If you've been on a ski holiday in Les Contamines last week or in Flaine this week, you might have noticed large numbers of cat-suited racers skiing around - and generally a bit of a buzz about town as the TV crews rolled in.
Both resorts have just played host to the latest stages of the Skier Cross World Cup - the newest Olympic discipline, which comes under the umbrella of freestyle skiing. Four skiers are let out of the gates simultaneously onto a course of high speed jumps, banked turns, and other assorted obstacles.
Since 5th January, until Sunday, 19th January, the first four Freestyle FIS World Cup ski cross events are being held in three nations on two continents. Over half of the points in the ski cross World Cup are up for grabs in early January. These competitions will also be used to qualify for the 2009 Inawashiro FIS Freestyle World Championships and also as part of the qualification for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. In 2010, this exciting and risky sports discipline will for the first time be an Olympic discipline at the Winter Games in Vancouver.
If you're in a resort where you can see one of these events it's definitely worth taking some time out to see the racers come down and feel the adrenaline rush - the courses require both technical and tactical skiing, and this relatively new discipline has attracted some big names from other areas of the sport - such as Daron Rahlves, former World Cup downhill champion, who has competed in three Winter Olympics.
The competition now moves to North America, with events in Lake Placid, USA, and Cypress in Canada. It returns to Europe in February. For the full calendar take a look at the FIS site.
