Gate for ski sports with indicator means for indicating the position of its panel

Abstract

A gate for ski sports indicates and traces the path to be followed by a skier on a ski slope and has two poles to be driven into the snow pack and a panel joining the poles at their upper portions. An indicator associated with the poles indicates a predetermined height of the panel relative to the snow pack thereby allowing correct height-positioning of the panel. The indicator may be a white or colored band, text, a band combined with text, or other forms and be at various locations to indicate the predetermined height of the top and bottom edges or both edges of the panel. This facilitates easy and correct height-positioning of the panel particularly according to applicable regulations and standards, to thereby considerably reduce the risk of dangerous and disastrous collisions of the skier against the gate.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A gate for ski sports, for tracing the path to be followed by a skier in a ski slope, particularly in giant, super-G or downhill competitions, comprising:
 two poles which are designed to be driven into the snow pack of the ski slope; and   a panel which joins the two poles at their upper portions, and   indicator means, associated with at least one of said poles,   wherein said indicator means are designed to indicate a predetermined height of said panel relative to the snow pack of the ski slope, and to thereby facilitate and allow correct height-positioning of the panel of the gate, particularly according to applicable regulations, when the gate is anchored in the snow pack.   
     
     
         2 . The ski gate as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said indicator means are provided at different locations along the axial extent of the two poles of the gate, particularly to indicate the correct height position of the top edge of the panel and/or the bottom edge of the panel relative to the snow pack. 
     
     
         3 . The ski gate as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said indicator means can be provided in various forms along the axial extent of the two poles and particularly in the form of a simple white or colored strip or band, text, or a band combined with text. 
     
     
         4 . The ski gate as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said indicator means can be formed using various technologies and methods along the axial extent of the two poles and particularly by silk-screen printing, adhesive application, direct engraving of text on the tube that forms the pole, or the like. 
     
     
         5 . The ski gate as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising indicator means associated with the bottom tips of the two poles of the gate, for indicating the plunging depth at which the two poles must be driven into the snow pack. 
     
     
         6 . The ski gate as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein both the panel and the two poles comply with the applicable standards and regulations, and particularly the panel has a rectangular shape with a height of 50 cm and a base of 70 cm, and the two poles have an above-snow height of 180 cm. 
     
     
         7 . A method for tracing the path to be followed by a skier in a ski slope, particularly in giant, super-G or downhill competitions, the method comprising using the gate for ski sports according to  claim 1 .