Skiing has existed since time immemorial. Ever since people had to find out how to move in a winter environment, some form of skis or snowshoes were invented. Ancient wall paintings picture hunters on skis, archaeological findings date fragments of skis as being four thousand years old.

Skiing as a sport however, is much more recent. The Norwegians started organising ski races around 1850, while in Central Europe, the sport was introduces some 20 years later.

While the modern Olympic Games started in 1896, the first Winter Olympic Games was organised in Chamonix, France in 1924 with cross-country skiing and ski-jumping as the only skiing disciplines. Alpine skiing was introduced later, in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 1936.

The International Ski Federation, FIS was founded in 1924 with 24 member nations. Today, 107 National Ski Associations comprise the membership of the largest winter sport federation.

The main skiing and snowsport disciplines are Nordic skiing which includes ski-jumping, cross-country skiing and Nordic combined, Alpine skiing which consists of the slalom, the giant-slalom, the Super-G and the downhill. Freestyle skiing comprise the aerials, moguls and the ski-cross, while Snowboarding, as the youngest of the FIS disciplines, the competitors take on the half-pipe, the snowboard-cross and the big air.