Alpine skiing is one of the most popular leisure time winter sporting activities. Skiing imposes high requirements concerning physical fitness, particularly regarding balance abilities. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the changes in balance performance of recreational skiers after a seven-day ski camp. A total of 78 students - 24 women and 54 men - participated in the study. Th...

Alpine ski racing is known to be a sport with a high risk of injuries. Because most studies have focused mainly on top-level athletes and on traumatic injuries, limited research exists about injury risk factors among youth ski racers. The aim of this study was to determine the intrinsic risk factors (anthropometrics, biological maturity, physical fitness, racing technique) for injury among yout...

BACKGROUND The reported prevalence of exercise induced asthma (EIA) in elite winter athletes ranges from 9% to 50%. Many elite winter athletes do not report symptoms of EIA. At present there is no gold standard test for EIA. OBJECTIVE To establish the efficacy of screening for EIA and examine the role of the eucapnic voluntary hyperventilation (EVH) challenge and laboratory based and sport sp...

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia. The prevalence increases with increasing age. In middle-aged men, endurance sport practice is associated with increased risk of AF but there are few studies among elderly people. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of long-term endurance sport practice as a risk factor for AF in elderly men. A cross-sectional study co...

Cross-country (XC) skiing has been an Olympic event since the first Winter Games in Chamonix, France, in 1924. Due to more effective training and tremendous improvements in equipment and track preparation, the speed of Olympic XC-ski races has increased more than that of any other Olympic endurance sport. Moreover, pursuit, mass-start, and sprint races have been introduced. Indeed, 10 of the 12...

The 35-year-old Minnesota woman’s winter vacation in the neighboring state of Wisconsin was going great, until her ski snapped and the accident happened. Breaking several bones, suffering internal bleeding, and rendered unconscious, the woman needed immediate and acute medical attention the second she was wheeled into a nearby hospital. What the physicians there didn’t know was this woman had a...

Skiing is an increasingly popular sport amongst both adults and children. Opportunities for skiing within the United Kingdom are limited, but the introduction of increasing numbers of dry ski slopes has made the sport more available. The nature of injuries sustained by adults on snow and dry slopes is well documented, but this is less true of childhood injury, especially on dry slopes. A consec...

The condition of chronic instability of the MP (metacarpophalangeal) joint of the thumb, may be the resultant of chronic strain of the ulnar collateral ligament of the MP joint. This condition was described in Scottish gamekeepers who used to kill hunted animals by a special manoeuvre subjecting the thumb to extension abduction force, and was termed "Gamekeeper's Thumb" (Campbell, 1955). Nowada...