Free skiing

Free skiing

Free skiing, also known as "big mountain skiing" or “Extreme skiing” involves skiing down steep, forbidding slopes that offer at least 45-degree descents. The run is often a "make it up as you go" course of previously untouched powder. Skiers must make lightning-fast decisions throughout the run, lest they careen into a tree, a rock or off the side of the mountain itself (unless they're actually trying to ski off the side of the mountain, that is).

The slopes used for extreme skiing are sometimes not fit for climbing, let alone skiing. The first issue can be solved with helicopters, but extreme skiers embrace a belief that nearly every snow-covered landform is ski-able, and when they reach a portion that isn't, they just catch serious air and try to land on something that is.

The term “Free skiing" for many people indicates any adrenaline-pumping form of skiing. It should be noted that the term, when used exactly, refers specifically to steep-hill skiing. However, as the practitioners of that sport have themselves taken on newer and bigger challenges (such as using wing suits or airfoils to catch superhuman air at ridiculous speeds), they have expanded the generic meaning of extreme skiing without breaking it, because the evolving hybrid forms still often contain the steep-slope element.

History

Before skis were used for fun and leisure, the ski was used for work and transportation. The oldest known version is a wide, short ski found in Sweden that has been shown to be over 4500 years old, and cave and rock drawings suggest that skis were used even long before then. These first skis may have been used by a hunter or a traveler, as they were commonly used during the long winters in Northern Russia and the Scandinavian countries. Early skis were not made for speed, but to designed to keep a traveler on top of the snow as they went about their business.

The people from the Telemarked area of Norway have been largely credited with developing skiing into a sport, somewhere in the early 1700's. They invented the Telemarked and the Christiana (now known as the Christie) turns as methods of artfully controlling speeds on downhill descents. They were also quite fond of jumping. Thus, disciplines in both alpine and Nordic skiing owe their existence to these early pioneers.

In the 1990s freestyle skiers, discouraged by restrictive laws placed on the sport by the International Ski Federation (FIS), began trying their tricks in what were at the time snowboard-only terrain parks. Early new school skiers were very aware of the developing style and attitude of snowboarding, and adopted these for their own sport. The New school Skier is related more to the snowboarder in his/her style than to the traditional skier's style.

The FIS freestyle skiing events were governed by restrictive rules that were unpopular in the growing ski community, and slowed down the progression of the sport. Such rules included a ban on inverted tricks in mogul runs, a limit on the number of flips in aerial competitions, and a lack of ski park or pipe competitions. The "New school" movement was a breakaway faction of the free skiers who were unhappy with the FIS

The breakaway faction was led by the New Canadian Air Force, which included the "Godfather of free skiing", Mike Douglas, and others such as JF Cusson, Vincent Dorion, JP Auclair and Shane Szocs. Also contributing significantly in these early days were Julien Regnier and "the Three Phils", namely, Phil Larose, Phil Belanger and Phil Dion, all of whom were teammates at Dynastar. After helping Salomon develop their first twin-tip ski, the "1080", the New Canadian Air Force began jumping and filming in traditionally snowboarder dominated terrain parks.

In recent years, many ski resorts have introduced terrain parks where skiers and snowboarders can attempt tricks. These parks include many features like rails, boxes, jumps, hips, quarter pipes, and half pipes. It is now quite common for 'New school' skiers to use urban features in towns and cities to perform tricks also done in the snow park. A popular choice of equipment for this terrain is the twin-tip ski. Twin-tip skis come in all shapes and sizes, and were originally made specifically for new school skiing. The varieties of twin-tip skis are now more versatile, being marketed towards skiers of all styles and abilities. Twin-tip skis are turned up at both ends to allow for both regular (forwards) and switch (backwards) skiing.

In 2007, the formation of the Association of Free skiing Professionals (AFP), created a unified global tour of competitions and ranking system for free skiing athletes. Created as a unified voice for the athletes, the AFP organized free skiing competitions in slope style, ski half pipe and big air disciplines under consistent guidelines of AFP sanctioned judging and format standards. This calendar of AFP sanctioned competitions and the AFP rankings serve as a roadmap for emerging talent in the sport, event organizers, coaches, nations, and the general public in regard to the sport of free skiing. Since 2008 the AFP has named World Champions in each discipline for men and women. The Overall World Championship is awarded each year to the best combined ranking in all disciplines (excluding big air for women). In 2012 the AFP changed the name of the Overall World Championship trophy to the Sarah Burke Trophy in honor of the fallen women's skiing pioneer Sarah Burke who died in a 2012 skiing accident in Utah.

On April 6, 2011, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced the addition of the men's and women's ski half pipe and slope style events to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Olympic status for ski half pipe is expected to have a direct impact on the training, funding, and resources available to athletes. In January 2011, the United States Ski and Snowboard Association launched U.S. Free skiing in partnership with The North Face, which would presumably supply Olympic uniforms.

Terrain

Backcountry

Any skiing outside the prepared or marked trails is referred to as backcountry or off-piste skiing. This form of skiing is probably the most mortally dangerous (depending on where and how you do it) because of the high speeds, large drops (sometimes with hidden rocks in the landing), and avalanches. This type of skiing has been banned in certain areas.

Park

Park is skiing on man-made features provided by the ski area such as jumps, rails, boxes, and half pipes. According to Free skier’s 2010 Travel Guide the top resorts in North America for park are Breckenridge, Mammoth, Aspen/Snowmass, Park City, Poley Mountain, Whistler Blackcomb, Alivia, and Mount Snow

Urban

Urban skiing consists of sliding or grinding your skis on rails, ledges, etc. outside of ski resorts/areas. Urban has much more of a risk factor than Regular Park skiing due to harder terrain. You can spot urban features in such ski movies as Level 1's "Eye Trip" and Poor Boyz Production's "Revolver."

Equipment

Free skiing requires at least three pieces of gear.

1. Skis,
2. Ski Boots,
3. Ski Bindings.
4. In addition to this, many skiers choose to use
5. Poles,
6. Goggles,
7. Ski clothing,
8. Safety gear- Helmets and Avalanche gear.

 Tips

• Gravity
• Balance
• Dress Code

Sunglasses for the sun, goggles for the shade.

Have a thermal layer next to your skin.

Use layers of clothes, not big jumpers - it keeps you much warmer.

Only wear one pair of socks - more will actually make your feet colder.

Make sure your outside layer is waterproof - especially your bottom half.

• Protect your skin
• Color coding

All pistes are given a color code which reflects their difficulty! Green slopes are the easiest, then blue, red and blacks are the most difficult. Ski with care and don't dive in the deep end first thing in the morning or late afternoon!

Some top ski brands.

1. K2
2. Rossignol
3. Line
4. Fischer
5. Volkl
6. Salomon
7. Dynastar
8. Lib Tech
9. Armada
10. Icelantic

Types of skis

Powder Skis

Powder skis, also called big-mountain or back country skis, have a wide waist width, making them ideal for places with heavy powder. That extra surface area helps skiers to float above premium powder. However, they can be difficult to use on slopes with less snow or groomed trails, especially for beginning to moderate skiers. More experienced skiers—and those with some extra cash—sometimes buy powder skis as an alternate pair, to be used when conditions warrant it. True back country skis have a waist width of 90 to 110 millimeters, while powder skis are easily the widest type of ski, measuring from 110 to 140 millimeters.

All Mountain Skis

Most Alpine skis fall into this category. Because the majority of skiers don't have the luxury of lugging around several sets of skis to match that day's conditions, All-Mountain skis are designed to perform in all types of snow conditions and at most speeds. Narrower All-Mountain skis are better for groomed runs, while wider styles handle better in powder and cruddy conditions. Other names for this style of ski include Mid-Fat skis, All-Purpose skis, and the One-ski Quiver.

Park Ski Park skis are often designed with a more symmetrical shape to make switch (backwards) skiing much easier and reinforced edges to withstand rails. Eric Pollard designed the first two symmetrical skis, the Anthem and the Invader, although he was not given much credit because the Invader was of poor build quality. Pollard now has his own pro model skis from Line skis called the EP Pro (Mr. Pollard's Opus - 2012), The Elizabeth and The Sir Francis Bacon. Some new powder and all-mountain skis are created with 'reverse camber' (aka 'rocker') meaning that the tips and tails are bent up slightly to make powder landings easier.

Types of Extreme Skiing

In the beginning, any steep downhill skiing was extreme skiing. Since then, extreme skiing has mutated from its origins as a steep-slope run into a variety of hair-raising winter adventures:

Heli skiing began with Canadian skiers in British Columbia, who started using airplanes and helicopters in their ascents, allowing them to make run after run without trudging up remote mountains. After all, you can't have the back country, mountainside run of your life if you can't get to the top of the mountain.

Ski jumping is an Olympic sport, and prominently features two elements extreme skiers and spectators alike love: raw speed and big air. Skiers may reach speeds of 60 mph (97 kph) and can travel the length of a football field before landing. While ski jumping and extreme skiing are different sports, extreme skiers sometimes perform big jumps in the middle or end of a run and use aerodynamic techniques associated with ski jumping.

Freestyle skiers perform aerial stunts and tricks anywhere there's something to ski off of, but in competition, this takes place in downhill mogul runs or on half-pipes. Extreme skiers find and make opportunities to perform long jumps, high-altitude drops, extreme vertical drops, or stunts that consist of some variety of freestyle spins, flips, and ski- or board-grabs as they careen down mountain slopes at highway speeds.

Snow kiting involves skiing while harnessed to a large sail or kite that pulls the skier across (or above) the terrain, enabling the snow kiter to catch massive air. Snow kites allow skiers to ski down dangerous mountainsides, taking flight when necessary to sail over rocky terrain (or directly into it).

Ski-BASE jumping is an offshoot of BASE (Building, Antenna, Span, and Earth) jumping, in which enthusiasts ski off cliffs at speeds of up to 50 mph (80 kph), detach their skis and deploy a low-altitude parachute. Ski-BASE jumping has even spread from snowy cliffs to Las Vegas casino roofs and other decidedly no mountainous locales, where skiers ski off ramps and parachute down to pavement.

Ski gliding (or "ski flying") involves skiing off a cliff while strapped to a hang-glider, and it's exactly as crazy as it sounds.

Tricks

Rail Tricks

Spin on

When a skier spins around before landing on a rail, generally done in increments of 180 degrees starting at 270 (e.g. 270,450 630). When performed, spin on tricks are called in the following fashion: spin amount (can be full name or abbreviated) + on. For example, 450-on, and 4-on are both proper ways to call a trick.

Spin out

When a skier spins at the end of a rail, generally done increments of 180 degrees starting at 270 (e.g. 270, 450, 630). When performed, spin on tricks are called in the following fashion: spin amount (can be full name or abbreviated) + on. For example, 450-out, and 4-out are both proper ways to call a trick.

Switch-up

While sliding a rail the skier jumps and turns 180 degrees so they end up sliding the rail in the opposite direction. Also called 'swap'. Swaps can be done 'front side' or 'backside/blindside'. As well, skiers can switch-up more than 180 degrees; for example, a '360-switch-up'/'3-swap' involves the skier jumping on a rail feature, spinning 360 degrees, and landing again on the rail.

K-Fed

A front switch-up blind 270 out. Higher increments of spin are called "Super-Fed", "Super-Duper-Fed", "Future-Fed" and "Super-Future Fed" for spins of 450, 630, 810, and 990 out, respectively.

Britney

A blind switch-up front 270 out.

Disaster

Gap over one kink on a kinked rail.

50/50

Both skis on the rail feature, parallel to the feature.

Jump Tricks

Spin

The most basic of jump tricks; a skier spins upright while airborne in increments of 180 degrees. Often abbreviated as just the first number for spins below 1000 degrees and the first two numbers for spins above 1000 degrees (e.g. two full spins, or 720 degrees of rotation is abbreviated to '7' while a 1080 is abbreviated to '10').

Rodeo

An off-axis flip thrown backwards with a spin (most commonly 540 - 'Rodeo 5').

Misty

An off-axis flip thrown forwards with a spin (most commonly 540 - 'Misty 5').

Lincoln Loop

A flip thrown directly towards the shoulder. It is essentially a cartwheel in the air.

Flat Spin

An off-axis flip that is thrown over the shoulder. It is in-between a backflip and a Lincoln loop.

Cork

Backwards thrown off-axis spin, at no point should the feet be over the head.

D-Spin

Backwards thrown off-axis spin, similar to a cork except the feet will be more at-level with head, or even slightly above.

Bio

Forwards thrown off-axis spin, at no point should the feet be over the head.

Slang

Steeze

Used to say something such as a skiers style, or a particular trick, was visually appealing or 'steezy'. 'Steeze' is a portmanteau of 'style' and 'ease'. Example: 'Man, that flip you did was steezy'; or, 'you have killer steeze'.

Spin-to-Win

A common complaint in the ski community when a competition is won by performing more difficult tricks - or those with greater amounts of rotation, with less emphasis on style or perfection.

Sandbag

The act of participating in an event where one's skill far exceeds that of the intended group. A professional competing in an amateur competition would be said to be 'sandbagging' the competition.

Solid Seven

A derogatory term used to say something was visually appealing.

"Can you tell me how to get to chad's gap?"

A phrase used by new school skiers to identify each other on or off the ski hill.

Gaper

A term used for inexperienced skiers with little knowledge of ski etiquette or culture; often enough, a gaper will have expensive equipment or a look modelled after a pro, but will be very poor at the sport.

Cool Story Hansel

A largely antiquated term used by newschoolers to inform another skier that they don't really care what they have to say.

Stomped

An effortless looking and balanced landing.

Train

Two or more skiers hitting a single jump at or near the same time so that at least two people are airborne at the same time.

Hucked

Someone doing a trick on a smaller jump than is usual for the trick ("He hucked a 1080 on that tiny jump") OR someone attempting a trick with a large amount of uncertainty success ('She had never tried a rodeo before; but, she just hucked it').

Future Spin

A spin trick where the skier spins so much that the number of degrees spun exceeds the numerical value of the current year. To successfully land a future spin at this day in age, a skier would have to spin 2014 degrees or more (closest rotation would be 2160 degrees).

After bang

Landing an outrageous trick and acting as if it took little effort; 'leaned back and relaxed'.


World Rankings

Women

1. Devin Logan
2. Jamie Crane-Mauzy
3. Annalisa Drew
4. Julia Krass
5. Isabel Atkin
6. Keri Herman
7. Maddie Bowman
8. Kaya Turski
9. Katrien Aerts
10. Jeanee Crane-Mauzy

Men

1. Gus Kenworthy.
2. Lyman Currier.
3.  Jossi Wells.
4. Beau-James Wells.
5. Aaron Blunck.
6. Joss Christensen.
7. Alex Beaulieu-Marchand.
8. Russ Henshaw.
9. Vincent Gagnier.
10. Alex Schlopy.