Freeskiing

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A skier getting "air" at British Columbia's Big White Ski Resort

Freeskiing is a term that was traditionally used to describe skiing for fun, as opposed to training or racing. In the mid 1990s, the term was adopted by big mountain skiers and "extreme skiing" professionals and refers to skiing down an ungroomed, often extremely steep, mountain that is often only accessible by hiking or helicopter. Nowadays, the term "Freeskiing" encompasses both, the "Big Mountain" or Freeride aspect of skiing, as well as the skiing in specially constructed snow parks, which include a variety of kickers(jumps) and rails for the skiers to slide on. For a long time, these snow parks were seen as a snowboard only facility, however with the increasing number of "freeskiers", it is everything but uncommon to see skiers ride in the snow park.

The free in freeskiing refers to skiing outside artificially-set limits such as race gates, and ski area boundaries. Today the term encompasses several general camps of skiing: Slopestyle, Halfpipe, Big Air, Rails and Skier X.

Freeskiers usually use "twin-tip" skis, allowing for flexibility and switch (backwards) skiing, which is useful for riders who takeoff and/or land backwards when performing spin tricks.

A sequence of a freeskier performing a trick, with a "switch" take off.

Freeskiing has grown in popularity in recent years due to it being part of the X Games, and because of the influence of riders such as Seth Morrison, Tanner Hall, Pep Fujas and Jp Auclair. Also the increase in Freeski events and movies has increased awareness of what freeskiing has to offer.

New, so called "core" companies, which primarily focus on the construction of "twin-tip" skis have emerged thanks to the rapid progression of the increasingly popular sport such as Armada, 4FRNT, Line Skis and Liberty.