Editing Slalom skiing (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of skiing}}
[[File:Nathalie Eklund - NM i Trysil.jpg|thumbnail|right|[[Nathalie Eklund (alpine skier)|Nathalie Eklund]] skis slalom at [[Trysil]], [[Norway]] in 2011]]
The term '''slalom''' comes from the [[Morgedal]]/[[Seljord]] dialect of the [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]] word "slalåm": "sla", meaning "slightly inclining hillside", and "låm", meaning "track after skis".<ref>''Kunnskapsforlagets idrettsleksikon''. Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget, 1990, p.273.</ref>  The inventors of modern skiing classified their trails according to their difficulty:  
*''Slalåm'' was a trail used in [[Telemark]] by boys and girls not yet able to try themselves on the more challenging runs. 
*''Ufsilåm'' was a trail with one obstacle (''ufse'') like a jump, a fence, a difficult turn, a gorge, a cliff (often more than {{convert|10|m}} high), et cetera. 
*''Uvyrdslåm'' was a trail with several obstacles.<ref>[http://www.stolaf.edu/naha/pubs/nas/volume29/vol29_12.htm NAHA // Norwegian-American Studies<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> 

A Norwegian military downhill competition in 1767 included racing downhill among trees "without falling or breaking skis". [[Sondre Norheim]] and other skiers from Telemark practiced ''uvyrdslåm'' or "disrespectful/reckless downhill" where they raced downhill in difficult and untested terrain (i.e., off piste). The 1866 "ski race" in Oslo was a combined cross-country, jumping and slalom competition. In the slalom participants were allowed use poles for braking and steering, and they were given points for style (appropriate skier posture). During the late 19th century Norwegian skiers participated in all branches (jumping, slalom, and cross-country) often with the same pair of skis. Slalom and variants of slalom were often referred to as hill races. Around 1900 hill races were abandoned in the Oslo championships at Huseby and [[Holmenkollen]]. [[Mathias Zdarsky]]'s development of the Lilienfeld binding helped change hill races into a specialty of the [[Alps]] region.<ref>Bergsland, E.: ''På ski''. Oslo: Aschehoug, 1946, p.27.</ref>

The rules for the modern slalom were developed by [[Arnold Lunn]] in 1922 for the British National Ski Championships, and adopted for [[alpine skiing at the 1936 Winter Olympics]]. Under these rules gates were marked by pairs of flags rather than single ones, were arranged so that the racers had to use a variety of turn lengths to negotiate them, and scoring was on the basis of time alone, rather than on both time and style.<ref name="Hussey:9">Hussey, Elisabeth. "The Man Who Changed the Face of Alpine Skiing", ''Skiing Heritage'', December 2005, p. 9.</ref><ref name="Bergsland1952">Bergsland, Einar (1952). ''Skiing: a way of life in Norway.'' Oslo: Aschehoug.</ref>