13968966:ButteredToast. said:
In regards to the new wave stuff, I just started paying attention to NS again in like early November after being mostly absent for a few years and it was like I had been plunged into some weird hellish fever dream, but I think I kinda get it now.
After hearing about it ad nauseam on Ski Gabber I looked it up and watched videos of Magnus and Wabs, and I had like a solid hour of this weird surreal experience of trying to get my bearings on this goofy ass trend.
"What the fuck is this garbage? Is this a meme? Is this some inside joke I'm on the outside of?"
After figuring out that these riders are totally serious with their hands waving fucking everywhere and doing weird shit I kinda started to understand. I think what happened (and this is my best guess at it) is that a few very talented riders saw what the competition scene was starting to look like, and started seeing what people like Henrik were doing in their videos and basically recognized that they were absolutely never in a zillion years going to be that good. And rightfully so – that level of skiing is absolutely nuts. It's a superhuman god-tier level of athleticism, agility, and gymnastic skill. The soon-to-be new wavers were talented, but they were never going to be the best of the best, and they knew it. I'm not trying to talk down on their skills because I will never be as good as they are, I'm just speaking realistically.
So instead of trying to be the best of the best, they had to do something to stand out and get recognition. What better way to make yourself stand out than dress like a goddamned jerry and do the most bizarre stuff you could think of? I am almost entirely convinced that this started ironically and then when it took off they just embraced it and now it's a meme gone too right and they're just going with it. Maybe now they're totally serious and fully enjoy skiing and dressing like that, but at the beginning I doubt it was a serious "this is who I am now" thing. Just look at Magnus' Superunknown edit from whatever year that was – he's all thugged out.
So, new wave came into the game and became a sanctuary for those who could not or were unwilling to go big and put their own flair on it. For most, it's a super low-consequence style of skiing. The irony is that it started as a way to buck the trend of bigger and bolder tricks in order to stand out, and now a large chunk of skiers are just blending into that trend wave as well.
There's nothing wrong with that and you can ski however you want and dress however you want. That said, I'm still allowed to think that:
A) you look stupid as hell with your track pants and hood under your helmet
B) The trend is an excuse for sloppy low consequence skiing
C) The style is absolutely terrible because you don't look like you're in control
But hey if they're having fun, that's fine.
Whew ok I had to get that off my chest, this new wave shit has been confusing me ever since my return to NS. I feel better now.
