Freestyle skiing. Don’t try this at home!

"Winning isn't everything, but wanting to win is."

- Vince Lombardi
Freestyle skiing began as something to do while in training camp years ago. Back in the 1930s a group of Norwegian skiers were in training for the Olympic games. Members tried doing acrobatics while alpine skiing. Eventually non-competitors began to give exhibitions in the US and this led to the sport of Freestyle skiing as it is called today.

The aerial skiing part was tried and perfected by stein Eriksen, an Olympic gold medalist.

Through the 1960s and 1970s more people got into it. It was known as “hot dogging” as it was mostly done as fun. It was a fairly dangerous practice and resulted in a lot of head, neck, back and leg injuries. When the push to get it recognized as a potential Olympic sport, many were against it.

In 1979 the International Ski Federation recognized the sport and brought in a slate of regulations and jump techniques in an effort to curb the injuries, making it less dangerous. The first World Cup competitions were held in 1986 in Tinges, France. During the 1988 Winter Olympics held in Calgary Freestyle skiing was introduced as a demonstration sport. Four years late Mogul skiing was added to the Olympic program of the Albertville Games in France and in 1994 the Lillehammer Games was the introductory stage for Aerial skiing.

In the early 1990s skiers took their sport to the snowboard parks. Salomon ski company redesigned the skis used for freestyle and created skis with front and back tips to allow skiers to ski either forward or backward.

By 2006 there are two main branches of freestyle skiing. The Olympic version comprised of mogul and aerial, and the newer form sometimes referred to as the new school, consisting of half pipe, slope style and the skier cross. A great many skiers are learning this sport and it probably will be included in the Olympic games in the not too distant future.

Aerial skiing

There are two types of aerial skiing: upright and inverted. Upright aerial movements when a skiers feet get higher than his or her head are considered illegal. This is the most common. Inverted aerials see the skiers performing complete flips and summersaults.

Scoring

Aerial skiing competitions are judged similar in a way to ski jumping. Points are awarded for the jump takeoff, form and landings.

Training

For all of the events check out these Olympic sports.