Slopestyle

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.^[1]

Skis

Twin-tip skis are used in Slopestyle skiing and are particularly useful if the skier lands backwards.

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 a lip" when they land on the rail. The snowboarder/skier tries to perform tricks onto or off of the rail in combination with sliding the whole length of the rail.

Obstacles

Similar to a rail is an obstacle. 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

• Freestyle skiing at the Winter Olympics
• X Games
• Freestyle skiing
• Aerial skiing
• Mogul skiing
• Ski ballet
• Ski cross
• Half-pipe skiing
• List of skiing topics
• Vert skating
• Half-pipe
• Superpipe
• Alpine skiing

References

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.