Freestyle Skiing

History, Tricks And Styles

Freestyle skiing is a combination of acrobatic moves with skiing techniques. Skiers in Norway started including acrobatic stunts during their ski training during the 1930s. This was followed by professional skiers in the United States featuring freestyle skiing moves during their exhibitions. This continued to develop through the 60s and 70s. The International Ski Federation recognized freestyle skiing as a sport in 1979. World Cup and World Championship competitions started in the 80’s.

When freestyle skiing, skiers perform a wide range of tricks. Some of these freestyle skiing examples include:

The Backflip

This is whereby the skier makes a backward aerial somersault.

The Rail Slide

The Rail Slide is whereby the skiers jump and land on rails proceeding to glide smoothly upon it.

There are also others such as the Alley Oop, the 540 Tail Grab, the Twister and many more, whereby the skiers make various twists, turns, spins, flips, ski grabs and other maneuvers.

It is always recommended to learn the technical aspect of skiing first before excelling in freestyle skiing. Practice is the key as with any other sport. By getting a ski job is an excellent way in getting access to ski trails. Proceed to ski with a friend who also has an interest in improving their freestyle skiing skills.

Freestyle skiing can also be tried by children and it is often found that they learn the techniques much quicker than the adults. However, an experienced freestyle skier should also be present for supervision purposes. It is also necessary to ensure that all children are wearing the correct clothing and the appropriate fitting skis.

There are many disciplines when it comes to freestyle skiing, but the most popular are aerial skiing and mogul skiing.

Aerial Skiing

This type of skiing is whereby the skiers ski off ramps that can send them between 40 and 50 feet in the air. The skiers will then perform tricks such as flips, twists and turns before they land. The competitive aerial skiing is scored as 20% for the takeoff, 50% on the jump and 30% on the landing.

The level or degree of difficulty is taken into consideration by the judges. Those skiers that are undertaking training for aerial skiing generally perform training exercises on trampoline and diving boards.

Mogul Skiing

This type of skiing is whereby the skiers ski on bumps or moguls on ski slopes. When competing in mogul skiing, the skiers must navigate around large moguls and also complete two jumps. The mogul ski slopes are very steep which include inclines of 22 to 32 degrees and can also reach lengths of up to 900 feet.

The overall performance of the skier are taken into consideration by the judges, which constitutes 50% of the overall score. The remaining percentage is based upon the skier’s execution of jumps and turns.