Freestyle
From snowheads
This is a competitive form of skiing done, to a surprisingly large extent, in the air.
It involves five distinct disciplines.
image from http://www.ruka.fi/
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The traditional
- aerials
- using a Kicker to gain huge (up to 15m) lift off the ground ( big air ) in order to perform acrobatic tricks before landing. Points are awarded 20% for Take off, 50% for form in the Air and 30% for Landing.
- Moguls
- a roughly 250m run including a rail and two jumps. Speed, turn-style and jump-style all count towards marks.
- Dual Moguls
- when two competitors compete head to head on a mogul run
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The modern:
- ski cross
- 4,6 or 8 skiers race together over bumps, jumps, rollers and banked corners: only speed matters.
- Half pipe
- Competitors they pass down the length of the half-pipe attempting as many jumps and tricks (Hits) as they can on the way. The largest Half pipes cna have sides as high as 6m and jumps are often as high as 3m above the lip.
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Links
- Excellent Freestyle Glossary -- Freestyle has a Glossary all of its own relating to the numerous tricks and techniques involved.
