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Skiing Freestyle – Can You Do Moguls And Aerials ?

November 16th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

Of the various forms of skiing freestyle is the latest craze. It is not really a sport for the average person but more of a spectator sport. It is a staple at such sporting events as the extreme sports X-Games but is also a recognized event at the Winter Olympics. As it’s name suggests, it is evolving as a form of skiing and as a sport. Different events are being created all the time and showcased at premium events. Although there is great skill involved in each event, it seems to be more geared towards audience participation than downhill skiing or even slalom skiing. The most common skiing freestyle are Mogul runs and aerials. This article will cover how these events work and some of the recent history of freestyle skiing.

Mogul Event

Moguls were the first skiing freestyle event to become an Olympic medal event. In mogul skiing, skiers must ski down a slope where they turn around large bumps, or moguls. There are also two jumps in the run, which they must perform a jump or trick off of. The course itself is short and steep – usually about 30 degrees and about 700-900 feet long.

Mogul skiers are judged on form, turns, and jumps, and those scores are combined with their time to get an overall score. In this type of freestyle skiing, it’s not enough to get down the mountain quickly; they have to do it with style. Mogul skiing first became an Olympic sport during the 1992 games in Albertville, where Edgar Grospiron from France won the gold medal for the men, and Donna Weinbrecht from the United States took home gold for the women.

Aerial Event

Aerials are the event that most people think of when they think of freestyle skiing. In aerials, the skier goes down and off a jump which then launches them about 40-50 feet in the air. In the air, they perform multiple twists and flips (much like a competitive diver would) then land on their skis on the hill below. The skier is then judged on three areas – takeoff, jump form, and landing.

This score is than factored in with the degree of difficulty of the jump for the final score. Currently, the top aerial skiers are performing jumps with a triple back flip with four or five twists. Aerial freestyle skiing first became an Olympic sport during the 1994 games in Lillehammer, where Andreas Schönbächler from Switzerland won the gold medal for the men, and Lina Cheryazova from Uzbekistan won the gold for the women.

New Freestyle Skiing Events

Skiing freestyle was possibly a reaction to the development of snowboarding events. Skiing was seen as more traditional and stuck in it’s ways by comparison to snowboarding so freestyle skiing was the antidote to that idea. To this extent it still takes some inspiration from snowboarding and new events seem to derive from popular snowboard events and activities. These include halfpipe, big air, slopestyle and skiercross. They are basically tricks and jumps done in a halfpipe using skis. It is a lot harder to perform these types of tricks on skis by comparison to a snowboard so a new type of ski has been developed. They are designed for taking off and landing tricks both forwards and backwards. These skiing freestyle events are popular at the X-Games, and will soon be a part of the Winter Olympics too.

The Fun Of Alpine Skiing

November 14th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

If you are a keen fan of winter sports you can’t wait for the first snows to fall in your favorite resort. Although there are many fun winter sports to try, alpine skiing is probably the one that most people start off with. Alpine skiing is another name for downhill skiing and along with snowboarding is the most popular winter participation sport. Everything in a ski resort is set up for alpine skiing or snowboarding, from the ski lifts to the number of groomed runs. Alpine skiing can also suit all levels of experience from complete beginner to advanced skier. This article will cover aspects of alpine skiing and some things to look out for.

Alpine skiing can be as tame or intense as you want. Some runs can be gentle and are small hills others are steep mountain runs which are only for advanced skiers. Most people new to alpine skiing will choose the beginner’s slopes just to get comfortable with sliding down the hill and learning how to stop. The beginners slopes are normally situated at the bottom of the mountain close to all the facilities. They allow the beginner to perfect snowplow turns, get their initial balance on skis and learn how to stop. More experienced skiers will take the ski lift or chair to the top of the mountain where they can select a run that is suitable to their level of experience. All alpine skiers agree that the sensation of skiing down a hill or mountain is quite a rush and they enjoy the adrenaline pumping through them when they do.

The Evolution of Alpine Skiing

Before the advent of the ski lift, you either had to hike up the mountain with your skis or you stuck with cross country skiing, the forerunner of the alpine version. Alpine skiing is a rather popular pastime in ski resorts and other areas with available snow covered hills and mountains. The mix of the people, topography of the land and even the texture of the snow all contribute to the overall alpine experience.

Learning To Alpine Ski

Practice definitely makes perfect when it comes to skiing downhill just as with any other type of sport. The skiing itself is simple but you must have some skiing ability in order to manipulate your skis so that you can direct yourself where you want to go as well as ski at a speed you are comfortable with. Many beginner skiers wrestle with this problem and learning these skills well enough to tackle more challenges slopes is quite a test of your abilities.

The best way to learn fast is to go for ski classes for the first week. These classes will take you through the basics of skiing. You will learn simple things like putting the skis on, storing the skis, basic safety precautions, skiing etiquette. You will also learn simple turns and controlling your speed using the snowplow method. You will learn how to stop. Eventually by the end of the week you will be thinking about parallel turns and will start to look more competent.

This is the beginning of your education. You may be more confident to go up the mountain and try some ski trails or blue runs. The more you do the more things will start to click until you can try more challenging runs. You can try moguls or terrain skiing through trees and rocks.

However you may find that having a ski class every year is a good idea. It will help you refresh your skills if you haven’t skied since last season and it is a good way to make friends and skiing buddies. If you are more advanced the ski instructor also takes you around the mountain so you get a ski guide that can show you round the mountain too.

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