Alpine Ski Youth Group of Georgia Meeting
A meeting of the Alpine Ski Youth Group of Georgia took place from the 17th to the 30th of September in Austria. Our young skiers had a lot of practice on the well-known glacier Hintertux. As you well know, skiing is very dependent on good weather conditions, and our athletes were blessed with great weather for good exercise on Hintertux.
The leader of the meeting was the four-time Olympian and former member of the Georgian Alpine Ski Group, Iason Abramashvili. He worked hard to share his experience with the young skiers, so they had the constant company of an experienced trainer and kind person to provide them with constant motivation.
Throughout the entire winter season, youth competitions among the mountaineers and skiers, split into two age groups (under 14 [U14] and under 16 [U16]) have been taking place under the aegis of the International Ski Federation (FIS). These competitions have taken place in Europe for more than half a century. The winners have tended to become well-known and successful skiers.
The ski federation was founded in Georgia soon after it won independence, and young Georgian skiers have taken part in the international competitions without interruption since the 90s. In European countries the sport of skiing is quite well-developed, being practically mandatory for students, who are taught how to ski in their physical education classes. For example, in just one of the federal states of Austria, Tyrol, there are around 100 professional youth skiers, while in all of Georgia there are fewer than 30. As Georgia is still wet behind the ears in this field, we do not yet have great successes to speak of, but we hope that this sport will become more popular in Georgia as time goes on. If so, more young people will start skiing and have the opportunity to prove themselves and achieve great success.
