Words for Winter Sports in Spanish

Most Spanish-speaking countries arent known for the winter sports, even though some of the worlds best skiing, even if less developed than elsewhere, can be found in some of them. As a result, many of the Spanish words for winter sports have been imported, so if youre ever skiing in the Andes of South America or in the Pyrenees of Spain, dont be surprised to hear statements or phrases like hacemos snowboard and el halfpipe. Such linguistic adaptations shouldnt be surprising. After all, English words such as ski and slalom come from Norwegian. Importing from other languages is one of the most common ways for a languages to grow, and Spanish is no exception. Pronunciation of imported words generally more or less follows that of the originating language with some variations. For example, the h of hockey may not be silent, and the word may end up sounding something like the English hokey. Here are the Spanish words for some of the most common winter and snow sports such as those you would find at the Winter Olympics: biathlon — biatlà ³n bobsleigh — bobsleigh cross-country skiing — esquà ­ de fondo, esquà ­ nà ³rdico curling — curling downhill skiing — esquà ­ alpino figure skating — patinaje artà ­stico (sobre hielo) (a skate is un patà ­n)hockey — hockey (sobre hielo) luge — luge short-track skating — patinaje en pista corta, patinaje short-track skeleton — skeleton, esquà ©leton skiing — esquiar (a ski is un esquà ­)ski jump — salto de esquà ­ slalom — eslalon snowboarding — snowboard, surfear en nieve, surf blanco (a snowboard is un snowboard, una plancha para nieve or una tabla para nieve)speed skating — patinaje de velà ³cidad (sobre hielo)