Slopestyle Skiing - by Anne Shier (a.k.a. "Annie")
 |
Slopestyle is a winter sporting event where the goal is to perform
the most difficult tricks while getting the highest altitude off jumps, with an
emphasis on performing different types of tricks instead of doing one great
trick repeatedly. It originated as a snowboarding competition
format, but there are now many sports that are considered to have this style of
competition, of which skiing and
snowboarding are two of the most common.
Slopestyle is one of the most popular
events at the Winter X Games. It became an Olympic event, in both skiing and snowboarding
forms, at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The
very first Olympic champions in Slopestyle Skiing were American Joss Christensen for the men and Canadian Dara Howell for
the women. The
first Olympic champions for the snowboarding Slopestyle were, both Americans,Sage Kotsenburg for the men and Jamie Anderson for the women.
Skis:
Twin-tip skis are used in slopestyle skiing and are
particularly useful if the skier lands backwards. It helps athletes land
backwards without catching their tail edges.
Terrain:
Slopestyle snowboarding/skiing is performed
on specially made trails at ski mountains. These trails, called "terrain
parks" or "jib parks", are filled with various types of jumps
and other obstacles. The goal of the snowboarder/skier is to use all of these
to their advantage while riding down. One obstacle that can be found on most
terrain parks is the jump, or "kicker." Jumps on a slopestyle course
can be as big or small as needed, but most range from 20 to 80 feet long. This
measurement is taken from the end of the face of the jump all the way to the
tip of the landing. Another common obstacle in a terrain park is a rail or
"jib". Rails come in all shapes and sizes, from long straight ones to
rainbow shaped ones. Rails must be cared for extensively, as they must be waxed
so that the skier/snow boarder does not "catch an edge" when they
land on the rail. The snowboarder/skier tries to perform tricks onto or off the
rail in combination with sliding the whole length of the rail.
Obstacles:
Similar to a rail is an obstacle called a box. Just as it sounds, a box
is literally a wooden or metal box placed on the mountain whose top is covered
with a slippery material. This allows snowboarders/skiers to ride onto the box
and slide the length of it back onto the snow. Although these are the most
popular features at a terrain park, other possible obstacles include buses
buried in the snow, barrels stuck in the snow, naturally made obstacles like
small cliffs, or rails called "joy sticks", where a sphere is mounted
on top of a pole. The goal of this obstacle is to hit the sphere with the tips
of your skis or poles while clearing it. Also, there are "table
tops", where the rail takes the form of a wide box rail or a "picnic
table". This obstacle usually has a wide base and a thinner box rail on
both sides. Trees and obstacles shaped like mail boxes are also used as rails.
There are also wall rides, which include near vertical walls on which riders
can ride up and spin.
See also:
·
X Games
External links:
 |
Look up slopestyle in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
|
·
wiki.fis-ski.com - The resource of information and
knowledge on Freestyle Skiing, Ski Jumping, FIS World Ski Championships, FIS
Leaders Seminar, FIS Ladies Seminar
·
fisfreestyle.com FIS Freestyle News, Calendar, Rules
and Results
·
www.freestyleski.com - The official site of the Canadian
Freestyle Ski Association. Your source for moguls, aerials, halfpipe and
slopestyle skiing in Canada.
·
History
of Freestyle - The
history of freestyle skiing.
·
Freestyle
Ski Disciplines -
Freestyle skiing disciplines explained.
posted by Anne Shier (a.k.a. "Annie") @ 14:38
0 Comments
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home