"Skiing is now aerials." Quite the infamous statement in the Newschoolers forums but is that becoming true? It's very close.
In the past, people used to huck their meat on snow if they were trying to learn new tricks or perhaps they had access to a trampoline in their buddy's backyard or at a gymnastics open gym, they'd send it there first. Then came the invention of the airbag, a place to learn tricks without busting your chops on snow (or ice if you're east of the Mississippi River) but that was really only applicable to slopestyle, not halfpipe. Last winter, Mammoth unveiled this monstrous beast: a "200 ft. long, 77 ft. wide bag that weighs around 12,000 lbs. and separates into multiple pieces for travel. Complete with a 35 ft. deck, landing and walls" according to TW Snow.
BagJump, who works with Redbull and many summer camps on custom airbags has unveiled the first airbag that is actually a part of the halfpipe. Beau James Wells posted on his IG story that he is the first in the world to hit this new airbag. Originally, pipe airbags would have to be at the end of the halfpipe and weren't quite as vertical of a landing as you would normally have. This airbag lines up more with the natural transition of the pipe, allowing riders to get a better feel of what it would be like to actually land it on snow. With this new innovation, halfpipe is going to be bananas but not in a good way.
Halfpipe skiing is entering the realm of aerials by needing all sorts of high tech bullshit to even have a chance of winning these days. Gone are the days of old where kids wrecked themselves on 11.5ft hand-cut pipes. Halfpipe is inherently dangerous and rider safety is key but how far is too far? When will halfpipe skiing go the way of aerials and require you to land a trick on a ramp/airbag before you can take it to snow? A tragic death or paralyzation would be something that might trigger FIS to instate these types of rules.
In the past, people used to huck their meat on snow if they were trying to learn new tricks or perhaps they had access to a trampoline in their buddy's backyard or at a gymnastics open gym, they'd send it there first. Then came the invention of the airbag, a place to learn tricks without busting your chops on snow (or ice if you're east of the Mississippi River) but that was really only applicable to slopestyle, not halfpipe. Last winter, Mammoth unveiled this monstrous beast: a "200 ft. long, 77 ft. wide bag that weighs around 12,000 lbs. and separates into multiple pieces for travel. Complete with a 35 ft. deck, landing and walls" according to TW Snow.
FUCK IT, HUCK IT, TUCK IT, #SPORTS!
BagJump, who works with Redbull and many summer camps on custom airbags has unveiled the first airbag that is actually a part of the halfpipe. Beau James Wells posted on his IG story that he is the first in the world to hit this new airbag. Originally, pipe airbags would have to be at the end of the halfpipe and weren't quite as vertical of a landing as you would normally have. This airbag lines up more with the natural transition of the pipe, allowing riders to get a better feel of what it would be like to actually land it on snow. With this new innovation, halfpipe is going to be bananas but not in a good way.
Halfpipe skiing is entering the realm of aerials by needing all sorts of high tech bullshit to even have a chance of winning these days. Gone are the days of old where kids wrecked themselves on 11.5ft hand-cut pipes. Halfpipe is inherently dangerous and rider safety is key but how far is too far? When will halfpipe skiing go the way of aerials and require you to land a trick on a ramp/airbag before you can take it to snow? A tragic death or paralyzation would be something that might trigger FIS to instate these types of rules.
