Not true. Granted, some skiers who are still top pros (Pollard, Wilson) were snowlerbladers. But what the Canadians (Douglas, Cusson, Szocs, Vinny, JP) were doing at the same time snowlerblading was at its peak was not inspired by snowlerblading whatsoever. Most skiers (at least everyone I know) was fully embarrassed by snowlerblading and wanted no relation to it. Anyone who had a clue saw the full limitations of where the sport was headed. It was like snowboarding on a lunch tray. Anyone could stand there and spin around on those things. Of course, they landed about 10% of their tricks because they had no platform and seeing them off of groomers was pure comedy.
By the way, you're not alone in this one, but the term "freeskiing" was spawned well before snowlerblading even existed, and before skiers skied backwards. It came from skiers who were sick of steep skiing being called "extreme". Somehow people now think "freeskiing" suddenly began in 2001 or something and strictly defines freestyle. That's not the case. It defined skiing just for fun outside of a race course. Of course, that discussion's worthy of a whole other thread.Â