how does giant slalom work

Giant slalom is a timed alpine ski race where athletes ski down a hill, weaving through widely spaced gates, and the fastest combined time over two runs wins the event.

What giant slalom is

Giant slalom (GS) sits between slalom and Super‑G in terms of speed and turn size: it has more speed and longer turns than slalom, but is more technical and turny than the speed events. It’s one of the core Olympic alpine disciplines and is considered a technical event because clean, precise carving around many gates matters as much as raw speed.

Course and gates

• The course is set on a medium‑steep slope with many direction changes from top to bottom.

• Gates come in alternating colors (typically red and blue), and a racer must pass between each pair in the correct order or be disqualified.

• In GS, gates are fewer and set farther apart than in slalom, roughly around 10 m horizontally, which forces bigger, more flowing turns and higher speeds.

• Course length and exact gate count vary by event and level, but GS always involves a long series of linked carved turns rather than straight gliding.

How a run works

1. The racer starts from a start gate using poles and explosive pushes to gain initial speed.

2. From the first few gates, they settle into a rhythm of carving turns, trying to keep their center of mass moving smoothly down the fall‑line while their skis arc around each gate.

3. They must pass correctly through every gate; missing or straddling a gate leads to a disqualification (no time recorded for that run).

4. On flatter or more open sections, they use a compact “tuck” position to reduce air drag while still setting up for the next turns.

5. The run ends when they cross the finish line timing beam, which records their time to hundredths of a second.

Timing, runs, and how you win

• In most major competitions (World Cup, Olympics, national races), each skier takes two runs on GS courses set on the same slope but usually with slightly different gate layouts.

• The times of run 1 and run 2 are added: lowest total time wins.

• If you fail to finish or are disqualified in run 1, you don’t get a run 2; if you fail run 2, you’re out of the overall ranking even if run 1 was fast.

• In high‑level events, only the top 30 from the first run usually start the second run, and they go in reverse order (30th first, 1st last) to keep the suspense high.

Technique and speed

• GS rewards smooth, carved turns: racers “stack” their body over the outside ski and face toward the next turn during transitions, so they can roll the skis cleanly from edge to edge.

• The goal is to minimize skidding; carving cleaner arcs keeps speed, but you still must bend the skis enough to make every gate.

• Speeds in GS are typically around 45–50 mph (roughly 70–80 km/h) at the top level, faster than slalom but slower than Super‑G and downhill.

• Skiers balance aggression and control: pushing too hard can cause mistakes or missed gates, while skiing too cautiously costs time.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.