Winter offers unique sports

by Lillian Gasche-Payne

With the upcoming winter season, there are many sports that are about to resurface in popularity. These are some sports that are almost only played during the winter. Some of these sports include:

• Bobsledding

• Snowboarding

• Alpine Skiing

• Biathlon

• Ice hockey

• Figure skating

• Skeleton

• Curling

Ice Hockey

• Ice hockey is a fast paced contact sport played on an ice rink with players who skate in hockey skates. There are two teams formed of 20 players with 6 on the ice in total, including the goalie. Each player has their own stick which is used to hit the puck and score in the opposing team’s goal. It has been highly respected amongst the public and has been played in the Olympic Winter Games since the 1920’s.

Figure Skating

• This is a sport in which ice skaters, whether single or in pairs perform freestyle movements on the ice in the most graceful manner possible. It’s name is derived from the patterns the skaters make on the ice. Figure skating is the oldest sport in the Olympic Winter Games having been played since 1908 at the London Games.

Skeleton

• This is a sport that is categorized as a winter sliding sport. It is performed in a manner that the person rides a small sled, known as a skeleton, laying face down and head first down a frozen track. Unlike other sports of a similar nature, this always involves only single riders. This was first contested at the Winter Olympics as a men’s sport in St. Moritz in 1928 and 1948. It wasn’t featured again until 2002 in Salt Lake City as a men’s and women’s event.

Curling

• This is a sport in which players slide a stone on a sheet of ice towards a designated target area that is segmented into four concentric circles. It gets its name from the unique turning that occurs at the end of the stone’s path on the sheet of ice. Men’s curling was first featured in the Olympics Winter Games in 1924 in Chamonix.

Bobsledding

• Bobsledding is a competitive sport in the Winter Olympics that began in 1924. It consists of a two person sled made out of fiberglass, stell and four runners. By using the rope to steer and bobbing back and forth, the competitors propel themselves forward on an artificial ice track. The team is located in Colorado and New York.

Snowboarding

• Introduced into the Olympics in 1998 but beloved by people since the 1960’s Snowboarding combines Skiing, Surfing and Skateboarding. Riders glide down a snow covered slope, sometimes involving ramps and obstacles, with a snowboard attached to their feet.

Alpine Skiing

• Alpine Skiing has been around since an estimated 8000-7000 BC but didn’t make its debut into the Winter Olympics until 1924.  Competitors ski down giant ramps on two long pieces of metal attached to their feet and have to steer with their ski poles. There are teams in the US located in Park City, Utah.

Biathlon

• Biathlon is one of the youngest sports in the WInter Olympics having been founded in 1993 but has been around for centuries. The sport is a mixture of skiing and shooting. Competitors  ski through cross country trails that are divided between shooting markers. The US has teams located in Maine.