FAST AND FURIOUS
ALPINE COMBINED SKIING
WHY IT’S HARD One needs to master two of the speediest disciplines in winter sports. In the downhill, skiers must travel over a mountain course with a vicious vertical descent at upward of 80 mph, and not fall. In the slalom, there are “gates,” or sets of poles, you strategically squeeze past in your hip-swerving journey to the bottom. Men use 55–75 gates; for women, it’s 45–60. Add up the times for both runs and the quickest person wins.
