Steve Gann
Sandra 12010 Winter Olympics Guide: Freestyle Skiing
February 11th 2010 04:45
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2010 Winter Olympics Guide: Freestyle Skiing
Freestyle skiing or what used to be called "hotdogging" first became popular in California in the 1960s. Traditionally this type of skiing is generally broken down into two subdivisions, mogul and aerial. With the success of ESPN's Winter X games however, a new type of freestyle skiing has become the favored spectator brand. This "new school" approach includes terms like "halfpipe", big air, and slopestyle. Unlike other Olympic skiing events, Americans have not only been competitive but have dominated the medal stand.
Freestyle skiing was a demo sport only in the 1988 games with the mogul brand added in 1992 and the aerials in 1994. There will be six medal events this year with events starting on February 13th and concluding on the 25th.
History:
Freestyle skiing began in the 1930s, when Norwegian skiers began performing acrobatics during alpine and cross-country training. Later, non-competitive professional skiing exhibitions in the United States featured performances of what would later be called freestyle. Aerial skiing was developed in about 1950 by Olympic gold medalist Stein Eriksen.
Organized freestyle skiing started in the mogul fields, the bumpy natural terrain that allowed skiers to show off with tricks, jumps and incredible turning abilities - freestyle mogul skiers were "hot-doggers" in the day. In 1971 Heavenly Valley, CA hosted a small mogul competition on the legendary Gunbarrel, one of the most challenging mogul runs in the country. As the sport quickly evolved, hot-shot mogul skiers like John Clendenin, Scott Brooksbank, Bill O'Leary and "Airborne" Eddie Ferguson gave rise to the sport and in 1975, Heavenly hosted the first U.S. Freestyle Championships which John Clendenin went on to win. That year, gave way to two competing freestyle organizations, Professional Freestyle Associates (PFA) run by Curtis Oberhansly and the International Freestyle Skiers Association (IFSA) run by Bernie Weichsel. Under PFA and IFSA, the world's best freestyle skiers competed for prize money in three disciplines - moguls, aerials and ballet in competitions in the United States, Canada and Europe.
In 1976 Snowbird, UT hosted the World Freestyle Championships, and ABC Wide World of Sports televised event. The event to date, attracted the most spectators in the sport's short history. It also represented a turning point, as young talent emerged from around the world, the likes of Ferguson, Clendenin and Wayne Wong, had given way to an new field of talent like "Little" Jack Taylor, Peter Johnson in Moguls, Eddie Lincoln and Frank Bare in Aerials and Scott Willingham and Mark Stigemeyer in Ballet. And women's freestyle was now a full fledged sport with pioneers like Gina Fuller, Karen Huntoon, Mariane and Ellen Post and Penny Street redefining the sport for women.
The International Ski Federation (ISF) recognized freestyle as a sport in 1979 and brought in new regulations regarding certification of athletes and jump techniques in an effort to curb the dangerous elements of the competitions. The first World Cup series was staged in 1980 and the first World Championships took place in 1986 in Tignes, France. Freestyle skiing was a demonstration event at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. Mogul skiing was added as an official medal event at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, and the aerials event was added for the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer.
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