Freestyle Skiing Forms

Freestyle skiing goes back to the 1930's when Norwegian skiers began to incorporate acrobatic stunts into non-competitive skiing. In the 1960's and 70's, it was called "hot dogging," and was considered dangerous, foolish and undisciplined (like a lot of other things during that time). There weren't any rules, and it was dangerous - a lot of hot doggers wound up with knee injuries.

In 1979, however, freestyle skiing became mainstream when the International Ski Federation decided it was a legitimate sport and developed rules, regulations and certifications for competition.

Today, there are two main types of freestyle skiing: traditional and new school.

Traditional Freestyle Skiing

Involves moguls and aerials. Mogul skiing involves skiing down a very sharp incline, avoiding a series of moguls, and including two jumps. Aerials are acrobatics - flips, twists and turns - performed in the air off of a ski jump.

New School Freestyle Skiing

Is more daring and innovative than traditional freestyle skiing. Some ski parks have special areas for new school skiing called terrain parks, which have rails, half-pipes, quarter-pipes and other special terrains for performing tricks and jumps. Skiers wear twin-tipped skis, which were specifically developed to allow the forward and backward motion, twists and turns, that are unique to new school.

Urban skiing is a special form of new school freestyle skiing that uses the urban landscape as skiing terrain. Skiers utilize handrails, walls, buildings and steps to ski upon in imaginative ways.

In the 70's, hot dogging had a subculture with its own language, equipment and community. Today, new school has a similar subculture. There will always be hot doggers, people who push the envelope and develop new ways to enjoy freestyle skiing.