Freeskiing or Newschool skiing

Skiing

Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....

 involves tricks, jumps, and terrain park

Terrain park

A terrain park is an outdoor area that contains terrain that allows skiers and snowboarders to perform tricks. Terrain parks have their roots in skateparks and many of the features are common to both. One of the first in-bounds terrain parks was the "Snowboard Park" built in 1990 at the Vail...

 features, such as rails, boxes, jibs, or other obstacles. This form of skiing resulted from a combination of the growth in popularity of snowboarding

Snowboarding

Snowboarding is a sport that involves descending a slope that is covered with snow on a snowboard attached to a rider's feet using a special boot set onto mounted binding. The development of snowboarding was inspired by skateboarding, sledding, surfing and skiing. It was developed in the U.S.A...

 as well as the progression of Freestyle skiing

Freestyle skiing

Freestyle skiing is form of skiing which used to encompass two disciplines: aerials, and moguls. Except the two disciplines mentioned earlier Freestyle Skiing now consists of Skicross, Half Pipe and Slope Style...

. "Newschoolers", or those who specifically ski in this style (as opposed to traditional freestylers, big mountain skiers, racers, etc.) are often found in terrain parks, which are designed specifically for tricks.

History

"Newschool" skiing originated in the late 1990s when freestyle skiers(matty b), discouraged by restrictive laws placed on the sport by the International Ski Federation

International Ski Federation

The International Ski Federation, known by its name in French, Fédération Internationale de Ski is the main international organisation for ski sports...

 (competitive skiing's governing body, known by the acronym "FIS"), began trying their tricks in what were at the time snowboard-only terrain parks. Early newschool skiers were very aware of the developing style and attitude of snowboarding, and adopted these for their own sport. The Newschool 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 "Newschool" movement was a breakaway faction of the freeskiers who were unhappy with the FIS.

The breakaway faction was led by the New Canadian Air Force, which included the "Godfather of freeskiing", Mike Douglas, and others such as JF Cusson, Vincent Dorion and JP Auclair. 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

Dynastar

Dynastar is a winter sports company based in Sallanches, France. Founded in 1963, the name Dynastar was born when Les Plastiques Synthétiques, manufacturers of Starflex skis, collaborated with Dynamic on a new compound ski....

. 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, jump

Jump

Jump may refer to:* Jumping, to propel oneself rapidly upward such that momentum causes the body to become airborne* To get attacked by a group of people e.g...

s, hips, quarterpipes, and halfpipes. It is now quite common for 'Newschool' skiers to use urban features in towns and cities to perform tricks also done in the snowpark. A popular choice of equipment for this terrain is the twin-tip ski

Twin-tip ski

A modified version of their alpine counterparts, twin-tip skis are designed to enable a skier to take off and land backward while jumping and to ski backwards down a slope. The name "twin-tip" comes from the shape of the ski...

. Twin-tip skis come in all shapes and sizes, and were originally made specifically for newschool 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.

On April 6, 2011, the International Olympic Committee

International Olympic Committee

The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...

 (IOC) announced the addition of the men's and women's ski halfpipe to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi

Sochi

Sochi is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated just north of Russia's border with the de facto independent republic of Abkhazia, on the Black Sea coast. Greater Sochi sprawls for along the shores of the Black Sea near the Caucasus Mountains...

. However, both snowboarding and skiing slopestyle events have not been added to the program at this time. Olympic status for ski halfpipe 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

United States Ski and Snowboard Association

The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association is the national governing body for Olympic skiing and snowboarding. Founded in 1905, the century-old organization provides leadership and direction for tens of thousands of young skiers and snowboarders from over 400 member clubs who share an Olympic...

 launched U.S. Freeskiing in partnership with The North Face, which would presumably supply Olympic uniforms.

Companies

There are several relatively small companies that have supported and greatly added to the progression of Newschool Skiing. These companies, including Line

Line Skis

Line Skis is a rider driven ski company dedicated to building quality skis and skiing equipment that pushes the sport of freeskiing to levels that inspires skiers to be more creative and expressive with their riding.- Legacy :...

, Stanston, Armada

Armada (company)

Armada is a manufacturer of skis, poles, technical outerwear and skiing-related softgoods, based in Costa Mesa, California with a European office in Zurich, Switzerland...

, Subaru

Subaru

; is the automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate Fuji Heavy Industries .Subaru is internationally known for their use of the boxer engine layout popularized in cars by the Volkswagen Beetle and Porsche 911, in most of their vehicles above 1500 cc as well as...

 Liberty

Liberty Skis

Liberty Skis Corporation is one the ski industry's largest independent ski manufacturers, and a leader in the manufacture of twin-tip skis, used primarily for a style of skiing known alternately as newschool skiing or freeskiing...

, ON3P, Salomon, Amplid, 4FRNT

4FRNT Skis

4FRNT Skis is an independent brand of alpine skis, bindings, poles and other accessories that helped topioneer the development of the freeskiing movement.-History:...

, Coreupt, and Technine, K2

K2

K2 is the second-highest mountain on Earth, after Mount Everest...

, as well as others, make skis specific for Newschool Skiing. Line is believed to be the first newschool skiing company, and celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2005. In 2006, Line was bought by K2 Sports

K2 Sports

K-2, Corporation. was founded in 1961 by brothers Bill and Don Kirschner on Vashon Island, near Seattle, Washington. K2 is known for pioneering fiberglass ski technology, which made skis significantly lighter and more lively than their wood and metal contemporaries...

. Contrary to popular belief, the K2 Poacher was the first mass produced twin tip ski to hit the market. Dynastar's Concept, Salomon's 1080, and Rossignol's Pow Air were not far behind.

Within the last decade, traditional ski brands such as Salomon

Salomon Group

The Salomon Group is a sports equipment manufacturing company that originated in Annecy, France. The company was started in 1947 by François Salomon and his wife and son. In 1997 it became part of the Adidas group. On 2 May 2005, Adidas-Salomon announced that it had agreed to sell the Salomon...

, Rossignol

Skis Rossignol

Skis Rossignol S.A., or simply Rossignol, is a French manufacturer of alpine, snowboard, and Nordic equipment, as well as related outerwear and accessories, located in Isère, France. Rossignol was one of the first companies to produce plastic skis. The company also owns the brand Dynastar as well...

, Völkl

Völkl

Völkl is a sports equipment manufacturer based in Germany. It is a subsidiary of the Jarden Corporation. Initially it manufactured skis, but has extended its line to snowboards, outerwear, and tennis gear...

, Fischer

Fischer Skis

Fischer Skis is an Austrian company that produces Nordic skiing, Alpine skiing, Tennis and Hockey equipment. It is one of the largest manufacturers of equipment in the world cup for both Nordic and Alpine skiing disciplines and manufactures a wide range of skis and ski equipment targeted against...

 and Head

Head (company)

Head N.V. is a sports equipment and clothing company, known mainly for their alpine skis and tennis racquets. Founded as a ski company in Baltimore, Maryland, the company is currently headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and Kennelbach, Austria...

 have embraced the newschool revolution and are producing twin tips of their own. Now, most of the popular and larger ski companies produce many twin-tipped newschool skis.

Video production studios Teton Gravity Research

Teton Gravity Research

Teton Gravity Research is an extreme sport production company based in Teton Village, Wyoming. They have been producing skiing, snowboarding and surfing films since 1996 and are best known for films like Tangerine Dream and Anomaly. The films focus on world-class athletes skiing, snowboarding,...

, Matchstick Productions and Poor Boyz Productions

Poor Boyz Productions

Poor Boyz Productions is a skiing film production company. Since the 1990s, they have released a number of freeskiing as well as wind surfing films. Poor Boyz Productions sponsors and films freeskiers including Tanner Hall, Sammy Carlson, JP Auclair, Dane Tudor and the late C. R...

 have been popular since the sport evolved in the 1990s.

Types of skis

There are three kinds of newschool skis: Powder, All-Mountain and Park. The Powder ski is wide (also known as fat within the ski industry) and sometimes has a higher tail in order to support switch powder landings. Eric Pollard is the innovator of new school skis, especially Fat Powder skis. The All-Mountain ski is of average width and is equally good on both groomed and powder. The park ski is specifically built for "jibbing" (i.e. skiing on anything other than snow such as rails, boxes, barrels, walls, etc...) and jumps. 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.

Throughout newschool skiing a special culture has developed, one that has united the skiing community. The language, style, and people are unique to the newschool community.

Some words used in the newschool community are abbreviated spins (saying 7 instead of 720) as well as butter, jib, hit, session, lap, crown, etc.

The largest Newschool Skiing festival in the Midwest is the MWSFF (Midwest Ski Film Festival

Midwest Ski Film Festival

The Midwest Ski Film Festival is a Film Festival takes place annually in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Held in October, the festival is the premier showcase for ski films from both independent and professional ski film companies...

), and is held yearly every October. There is also one in Montreal, Quebec called IF3 (International Freeski Film Festival)

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 avalanche

Avalanche

An avalanche is a sudden rapid flow of snow down a slope, occurring when either natural triggers or human activity causes a critical escalating transition from the slow equilibrium evolution of the snow pack. Typically occurring in mountainous terrain, an avalanche can mix air and water with the...

s. This type of skiing has been banned in certain areas of the world because of chances of injury

Injury

-By cause:*Traumatic injury, a body wound or shock produced by sudden physical injury, as from violence or accident*Other injuries from external physical causes, such as radiation injury, burn injury or frostbite*Injury from infection...

 and/or death

Death

Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....

. Backcountry skiers consist of both newschool skiers who perform tricks off various terrain features, and oldschoolers as well.

Park

Park is skiing on man-made features provided by the ski area such as jumps, rails, boxes, and halfpipes. According to Freeskier's 2010 Travel Guide the top resorts in North America for park are Breckenridge

Breckenridge Ski Resort

Breckenridge Ski Resort, or just Breck, is perenially one of North America's top 2 most visited ski resorts, and is located in Summit County, Colorado in the town of Breckenridge...

, Mammoth

Mammoth Mountain Ski Area

Mammoth Mountain Ski Area is a large ski resort located in Eastern California, along the east side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in the Inyo National Forest.- Description :...

, Aspen/Snowmass

Aspen/Snowmass

Aspen/Snowmass is an expansive winter resort complex located in Pitkin County in western Colorado in the United States. Owned and operated by the Aspen Skiing Company it comprises four skiing/snowboarding areas on four adjacent mountains in the vicinity of the towns of Aspen and Snowmass Village...

, Park City

Park City Mountain Resort

Park City Mountain Resort is a ski resort in Park City, Utah, located east of Salt Lake City. The resort has been a major tourist attraction for skiers from all over the United States, as well as a main employer for many of Park City's citizens. Park City, as the resort is often called by locals,...

, Poley Mountain

Poley Mountain

Poley Mountain is located 10 km outside of Sussex, New Brunswick, Canada. Poley Mountain is well known as the premier ski resort in southern New Brunswick. Sussex is well known as the dairy center of The Maritimes...

, Whistler Blackcomb and Avila.

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".

Terminology

Jibs

Rails, walls, and boxes that can be jibbed.

Step-down Jumps

A jump in which the landing is lower than the take off/lip.

Step-up Jumps

A jump in which the landing is higher than the take off/lip.

sending it

when you just go for it.

True Table Jumps

A jump that trapezoids in which you take off from the lip, clear a flat air, and then land on close to the same height of the take off/lip jump.

Urban Rail

either a rail that isnt in a ski area. usually a handrail in an urban environment, such as the city, a park, ect, or a rail with no take off or jump into it.

Hip Jump

A jump where the landing slope is perpendicular to (known as "spined") the take off trapezoid lip jump.

Landing

The terminology often used by professionals for the down-part of a tablejump trapezoid.

The Knuckle

The area in which the table meets the landing or the curved bit at the top of the landing. It's not good to land on.

For example: "To Knuckle" a jump means to land on the slant/ice interface area of the jump. This is generally considered painful.

Overshoot

When a skier takes too much speed into a jump and landing on the off ramp. Usually results in an injury but is worth more points in competition and is thus widley practiced.

External links

• www.Newschoolers.com