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From Wikipedia

The downhill is an alpine skiing discipline. The rules for the downhill were originally developed by Sir Arnold Lunn for the 1921 British National Ski Championships.

"Downhill skiing" is also commonly a term synonymous with "alpine skiing" to denote the sport and recreational activity of alpine skiing in general.

More generally, the term may be used in any sport involving the speedy descent of a hillside. Examples include snowboarding, mountain biking, different skateboarding variants, such as street luge and longboarding, freebording and mountain boarding and even municycling.

The "downhill" discipline involves the highest speeds and therefore the greatest risks of all the alpine events. Racers on a typical international-level course will exceed speeds of 130 kilometers per hour (80 mph) and some courses, such as the famous Hahnenkamm course in Kitzb�hel, Austria, speeds of up to 150 kilometers per hour (93 mph) in certain sections are expected. Competing in the downhill event requires of racers considerable strength and technical expertise.

A typical downhill course begins at or near the top of the mountain on a piste that is closed off to the public and groomed specially for the race. Water or salt are often spread throughout the course to insure that it gets icy, which inhibits dangerous rutting of the course, but also increases speed. Gates (which are always the same color) downhill, in contrast to the other alpine skiing disciplines) are spaced great distances apart, but not out of sight from each other. The courses in the world's most famous ski areas are well-established and do not change much from year to year.

The course is designed to challenge the best skiers in a variety of tasks: skiing at high speeds over ice, through challenging turns, extreme steeps, flats, and large airs(jumps). A good course will have all these elements in it, as well as some jumps intended to complicate matters and thrill both the racer and the spectators.