Grass skiing is a sport that involves skiing on grass-covered slopes. It was developed in Germany as a means to provide skiers an avenue for training during off-season when there is lack of snow. Grass skiing was received well and lot of alpine skiing athletes started using it for training. The increase in popularity led to the origin of a competitive sport of its own. Grass skiing is currently popular in several European countries where both men and women practice the sport.
For grass skiing, the skis used are completely different from snow skiing. They are much shorter in length, and consist of wheels. The wheels are enclosed inside rolling treads. The skiers were specialized boots to which the rolling treads are fastened to.
The course used for competitions is similar to that of alpine skiing. It consists of a downhill track of slaloms marked with posts. Athletes navigate the course individually working against a clock. A run is disqualified if a skier misses even a single post. Each skier gets three attempts through the course, and the skier with the fastest time is declared as the winner.
Grass Skiing World Championships and Austrian Grasski Championships are the two major international competitions conducted for the sport.
Similar Sports
- Downhill Skiing — participants slide down a snow-covered hill using skis with fixed bindings.
- Alpine Skiing — commonly known as Downhill Skiing, involves racing down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. There are alpine skiing competitions in disciplines such as slalom, giant slalom, super giant slalom, and downhill.
- Sandboarding — involves sliding on the sand while standing on a board.
Related Pages
- About Skiing (General)
- Complete list of sports
- The Encyclopedia of Sports