So I’m watching Ski Sunday and the giant slalom, what I don’t get is why there are poles down the course that have nothing to do with the course/ gates they have to ski.

They do have something to do with the course they have to ski. The gates they have to go through are made up of alternate blue and red poles, sometimes set horizontally across the slope, and sometimes vertically. They have to pas between each pair, taking the shortest line, so sometimes it appears that the outermost pole isn’t part of the course.
Edit: I used to be a ski instructor and set slalom courses on dry ski slopes 🙂

GS is a matching pair of poles, the colours alternate but are the same per gate. So you go through a pair of reds then a pair of blues etc. The outside pole of the pair is often incidental so the colours you turn around alternate.

Each gate is a double so 4 poles per gate!

It’s been like that since they relaxed the immigration restrictions

If you were watching Ski Sunday just now it was Slalom

Mrs FD just asked how you find your way down, its really easy once you are used to it. Looking at a course even now 20 years after competing I can instantly see where you need to go.