BEIJING (AP) 鈥� American skier Tommy Ford thought the cascading wall of large white flakes during the first snowy Alpine race of the Beijing Olympics left the slope for with a handful of 鈥済rippier鈥� spots and 鈥渁 little chatter here and there.鈥�
His U.S. teammate, River Radamus, described the course known as 鈥淭he Ice River鈥� as 鈥渁 little bit bouncy.鈥� To Norway鈥檚 Henrik Kristoffersen, the precipitation rendered the hill 鈥渜uite aggressive.鈥�
A day earlier and a half-mile away on 鈥淭he Rock鈥� course at Yanqing Alpine Skiing Center, Italy鈥檚 Elena Curtoni offered an assessment after the that was entirely in her native language, with the exception of this English word: 鈥淕rip.鈥�
Asked if there is a counterpart for that term in Italian, she shook her head. 鈥淎ctually,鈥� Curtoni explained, 鈥渨e use 鈥榞rip.'"
As in many sports, and plenty of other fields, Alpine skiing has a lingua franca 鈥� words and phrases that allow folks from various places to communicate in a shared language. In this instance, much of it has to do with .
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of terminology about the feel that skiing gives you when you鈥檙e on a course. If a course 鈥榩ulls,鈥� it鈥檚 bringing you to the gate sooner than you would expect. If the snow is 鈥榬eactive,鈥� it means it鈥檚 easier to make a turn. There鈥檚 subtleties you pick up along the way,鈥� said on Tuesday is the only Alpine medal for the U.S. so far in China. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 when you learn them: When you鈥檙e with your friends and learning skiing. Sometimes you make up your own lingo. But there鈥檚 a common understanding.鈥�
WHAT ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT?
Let鈥檚 allow some American ski racers to explain what some of these things mean:
Grippy: 鈥淒ry, hard snow. We call it 鈥榞rippy鈥� because it really grabs at your edges. So, it鈥檚 really easy to turn on. Sometimes it鈥檚 easy to overturn on. But it also can be unforgiving with mistakes. You can easily catch edges. Grippy snow is your classic Colorado snow. It doesn鈥檛 have to be manmade, but often it鈥檚 manmade.鈥� (Breezy Johnson)
On the edge: 鈥淧retty much all of your weight is on a single edge on your (ski). ... (Or) if you make a mistake, it鈥檚 going to be game over.鈥� (Bryce Bennett)
Chatter: 鈥淲hen your ski is vibrating a little. ... Like rumble strips on the interstate.鈥� (Cochran-Siegle)
Getting bounced: 鈥淲hen your ski hits a bump and then it kicks you off-line. It鈥檚 not like a clean turn. You鈥檒l hit a bump and then you鈥檒l be off-line and you鈥檙e in a different place than where you want to be.鈥� (Bennett)
Sugary: 鈥淚t鈥檚 soft snow but it鈥檚 not new. Just straight-up soft. Sometimes at the bottom of the ski slope, if it鈥檚 kind of warm, but dry, then at the bottom, where people walk around in their boots, it鈥檚 sugary snow. ... There鈥檚 no purchase on sugary snow. You try to turn on it and you just trench in and it鈥檚 not very fun. ... We hate sugary.鈥� (Johnson)
Rattling: 鈥淲hen there鈥檚 small, micro bumps within the turns and it鈥檚 not smooth. It鈥檚 bumpy underfoot.鈥� (Bennett)
WHY DO THESE WORDS MATTER?
They allow skiers to get a grasp of elements that can change the way they approach a race.
Often, these terms are used in course reports coaches or competitors relay to those who have yet to come down the hill.
鈥淭hey do represent real things. They鈥檙e not just slang and, like, 鈥極h, I was shredding!鈥� They really are critical to understanding the circumstance you鈥檙e trying to convey to the other people,鈥� said Bode Miller, whose six Olympic Alpine medals are an American record. 鈥淚t鈥檚 ... specific and accurate terminology, because there鈥檚 a big difference between 鈥榗halky鈥� and 鈥榞rippy.鈥欌��
Johnson, the runner-up at three World Cup downhills this season and considered a strong Beijing medal contender until surgery kept her home, split the lingo into two basic categories: snow conditions and surface conditions.
鈥淵ou have icy, grippy, soft, bally, sugary and slushy. Those are the six main snow conditions,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd then you have surface conditions. Chattery, bumpy, smooth, I guess, are probably basically your three there.鈥�
DOES IT ALWAYS MAKE SENSE?
Not necessarily. Markus Waldner, the men鈥檚 World Cup race director, is annoyed whenever he hears skiers talk about snow being 鈥渁ggressive鈥� 鈥� meaning, as with 鈥済rippy,鈥� that there can be a strong connection between the skis themselves and the surface underneath.
Except Waldner points out that such variations have more to do with the equipment a racer uses than with the snow itself.
鈥淪now is never aggressive. The crystals of the snow can be different; there are 1,000 different (types of) crystals. But the snow is never aggressive,鈥� Waldner said. 鈥淚 tried to explain it to them: 鈥楳y friends, the snow is not aggressive. The snow can be hard, soft, wet. Big crystals. More crystals. And so on. But not aggressive.鈥欌��
A racer鈥檚 technician can alter skis to allow for better contact.
One example: If the snow is "grippier,鈥� Miller explained, 鈥測our technician might dull your skis back a little bit 鈥� take a gummy stone to the tip and tail of your skis to make them less aggressive 鈥� because the snow is going to be more responsive than it was on previous days on the same turn.鈥�
WHO UNDERSTANDS THIS JARGON?
In a word: Everyone. No matter the country -- and there are 83 represented in Alpine competition at the 2022 Olympics.
鈥淥h, yeah. Their English is a lot better than my German or French or Italian. Some of the Norwegians probably have better English than we do,鈥� Cochran-Siegle said with a smile. 鈥淲e鈥檙e fortunate. We come across as a little not-as-well-educated with a lack of understanding of other languages.鈥�
___
AP Sports Writers Andrew Dampf and Pat Graham contributed to this report.
___
More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Howard Fendrich, The Associated Press
