The Four Hills Tournament has been held since 1953. It takes place on the hills in Germany (Oberstdorf, Garmisch-Partenkirchen) and Austria (Innsbruck, Bischofshofen). The winner is the athlete who has scored the most points in all four competitions combined. ¹⁾

Telemark is a technique used when descending with a cross-country (free-foot) binding. It consists of turning by kneeling on one leg. This technique was popularized by Norwegian Sondre Norheim, who demonstrated it in 1868 during a ski jumping competition. It dominated skiing shortly thereafter - and was very popular until the 1910s when downhill techniques using ski bindings with rigid feet began to spread in Alpine countries. ²⁾

The most successful alpine skier in Olympic history is Norway's Kjetil André Aamodt. Between 1992 and 2006 he won eight medals - four gold, two silver, and two bronze. He remains the only alpinist to have four Olympic championship titles to his credit. Alberto Tomba, Toni Sailer, and Jean-Claude Killy each won three gold medals. ³⁾

Alpine skiing is a downhill competition. Meanwhile, Finland is flat (except for small mountains in the far north), so there are no suitable training conditions. Finland's entire Olympic record in alpine skiing is just one silver medal in the giant slalom. It was won by Tanja Poutiainen in 2006. ⁴⁾

Although Australia is primarily associated with desert climates, there are several well-developed ski resorts in the mountains of New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania. These are within the weekend getaways of many Australians. Residents of Canberra are only a two-hour drive to the ski resorts of New South Wales, while the Mount Baw Baw resort is only 120 km from Melbourne. ⁵⁾