HOLY CRAP! I had to skip over some of that, but I think I've learned enough to make a good point.
I personally think that if the skiing goes down like the boarding did, then everything will be cool. Great exposure for the sport and all. The thing I worry about most is the judging. Someone is going to have to explain to the FIS what new-school style is, so that they don't go giving bad marks because a guy threw up his free hand and pointed to the gods (like your supposed to).
For snowboarding i think that the judges had a good grasp on what their style was, giving more points to the smooth, clean rotations rather than the 'balerina' style (this probably confused the FIS at first, but they listened).
And on the topic of only getting to bring 4 people to the olympics, I totally agree with holding an open comp right before hand to decide. This way the truly good athletes (the ones who developed halfpipe skiing) can ride, without having to worry about some yuppi national coach bogging down on there style.
So ya. With an open comp to qualify, and proper judging (both of which have been proven VERY possible by the Olympic Snowboard Comp) we should definitely be happy that halfpipe can make the olympics.
Peace.