How does skiing work?

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by Mya Kagan (whyzz writer) >> more about the author

The use of skis is nothing new – people have been skiing for thousands of years! Artifacts of skis have been found in places all over the world, from Finland, Norway, and Sweden, to Russia, to northern China!

While many people today think of skiing as a recreational activity, early forms of skiing were primarily used in cold-weather places for practical reasons such as transportation! Skiing gained popularity as recreation or sport as the technology and ability to build better skis was developed, with most skiing competitions dating back to the 1800s.

Although the techniques and materials for building skis has changed and improved over time, the basic principles on which skiing works remain the same. Skiing relies a lot on gravity, the force that is constantly pulling you and everything around you towards the center of the Earth! (Just like gravity pulls a ball you throw into the air back towards the ground, it also pulls a skier at the top of a hill towards the bottom!) As gravity pulls a skier down a hill, it causes an increase in acceleration (speed). A skier’s acceleration is also affected by friction, the rubbing of one surface (the skis) against another (the snow). – Manipulating the friction between their skis and the snow is what gives a skier control!

Today, competitive and recreational skiing includes a few main types, including alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, Nordic skiing, freestyle skiing, and ski jumping. One place in which competitive skiing is especially popular is the Winter Olympics!

Have you ever been skiing? If so, what was your favorite part about it? What do you think was the most difficult or challenging part??

What are some of your favorite winter sports to watch or participate in? Ice-skating? Sledding? Ice-hockey?? What makes them your favorite?