Extreme skiing
Extreme skiing is skiing performed on long, steep (typically from 45 to 60+ degrees, or grades of 100 to 170 percent) slopes in dangerous terrain. The sport is performed off-piste.
The French coined the term 'Le Ski Extreme' in the 1970s. The first practitioners include Swiss skier Sylvain Saudan, who invented the "windshield wiper" turn in the mid-1960s and in 1967 made the first descents of slopes in the Swiss, French and Italian Alps that were previously considered impossible.[1] Saudan's 'first descent' in America was at Mt. Hood March 3, 1971. Early American practitioners include Bill Briggs, who descended Grand Teton on June 16, 1971.[2] The Frenchmen Patrick Vallençant and Anselme Baud were among those who further developed the art and brought notoriety to the sport in the 1970s and 1980s.
Extreme skiing as an English term has changed since the 80s when the term "extreme skiing" was coined to now be classified under Big Mountain skiing and/or Freeskiing which encompasses all aspects and methods of descending off-piste terrain. The key North American skiers who popularized the sport include: Doug Coombs, Shane McConkey, Seth Morrison, Glen Plake, David Kraft and Scot Schmidt, all known as "The extreme-6" and were considered among the top 6 extreme skiers in the world during their prime.
Because of the extremely long, steep slopes, and dangerous terrain, single mistakes at the wrong moment by some extreme skiers have led them to their deaths.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Paul Dreyfus (1970). "Sylvain Saudan: Skieur de L'Impossible". Book. Arthaud. http://www.chesslerbooks.com/eCart/viewItem.asp?idProduct=5929.
- ^ www.wildsnow.com, Tanner Hall who broke his ankles hitting Chads Gap, Bill Briggs biography.
