>>A Skier's Dictionary
>>====================
>>Condensed from "Skiing: A Skier's Dictionary"
>>Henry Bread and Roy McKie
>>
>>Alp:
>>     One of a number of ski mountains in Europe.
>>     Also a shouted request for assistance made by a European.
>>
>>Avalanche:
>>     One of the few actual perils skiers face that needlessly frighten
>>     timid individuals away from the sport.  See also: Blizzard, First
>>     Aid, Fracture, Frostbite, Hypothermia, Lift Collapse.
>>
>>Bindings:
>>     Automatic mechanisms that protect skiers from serious injury during
>>     a fall by releasing skis from boots, sending the skis skittering
>>     across the slope where they trip two other skiers.
>>
>>Bones:
>>     There are 206 in the human body.  No need for dismay, however;
>>     the two bones of the middle ear have never been broken while skiing.
>>
>>Cross-Country Skiing:
>>     Traditional Scandinavian all-terrain technique.  It's good exercise,
>>     doesn't require purchase of costly lift tickets.  It has no crowds or
>>     lines.  See also Cross-Country Something-Or-Other.
>>
>>Cross-Country Something-or-Other:
>>     Touring on skis along trails in scenic wilderness, gliding through
>>     snow-hushed woods far from the hubbub of the ski slopes, hearing
>>     nothing but the whispery hiss of the skis slipping through snow and
>>     the muffled screams of other skiers dropping into the puffy powder
>>     of a deep, wind-sculpted drift.
>>
>>Exercises:
>>     A few simple warm-ups to make sure you're prepared for the slopes:
>>        1) Tie a cinder block to each foot and climb a flight of stairs.
>>        2) Sit on the outside of a fourth-story window ledge with your
>>           skis on and your poles in your lap for at least 30 minutes.
>>        3) Bind your legs together at the ankles, lie flat on the floor;
>>           then, holding a banana in each hand, get to your feet.
>>
>>Gloves:
>>     Designed to be tight around the wrist to restrict circulation,
>>     but not so closefitting as to allow any manual dexterity; they
>>     should also admit moisture from the outside without permitting any
>>     dampness within to escape.
>>
>>Gravity:
>>    One of four fundamental forces in nature that affect skiers.
>>    The other three are the strong force, which makes bindings jam;
>>    the weak force, which makes ankles give way on turns; and
>>    electromagnetism, which produces dead batteries in expensive
>>    ski-resort parking lots.  See Inertia.
>>
>>Inertia:
>>    Tendency of a skier's body to resist changes in direction or speed
>>    due to the action of Newton's First Law of Motion.  Goes along with
>>    these other physical laws:
>>       1) Two objects of different mass falling side by side will have
>>          the same rate of descent, but the lighter one will have larger
>>          hospital and home care bills.
>>       2) Matter can neither be created nor destroyed, but if it drops
>>          out of a parka pocket, don't expect to encounter it again in
>>          our universe.
>>       3) When an irresistible force meets an immovable object (see "Tree")
>>
>>Prejump:
>>     Maneuver in which an expert skier makes a controlled jump just ahead
>>     of a bump.  Beginners can execute a controlled pre-fall just before
>>     losing their balance and, if they wish, may precede it with either
>>     a pre-scream and a few pre-groans or simple profanity.
>>
>>Shin:
>>     The bruised area on the front of the leg that runs from the point
>>     where the ache from the wrenched knee ends to where the soreness
>>     from the strained ankle begins.
>>
>>Ski!:
>>     A shout to alert people ahead that a loose ski is coming down the
>>     hill.  Another warning skiers should be familiar with is "Avalanche!"
>>     (which tells everyone that a hill is coming down the hill).
>>
>>Skier:
>>     One who pays an arm and a leg for the opportunity to break them.
>>
>>Stance:
>>     Your knees should be flexed, but shaking slightly; your arms
>>     straight and covered with a good layer of goose flesh; your hands
>>     forward, palms clammy, knuckles white and fingers icy, your eyes a
>>     little crossed and darting in all directions.  Your lips should be
>>     quivering, and you should be mumbling, "Am I nuts or what?"
>>
>>Thor:
>>     The Scandinavian god of acheth and painth.
>>
>>Traverse:
>>     To ski across a slope at an angle; one of two quick and simple
>>     methods of reducing speed.
>>
>>Tree:
>>     The other method.
>>
>>
>>				Submitted by: Bruce Guthrie @ nmaa.org
>>
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