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Nothing gets more exhilaratingthan standing on the sidelines of a downhill skirace, the sound of cowbells ringing in the air,as the world’s fastest man or woman on snowscreams past you at speeds of up to 145kph, theirskis schussing over the ice-glazed slope with suchprecision that the slightest mistake and it’s allover. They fly through the finish gate, whip theirhelmet off and look up eagerly at the results board– first place and their arms shoot up in the air, asthe crowd erupts.Every sport has a crowning event, which is bothathletic championship and cultural spectacle fusedinto one. Golf has the Masters, motor racing theFormula One Grand Prix. For alpine skiing, it hasto be the Winter Olympics. For a couple of weeksevery four years, billions of people across the globesit transfixed to their TV screens, as the dramaof the Games unfolds. But to be there among theaction – close enough to smell the ski wax – takesthe drama to a whole new exhilarating level.When the last Winter Olympics took place inVancouver in 2010, tens of thousands of spectatorsdescended upon the city and resort town ofWhistler, in British Columbia, to witness the thrillsand spills, from the ski jumping – where skiersliterally fly through the air, covering distances ofover 200m – to the long-distance cross-country skiraces – incredible feats of endurance. It’s one of thespecial things about the event that brings people tothe slopes, and to resorts that they otherwise mightnever have dreamed of visiting: the 2014 WinterOlympic Games are being held in Sochi, Russia,while in 2018 they will take place in South Korea,in the city of Pyeongchang.Hit the slopesThe best part though, is that, unlike being aspectator at the Grand Prix, where most peoplecan only imagine what it feels like to be behindthe wheel of an 800bhp racing car, with alpineskiing anyone can have a go. It’s not just aboutthe physical act of sliding around on two planks,either. Few other sports offer the same sense ofadventure. Nothing beats pondering over the pistemap at breakfast (preferably with a freshly bakedpain au chocolat in hand) and planning your day’sroute. With resorts across the globe growing biggerevery year, there has never been so much terrainto explore. The Three Valleys resort in France, thelargest in the world, has a colossal 600km of pistes.You could ski all day every day for a week and notski the same piste twice.Then there is the thrill factor. The excitementof pulling open the curtains to discover that threefeet of snow has fallen overnight. The excitementof knowing that if you’re quick and can beat thecrowds to the lift, you can make fresh tracks downa virgin powder field. The adrenalin rush of lettingyour skis run on an empty, perfectly manicuredpiste. The toe-tingling feeling of skiing your firstblack run…The scenery, of course, is second to none, withmountainscapes so dramatic you have to stopmid-run to whip out your camera. In some resortsyou get to ski in the shadow of some of the world’smost spectacular peaks, from the mightyMatterhorn in Zermatt, Switzerland, to MontBlanc in Chamonix, France. In other resorts youcan lap up spectacular views of mountain lakesfrom the slopes: head to the aptly named Heavenlyski resort in California and you get sweeping viewsof Lake Tahoe, the largest alpine lake in NorthAmerica, from almost every piste. It’s so flat andso clear that some people say it’s possible to see a25cm white dinner plate 23m below the surface.The origin of skiingSkiing hasn’t always been about the thrills andscenery though. Once upon a time, it was a meansto get from A to B, while hunting the odd wild boaren route. Rock paintings in Scandinavia and skispreserved in bogs in Russia show that skiing wasa part of life for hunters around 3,000 BC. Theinvention of modern skiing, as a recreational sport,happened a few centuries later, in 1850, when aNorwegian chap called Sondre Norheim inventeda birch binding that meant people could skiwithout their skis constantly falling off.In the early 1900s, ski lifts were introducedand package holidays launched, and by the 1960sthe craze had spread worldwide and was all therage among the jet set. Aspen quickly emergedas skiing’s chic headquarters. A coterie of therich and famous, including Jack Nicholson andHunter S Thompson, flocked to the Coloradosilver-mining town turned winter resort, luredby the 3,417m Aspen mountain, charming lodgesand classy crowds. Anyone who was anyone wasPrevious pages: A woman skiing on theBavarian mountain range of Allgäu.Opposite page, clockwise from top left:A cable car in Aspen, Colorado;Switzerland’s Matterhorn mountaintowers majestically above Riffelsee lake;St. Moritz is one of three cities to havehosted the Winter Olympic Games twiceSKI FACTS & FIGURES1924: first Winter OlympicsThey were held in Chamonix,France, with Norway bagging themost medals. Fast-forward a fewdecades and the Norwegians arestill sweeping the board: they’vewon 303 Winter Olympic medalsin total, more than any othercountry (50 more than the USA,in second place).3,979m: highest ski liftin the worldYou’ll need a head for heights ifyou ski in Gulmarg, India: it hasa gondola that whisks skiers upto a dizzying 3,979m. The ExpressSuper Chair in Breckenridge,Colorado, isn’t far behind,reaching 3,914m.251.4kph: fastest speedever recorded on skisYes, you read that right. Italianspeed skier Simone Origone iscurrently the fastest skier onEarth, holding the world recordof 251.4kph (156mph). If you’rea casual skier and hitting 50kph,you’re flying...1965: snowboardingis bornOne Christmas Day in Michigan,Sherman Poppen invented the‘Snurfer’ as a toy for his daughter,cross-bracing two skis together.It was an instant hit, so hepatented it and licensed it to anIllinois-based corporation, sellingmore than a million boards overthe next 15 years.$100,000: world’s mostexpensive ski passHow do you fancy unlimitedaccess to the world’s bestpowder skiing in the heart ofBritish Columbia’s Purcell andSelkirk mountain ranges? GreatCanadian Heli-Skiing offersa ski pass for CAD $100,000,guaranteeing the holder aseat on one of GCH’s A-StarB2 helicopters every daythroughout the season.22km: longest ski runin the worldThe Vallée Blanche, an off-pisteroute in Chamonix, is aleg-burning 22km long.66volume thirteenSummit