For years skiing simply involved the participant going down the hill making numerous turns. But as the equipment advances with time, the sport itself begins to change. Only within the past couple of years has the sport really changed a noticeable amount. The cause of this change can be traced to the skiers just becoming bored, a more youthful spirit, or perhaps the greatest influence, snowboarding. When snowboarding was first introduced its primary focus was to perform tricks or stunts. Although this is still its main focus, it has branched off into other areas. So what does this have to do with skiing? Well, since the skiers were forced to share the hills with these "reckless" snowboarders, its only naturally that skiing would take on some traits of snowboarding. Skiers to began to attempt some of the tricks similar to the snowboarders including, various spins, grabs, flips, and combinations of these three. Just recently a new type of skis were introduced which were equipped with a tip on both ends of the ski. This opened up a new area for skiers, allowing them to ski in half-pipes as well as landing and taking off backwards. This new style is know as freeride newschool...
back