manuel Osborne-Paradis winning bronze at the 2017 World Championships, and Jack Crawford winning World Championship in 2023. 

GIANT SLALOM

As the name suggests, giant slalom features a bigger (longer) course than traditional slalom, with at least 30 gates, bringing in flagged gates as are seen in every discipline outside of slalom. Considered a technical discipline, giant slalom skiers use skis longer than slalom skis but shorter than downhill or super-G skis. Giant slalom generally features two runs – held on different courses on the same ski run. The skier with the fastest combined time wins. 

Canadians have also found immense success in recent years, with Valérie Grenier winning two World Cup races in 2023 and 2024 among her four World Cup podiums. 

SUPER COMBINED

Consisting of a shortened downhill or super-G run followed by a slalom run, super combined was introduced by the International Ski Federation in 2005. Before that, the traditional combined discipline comprised one downhill run and two slalom runs. In both forms of combined, the winner is determined by the fastest aggregate time. Although not technically a discipline in its own right, combined is generally called the fifth alpine skiing discipline.

While once known to crown the best overall skier, the event is rarely run in modern times. It competes regularly at World Cup Finals, World Championships, and Olympics but seldom outside of those three. 

At the Beijing 2022 Olympics, Canada’s Jack Crawford claimed the bronze medal, with the super-G specialist handling the slalom after a dominant super-G run. 

TEAM EVENT

The 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Games mark the inaugural edition of the Team Event in the Olympics, featuring a mixed team of two men and two ladies competing for their National Teams in a head-to-head slalom with a knock-out format per round. 

Traditionally, 16 teams are at the start of the competition. The Alpine Team Event made its FIS World Championship debut in 2005 and in the parallel format in 2011. Canada has shown well in the event at the World Championship, taking silver in 2015 and bronze in 2023.