Abstract

The development in skiing was strongly related to numerous advances and achievements with respect to the equipment and teaching methods resulting in the manifold gliding activities in the snow of today. Despite this developmenl it may be surprising that publications trying to explain the (bio-)mechanical background of performing turns in skiing are scarce. Mainly this may be due to the very complex situation of skiing affected by many variable factors such as terrain, snow condition, equipment, musculo-skeletal system and motor control system. Thus still today, the theoretical knowledge of skiing is frequentiy insufficient to explain profoundly a given situation in terms of mechanics. From a very general point of view turns in skiing can be introduced by three different mechanical principles: anticipatory rotation of the body, counter movement and edging. These principles mainly have a more general and fundamental meaning for the turns in skiing marking out the general framework and they do not represent individual skiing techniques as they are usually described in ski instructor manuals. Nevertheless, the reference to these principles may contribute to a more profound mechanical basis for discussions and further scientific investigations in skiing. With respect to the modern understanding of skiing the third principle is deemed to be the most preferable way of performing turns for competitors and as well as for recreational skiers. This is because the carving technique is associated with attributes such as good to control, easy to learn and speedy in turns which are desirable goals of most of the skiers. Thus, the present paper intends to give some more insights in the mechanics of skiing turns based on the third principle. For investigating difficult and complex situations the development of appropriate models is a very useful approach. Most of the theoretical models of skiing, developed in the past, were limited to two dimensions or only focussed on the skis, respectively. On the other hand, very few approaches exist representing the comprehensive system of skier and skis. Thus, the goal of this study was the development of a comprehensive but still very simple skiing model performing turns autonomously. Aus der Einführung (erweitert)