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Night skiing  Night skiing is the sport of skiing or snowboarding after sundown, offered at many ski areas. There are floodlights – with metal halide, LED or magnetic induction lamps – along the piste which allow for better visibility.[1] The night skiing session typically begins around sunset, and ends between 8:00 PM and 10:30 PM.[2] Night skiing offers reduced price access versus daylight hours. Trails at night are normally not as busy as during the day,[3] but there are usually fewer runs available.[4] The trails also tend to be icier than during the day, due to melting and refreezing. Starting in 1997 Planai in Austria has held a World Cup slalom competition at night.[5] A few ski resorts offer opportunities for night skiing wearing personal headlamps,[6] or by the light of the full moon.[7] HistoryProcessions of skiers holding torches, lanterns or flares while skiing down a slope at night has been a scheduled event of winter festivals such as the Nordic Games since at least 1903.[8] The dramatic spectacle of torchlight ski descents is a program element at the Holmenkollen Ski Festival,[9] and ski resort holiday celebrations.[10] A torchlit ski race was held in Switzerland in 1920.[11] In the 1925 Winter Carnival at Rumford, Maine, night ski jumping was included.[12] Chicopee Ski Club in Ontario Canada had lighted night skiing in 1935, with lights powered by car batteries.[13] Lighted slope skiing at Bousquet Ski Area in Pittsfield, Massachusetts began in 1936 thanks to a local partnership with General Electric.[14][15] Other early lighted slopes include Fryeburg, Maine (1936),[16] North Creek, New York (1937),[17] Rossland, British Columbia (1937),[18] Jackson, New Hampshire (1937),[19] Hyak, Washington (1938),[20] Juneau, Alaska (1938),[21] Lake Placid, New York (1938)[22] and Brattleboro, Vermont (1938). [23] References
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