Astana-Almaty 2011

Alpine skiing otherwise known as downhill skiing is where the athlete has a pair of long flat runners of plastic, metal, or wood that curve upward in front and attached to a boot or foot for gliding or travelling over snow.

In competition speed and accuracy are important. Alpine skiing evolved from cross-country skiing after the invention of the ski lift and was first incorporated into the Asian Winter Games in 1986.

Cross-country skiing is a popular winter sport where the athletes race to ski along large areas.

Cross-country skiing is part of the growing skiing sport family, which also includes events such as ski jumping, there are many techniques which can be used but Free-technique cross-country skiing is also the method of locomotion in the combination sport of Biathlon, which adds rifle marksmanship to skiing.

Cross country skiing was incorporated into the Asian Winter Games in 2003.

It has been suggested that, Freestyle skiing is a product of America in the 1960s, when social change and freedom of expression led to new and exciting skiing techniques.

Originally a mix of alpine skiing and acrobatics, freestyle skiing developed over the decades into the present-day Olympic sport.

The International Ski Federation (FIS) recognised freestyle as a discipline in 1979 and brought in new regulations regarding certification of athletes and jump techniques in an effort to curb some of the dangerous elements of the competitions.

The first FIS World Cup series was staged in 1980 and the first FIS World Championships took place in 1986 in Tignes, France, featuring moguls, aerials and ballet.

Freestyle skiing, where skiers perform aerial manoeuvres while skiing downhill, was a demonstration event at the Winter Olympic Games in Calgary in 1988.

Mogul skiing was added to the official programme of the Albertville Games in 1992 and Aerials were added at the Lillehammer Games in 1994.

Ski jumping has been part of the Olympic Winter Games since the first Games in Chamonix Mont-Blanc in 1924.

The Large Hill competition was included on the Olympic programme for the 1964 Olympic Games in Innsbruck.

Ski orienteering is a cross-country endurance winter sport. Similar to the orienteering disciplines practised in the summer season, ski orienteering requires an extremely high level of both physical and mental fitness.

An elite level ski-orienteer needs excellent skiing and map reading skills - and the ability to combine those two. The athlete has to take hundreds of route choice decisions at high speed during every race.

The prepared ski tracks are of various quality. Throughout the competition the ski orienteer has to make decisions about which route is the fastest between the controls. The route choice is made on the basis of the quality of the ski tracks, gradient and distance, all of which can be read from the map.

In respect of physical condition, ski orienteering is comparable with marathon running or cross-country skiing. To be successful in ski orienteering, the athlete must master all skiing techniques, classical and free technique as well as all general downhill and turning techniques.