Freestyle skiing - Tricks of the trade
The snowsport of freestyle skiing dates back to the 1930s when Norwegian skiers began to perform tricks and acrobatics during their cross-country training. By 1979 it was recognised by the International Ski Federation and by 1988 it was an event at the Calgary Winter Olympics. Aerial skiing is a freestyle technique that involves skiing off jumps, 40 or 50 feet into the air and then performing twists and flips before landing on a steeply inclined landing. The other traditional type of freestyle skiing is called mogul skiing where skiers perform turns around large bumps and then perform jumps. More contemporary events have been added to the list of jumps and techniques including halfpipe, slopestyle and skiercross.
Freestyle skiing - Skills and equipment for Freestyle skiing
Freestyle skiing involves the ability and expertise of an athelete, in fact freestyle skiers use many of the same moves used by gymnasts. Freestyle aerialists often use trampolines in order to practice a variety of tricks and flips and perfect their techniques. Freestyle ski jumps are perfected by skiing down specially designed ramps into large pools of water. Another freestyle skiing technique is known as freestyle ballet and involves the use of skis to dance to music, much like a gymnast’s dance routine. The equipment used in freestyle skiing is much the same as normal skiing although some skiers use snowblades that are very small skis, and twin tip skis are sometimes used to allow superior jumping techniques.
Freestyle skiing - Specifically designed freestyle skiing parks
Freestyle skiing, along with snowboarding has become extremely popular and many ski resorts are developing areas and parks specifically for this sport. In Europe, Snowparks such as Les Arcs Apocalypse Snowpark have full time designers employed in order to create exciting new jumps and ramps. In the US, Mammoth Mountain in California has its own professional team using three unbound parks.
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