Slopestyle skiing is a winter sport of the freestyle skiing discipline in which athletes on skis ride on a course with different types of obstacles. The primary focus on slopestyle is more on the technical aspects rather than on speed.
The main form of obstacles used are the rails and jumps. There are several types of rails that are used of which the five most common types are: straight rail, rainbow rail, up-flat-down rail, flat-down handrail, and flat-down-flat-down handrail.
The tricks that athletes perform in slopestyle competitions fall into four main categories, which are spins, flips, grinds, and grabs.
In competitions, each rider completes the course individually. Each run is judged by a panel of judges. The runs are judged based on four major factors, heights reached in each jump, degree of difficulty of each trick performed, execution of each trick, and the overall style.
Competitions are conducted in a rounds format in which athletes with the lowest points are eliminated in each round until the final round in which the medal winners are decided.
Slopestyle skiing was included as a part of Winter Olympics in Sochi 2014, in which medal competitions were conducted for both men and women. The other major event in which slopestyle skiing competitions are conducted is the FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships.
Similar Sports
- Slopestyle — involves skiing or snowboarding down a course of obstacles.
- Slopestyle Snowboarding — athletes on a snowboard perform on a course with a range of obstacles.
- Freestyle Skiing — different forms of freestyle skiing including Aerial skiing, Mogul skiing, Ski ballet, Ski cross, Half-pipe skiing, Slopestyle skiing.
- Mogul Skiing — snow skiers compete on a specially designed downhill course, in which the primary focus is on the technique used for turns, aerial maneuvers, and speed.
- Ski Cross — multiple downhill skiers race head-to-head on a course including big jumps, rollers and high-banked turns.
- Slalom Skiing — an alpine skiing discipline that involves skiing downhill through gates, with the gates closer together therefore tighter turns than in Giant Slalom or Super-G.
- Snow Skiing — traveling over a snow surface on skis. Competitive forms include Alpine Skiing (or Downhill Skiing), and Cross-Country / Nordic Skiing.
Related Pages
- Complete List of sports
- The Encyclopedia of Sports