Potential Problem with Park/Pipe Skiing in the Olympics.

Vlox

Vlox

Member
If pipe and/or slopestyle make it to the Olympics then I think that it may actually hinder the sport. At the moment freestyle skiing is in its "rebel" stages. People don't just do it for fun. They do it because they feel cool doing it and it is outside of the standard realm of sports. Theres a rebelious feeling amongst freestyle skiers. We ride around the mountain with XL outerwear, skiing backwards, and basically ignoring things that get in our way. meanwhile all the people who can't freestyle ski are like WTF-mate. In essence, people see it as being a rebel to be a true Freestyle skiing gangster. If freestyle skiing were to expand into the olympics I think a lot of the identity of the sport will diminish. I'm not saying it would all be bad, but I think sponsored events like X-Games and Dew Tour do a lot more for the sport and do a better job keeping it 'underground', which is a big part of it all. Just think: at the moment people are like "WTF is that guy doing" when they see a good freestyle skierin the park (especially Ontario anyways) and think its awesome and rediculous at the same time. But, if it were in the olympics people would just say "meh, w/e man saw that shit on TV the other week". Slowly the sport would decline and no one would give a rats ass about it anymore and lose interest. (In the extreme scenario).

I'm just saying I think the Olympic debate is a little too pronounced and people should realize that it may not actually be a big deal. But, yes watching slopestyle/pipe in the olympics would be pretty sweet.
 
hahaha wait, what? kinda flipped there.

i mean i respect your desires to keep freestyle skiing core, but to be honest it started its creep into the mainstream when ski big air was brought to the summer x games. you're a little late. and there will always be a sect of off beat riders, those that populate the filming side. look at snowboarding, they were in the olympics and got extremely main stream, but on the flip side you have companies like fodt and videograss that are about as far off the beaten path as you can get.

and exposure like the olympics would be great for skiing as an industry. exposure is followed by money, and money directly translates into greater budgets for things like r&d and monetary compensation for filmers and riders to produce better films (hopefully).

spark notes: you're wrong.
 
Yes they do. Actually this is the main reason people ski.

Also, I don't agree with any of your points and think the Olympics is great for skiing. It will most likely get more people interested and such. Look what happened to snowboarding. Now there are a lot of snowboarding video games, etc. I personally would like to see this happen for skiing as well
 
Yeah dude, fuck the man. Skiing is best left in the hands of the little guys, like mountain dew and espn.
 
True. But what about the corporate sponsors? Since some big corporate names sponsor some athletes, what do the corporate companies do to give back to the sport? You don't see target sponsored terrain parks or target sponsored clinics on learning how to ski.
 
Well I just hope the Olympics doesn't turn freeskiing into a snow-jockey type sport, or take away from the gangsterness that is staple within our community. Otherwise, I will have no excuse to wear my XXXL tees/afterbang off curbs/listen to hip-hop etc.
 
You say that no one would give a rat's ass about the sport any more? Well, would you? Would you continue to love skiing or are you just a fashion show because it's so "rebellious", which it really hasn't been for 10 or so years. It's hard to have a rebellious attitude anyway, as the moment you click out of your bindings you look like a fool trouncing around, at least compared to boarders.
 
yeah not too sure about the rebel thing, sure we "ignore things that get in our way" but i just find that fun, and thats why i ski cuz its fun, it clears my mind, and i couldn't live without it. im not skiing to make a statement/be a rebel. and if the olympics can bring this sport and the same things i get out of it to other ppl as well, then sweet.

^^ and i hope to GOD there is no shawn white in skiing that will emerge from this ( if it happens)
 
but you do see target advertising in shaun white video games (i know this isn't skiing but that's besides the point). I'm sure they pumped some money into the development of the game. and target isn't the only big name company in the freeskiing business. you do see red bull doing so much for the sport, including parks and events.
 
Did this thread spawn from Boronowskis interview in the latest SBC?

If you have not read it try to find a copy, he raises some valid points in the interview.
 
Really the only potential problem I see is that these events turn even more into who can huck the biggest tricks with absolutely no emphasis on style.
 
Good point. But I haven't really seen a lot of Red Bull parks or anything like that. Mostly events and private park shoot features. I'd like to see full-scale public parks instead of private superpipes in the middle of no where.
 
i totally agree. i'm pretty sure my local mountain's park (sunapee) used to be called the sobe freeride zone. they have changed it since then but its definitely out there, just not on a large scale. it would be nice having new features for parks (nice new permanent ones like the double set and red ledge at seymour) that could be afforded with corporate sponsorship, but i think mountains do a good job giving skiers and riders what they like with what they've got
 
My "flip" was because I would like to see skiing on TV a lot more haha. But no i don't think the olympics means more money. There aren't any cash prizes or benefits to ski companies or anything like that. It is entirely not-for-profit. It would be the big name athletes that are already millionaires competing for a medal and a bigger name (to be the next S. White). The olympics doesn't really have a history of improving the overall outlook on a sport. Do you watch a lot of biathalon on the mountains these days? Ping-Pong? Diving? I think the only ones that have kind of survived are skating (hockey and figure), moguls (but lets face it its dying), and snowboarding (which is really just 1 guy now and has dropped in popularity recently). I would say snowboarding was the most "mainstream" when it was relatively new and the big-brands were pushing it to sell a new product. The olympics most likely won't have this effect.
 
i don't really understand how you don't see any benefit for skiing. exposure of the sport on an international level will spark interest. weekend warrior snowboarders all over the place will see how big skiers are going in the pipe, and want to go buy some twin tips injecting cash directly into our industry.

and your argument that the olympics hurt a sport? that's a moot point, even before the olympics would you have watched biathalons or ping pong? probably not unless you directly identified with that sport. did you see your average joe snowboarding when it was sorels and directional boards? no way man, they were skiing because of the popularity and thrill brought on by olympic moguls. i'm not saying that it wasn't gaining popularity before the olympics, but when millions upon millions of people saw it in the olympics the sport saw dramatic increases in popularity.
 
I stopped reading after this as I was thinking it already.im in the organized and sanctioned freestyle coaching/event-throwing/juding community in B.C. and everyone I have talked to is confident that halfpipe AND slopestyle will be in the olympics in 2014, to be confirmed this february or later/last minute. the judging needs to be much more progressed with an emphasis in style in my opinion.I fear it will become like aerials, based on degree of difficulty not how smooth/properly steezy the trick looks. that being said if the judging goes that way, the athletes we all like wont be in the olympics for pipe and slope,people with water ramps and sunglasses under hemets will.
 
I like how people seam to think that halfpipe and slopestyle one day becoming part of the Olympics is going to change the physics of skiing and the inner workings of their brain as far as the skiing/love connection goes.

Now, some of you are probably too young to have been around in the 90's during the "low" of skiings "cool", but I can honestly say that I had just as much fun on my skis back before the twin tip and grabs existed. I'll have just as much fun in the future, no matter what path the sport takes.

It's December now. I think we, as a community, should spend less time debating which path our sport should take in the future and more time getting your ski on. On that note - don't mind me while I go jibbing for the afternoon.
 
first off id like to say if you dont ski for fun then youre doing it for all the wrong reasons. its not to feel cool and rebellious. its for fun and for the freedom you experience while doing it.

If freeskiing went full on main stream that wouldnt be a bad thing. All that means is there would be more skiiers with twin tips, and people would actually understand what we do.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that your argument sucks
 
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