ABSTRACT
Alpine skiing still encounters growing popularity; the increasing welfare especially in the East European countries or in Asia contributes to this development. Approximately 8 Million Germans (almost 10% of the entire population) claim to be skiers, snowboarders or cross country skiers – it is estimated that 25 to 30% of them are practicing their winter sport activity regularly. In the United States 6.4 million people (seven years or older) have at least once participated in alpine skiing in the course of the year 2005, according to the National Sporting Goods Association). According to the World Trade Organization a total of 64 million people worldwide claim to be alpine skiers.
