EXPLAINER: ‘Grip,’ ‘chatter,’ other Olympic ski racing lingo

By HOWARD FENDRICH
AP National Writer

BEIJING (AP) — As in many sports, and plenty of other fields, Alpine skiing has a lingua franca — those are the words and phrases that allow folks from various places to communicate in a shared language. This helps Olympic ski racers better understand the conditions they are competing under. For example, ‘grippy’ is used to describe snow that really grabs at your edges. That makes it easier for them to make the turns they want. The expressions come from English but they are used by racers and coaches from all over the world. More than 80 countries are represented in Alpine skiing at the Beijing Games.