Newschool skiing

"Freeskiing" or "Newschool skiing" is a popular style of downhill skiing. The sport involves advanced tricks which are often performed on a variety of natural and man-made features. Freeskiing has seen huge growth in popularity since the early 2000s. The sport has roots in freestyle skiing, Alpine skiing and snowboarding but is now widely accepted as a sport of its own.

History

"New school" skiing originated in the mid 1800's in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. Count Iosif Vladimirovich Romeyko-Gurko, a general for the Russian Empire in the war is known as the father of "New School" skiing. Upon a recent victory of capturing the Danube, he found a derelict ammunition sleigh and proceeded to fabricate a pair of skis from the runners. He crafted the bindings out of his mustache hairs and proceeded to "jib" part of the old sleigh. This was the first recorded instance of "New School" skiing. In the 1990s when freestyle skiers, discouraged by restrictive laws placed on the sport by the International Ski Federation , 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 created their own style. This snowboarding attitude originally came from skiers in the 80's and earlier on. Newschool skiing was present in the 70's, but it wasnt every anything big, just guys trying to have fun.

The FIS freestyle skiing events were governed by restrictive rules that were unpopular in the growing ski community,^{[citation needed]} 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. 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, jumps, hips, quarterpipes, and halfpipes. A popular choice of equipment for this terrain is the twin-tip 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 (see http://www.freezeonline.com/freeze/how_to/article/0,13122,330959,00.html).

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. The original "rockered" powder ski was the Volant Spatula, designed by skiing guru Shane McConkey. 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. However, Salomon have incorporated terrible build quality into their flagship park ski, in recognition of Pollard's work. Pollard now has his own pro model skis from Line skis called the EP Pros, The Elizabeth and The Sir Francis Bacon. Some new powder and all-mountain skis are created with 'reverse camber', meaning that the tips and tails are bent up slightly to make powder landings easier.

Newschool terrain

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 avalanches. This type of skiing has been banned in certain areas of the world because of chances of injury and/or death. 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 five resorts in North America for park are Breckenridge, Mammoth, Aspen/Snowmass, Park City, and Poley Mountain.

Urban

Any skiing in urban areas, including handrails, wallrides and drops off stairs or buildings is referred to as urban skiing or "jibbing". This is regarded as one of the most technically difficult areas of newschool skiing, since it involves skiing things that weren't meant to be skied. It also creates a lot of trouble with authorities, as some people consider it vandalism to slide down handrails on a pair of skis. Most skiers, however, see it as an art form, using everyday objects such as handrails and houses creatively, and seeing your surroundings in a different perspective. Newschool skiers Tom Wallisch and Mike Hornbeck are known for their skills on urban features.

Competitions

The biggest event for Newschool skiers is widely regarded as the Winter X Games. The X Games, which are held once a year, are considered the premier event for freestyle skiers. In the X Games, there are three disciplines for skiers: Slopestyle, Halfpipe, and Big Air. Slopestyle is a run that requires skiers to hit multiples jumps and multiple rails. Big Air competitions feature skiers hitting one jump, trying to land the best trick. Halfpipe is an event where skiers ski up vertical walls of a pipe and try to do the best tricks.

Other popular events are the Winter Dew Tour and the Jon Olsson Super Sessions, which features groups of skiers competing to make the best video.

Culture

Terminology

Finding Chads Gap From the bottom of Alta

Its completely impossible as patrol has blown it up.

Jibs: Rails, walls, and boxes that can be jibbed (grinded, ridden on).
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.
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 Jibber: a rail that isn't in a ski area. usually a handrail in the city or a park, etc.
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 widely practiced.

My Ankles Are Broken "I think his ankles are broken"

Chads Gap "Ski patrol blew it up"

Specific culture

Throughout newschool skiing a special culture has developed, one that has united the skiing community^{[citation needed]}. The language, style, and people are unique to the newschool community^{[dubious – discuss]}.

The idea of newschool skiing has been and still is talked unfavorably of. It has been thought of as having no "soul" and having no true background. Newschool skiers have refuted these accusations, saying that newschool skiing is an art form, something that allows someone to express themselves through skiing. Different types of clothing, style, and attitude reflect these individualities. Some newschool skiers prove newschool skiing's soul by repeatedly hitting a feature until it is has been completed to their expectations, sometimes 100 or more times in a day, showing the dedication to their sport.

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 is the Texas Herp da Derp Ski Film Festival, and is held yearly every Tuesday. There is also a smaller festival in Montreal, Quebec called IF3 (International Free Fuck Friday) The Newschool community has a strong online base in Newschoolers.com

Notable skiers

This is a partial list of some of the more notable Newschool skiers throughout the years:

References

Salomon Freeski Video 3 - Twin Tips.