Text 17 Skiing.

Skiing is moving over snow by the use of a pair of long flat runners, attached to shoes or boots, called skis. The oldest skis found in bogs in Sweden and Finland are believed to be 4000 to 5000 years old.

Skis were first used for transport and are still used for travel in Norway, Sweden and some eastern European countries in rural areas. Skiing as both a recreation and a sport was a natural development from skiing as transport.

Skiing events are divided into two kinds: Nordic and Alpine, the former comprising cross-country and jumping skills. The Alpine events include downhill racing and slalom.

In the 20^thcentury skiing became an increasingly popular activity, first in Europe and North America. It spread rapidly in Australia and New Zealand in the 1930s. Following World War II it also spread to Greece, the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Turkey, Iran and India.

At first the Alpine skier had to climb heights to ski down. In the early 1900s only mountain railways or aerial cable cars carried skiers uphill in the Alps. But in the 1930s there began the introduction of succession of devices from rope tows to chair lifts and gondola lifts that made it possible for a skier to ski downhill four to five times more in a day than earlier skiers could. The introduction of snowmaking machines guaranteed adequate snow for skiers if the weather failed.

The improvement of skis also promoted proficiency and added to the popularity of the recreation and sport. Skis were originally made from one piece of wood, usually hickory, but from the 1930s laminated constructions were also used. From the 1950s plastic running surfaces increased speed and durability. Skis of metal, usually with a wood or plastic core, became increasingly popular. Parabolic skis (also called hourglass skies) came into wide use in the 1990s.

New fabrics and manufacturing techniques made skiers more comfortable on the slopes. A seemingly endless variety of waxes to be used on running surfaces for varying snow conditions and kinds of skiing increased the average skier’s proficiency and provided a subject for friendly disputes in ski lodges everywhere.

In 1924 the International Ski Federation (ISF) was founded as the world governing body. It held world championships quadrennial. Skiing became an Olympic sport in the 1924 Games, Nordic only for men until 1936, when Alpine events for both men and women were added. Nordic events for women were introduced in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1967 an annual Alpine World Cup championship was established, supervised by the FIS but privately sponsored, and in the 1969-70 season the World Cup became entirely private and professional. A Nordic World Cup was added in 1979.

1. Answer the questions.

1. How are skiing events divided?

2. What do the Alpine events include?

3. When was the ISF founded?

4. When did skis appear in our country?

5. Is skiing popular in Russia?

6. What famous Russian athletes do you know?

2. Put the sentences in the correct order as in the text.

1. New fabrics and manufacturing techniques made skiers more comfortable on the slopes.

2. The oldest skis found in bogs in Sweden and Finland are believed to be 4000 to 5000 years old.

3. In the 20^thcentury skiing became an increasingly popular activity, first in Europe and North America.

4. A Nordic World Cup was added in 1979.

5. A seemingly endless variety of waxes to be used on running surfaces for varying snow conditions and kinds of skiing increased the average skier’s proficiency and provided a subject for friendly disputes in ski lodges everywhere.

6. Skiing is moving over snow by the use of a pair of long flat runners, attached to shoes or boots, called skis.