The term slalom originated in a 1921 issue of the magazine for the Ski Club of Great Britain. It was adopted from the Norwegian word slalam, which referred to downhill skiing races but literally meant “sloping track”. The word is a combination of “sla”, meaning “side of a hill”, and “lam”, meaning “track”. The exact origins of these terms are unclear, but some etymologists suggest that “lam” may be linked to another Norwegian word meaning “row of houses”. Ultimately, these roots likely trace back to Old Norse, Proto-Germanic, and eventually Proto-Indo-European languages. The use of “slalom” reached its peak in the 1980s and ’90s, declining since then, although Google searches for it typically surge during each Winter Olympics. The verb form of “slalom” was first recorded in 1973, and both “slalomer” and “slalomist” are acceptable terms for someone who participates in slalom skiing.
