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The term "FREESKIING"

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fatbastard
Posts: 337 - Karma: 586
I don't want to burst anyone's bubble, but I just want to provide a little clarity on where (as far as I know) the term "freeskiing" came from. It wasn't "invented" (as a lot of people here seem to think) when JP, Douglas and crew introduced a new kind of freestyle skiing back in '97-'98. That style of skiing was new,
but the term had already been coined by McConkey and others years earlier and applied to the big mountain contest circuit and it's governing body, the IFSA (International Freeskiing Association, also known as I Fucking Ski Awesome).

The word "freeskiing" was originally a means of getting away from the word "extreme", so even though it was being used to describe big mountain skiing, it really was intended to define going from the top of the mountain to the bottom in any way you see fit. No gates, no specific line or course, just SKIING.

So, in essence, saying that park skiing is "freeskiing" is pretty much contradictory, because there's a defined course and a defined style to park skiing.

Not that it really bothers me; I just want people to know that "freeskiing" wasn't invented ten years ago. It's been around as long as people have shredded mountains, ripped up pow and flipped off cliffs. And that's been going on a hell of a long time.


Sep 3 2009 1:23PM
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k-rob
Posts: 14217 - Karma: 2,891
cool story dude, we'll be sure to separate park skiing from the rest of the sport now.
Sep 3 2009 1:27PM
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k-rob
Posts: 14217 - Karma: 2,891
i kinda disagree. i mean, in big slopestyles there are plenty of different options for what line to take and which features to hit, so the skiers still get to do what they want for the most part. but in rail jams and big air events where there is only one or two features to hit, or a halfpipe comp, or a slopestyle where there is only one line and a set amount of features you have to hit, the skiers only get to choose which tricks to do, so in that way the term "free" doesn't really apply.
but then i've always seen park as a sort of practice for getting your tricks dialed before you take them to the real hill.
Sep 3 2009 1:44PM
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Mex_LineJib^a
Posts: 3928 - Karma: 65

" it really was intended to define going from the top of the mountain to the bottom in any way you see fit. No gates, no specific line or course, just SKIING. "

doesn't that includes taking a few hits in the park or hitting a few rails while going down?

Sep 3 2009 2:00PM
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k-rob
Posts: 14217 - Karma: 2,891
word. i think the worst part of the judging is the judges themselves, we rarely get people in the booth who most of the real community would agree with.
Sep 3 2009 2:04PM
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schlopy
Posts: 818 - Karma: 7,015
well, you usually aren't told what to do. It is up to you to decide what to do with the feature, so in many ways it is still "free" skiing.
Sep 3 2009 2:10PM
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fatbastard
Posts: 337 - Karma: 586
Yeah, it totally applies to that. I'm just making a point that it applies to everything else, too.
Sep 3 2009 2:11PM
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EastCoast315
Posts: 3136 - Karma: 137
Well, you said that freeskiing is extreme skiing.

Well, I used to ski streams quite a bit. But i retired from that, Im now living happily in new york as an ex-stream skiier.
haha gotta love shane
Sep 3 2009 2:14PM
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Mex_LineJib^a
Posts: 3928 - Karma: 65

^ yeah i hear ya.

here's another question. should freeskiing only include twin tips and the occasional directional tip??

Sep 3 2009 2:15PM
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k-rob
Posts: 14217 - Karma: 2,891
i don't think freeskiing has as much to do with the gear you use as the way you use it.
Sep 3 2009 2:17PM
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Mex_LineJib^a
Posts: 3928 - Karma: 65
totally agree.
Sep 3 2009 2:23PM
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EastCoast315
Posts: 3136 - Karma: 137
but one could argue that switch riding is a crucial part of freeskiing. If your not free (because of your gear) to go backwards, your not truely a freerider until your gear optimizes complete mountain mastery, forward or backward
Sep 3 2009 2:25PM
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k-rob
Posts: 14217 - Karma: 2,891
i can't really tell if you're joking or not, but this is an interesting point, and will require much thought and input from others before i can make a decision on whether or not anybody's day of freeskiing can be complete without some switch skiing.
Sep 3 2009 2:39PM
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EastCoast315
Posts: 3136 - Karma: 137
Not joking. I think that if your riding forward all day, this automatically holds you back from throwing 180's, 540's, 900's, 1260's and so on. Any trick that involves switch at all is no longer possible without twins, so in the name of progression, why should we hold ourselves back?
Unless your talking about freeskiing in the purest sense, forward powder riding.

Of course, at the same time, a counter-argument to that could be "Well, if its FREEskiing, then I should be FREE to use directional skis if I want to, right?"
You see, arguments like this are what make the term "freesking" completely subjective. Long story short, there is no cut-and-dry definition of freeskiing. Just my opinion
Sep 3 2009 2:44PM
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Brock.
Posts: 5698 - Karma: 1,332
the word "freeskiing" to me, encompasses all things big mountain, pow, cliffs, crud, pretty much anything that isnt groomed.

the word "park skiing" i guess is meant to be more specific, hence the word park. (jibs, jumps whatnot).

the two aren't meant to be separate because they are so similar to regular skiers. thats why its so generalized to people outside of the sport..
Sep 3 2009 2:53PM
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EastCoast315
Posts: 3136 - Karma: 137
see the post I made after that, I acknowledged the fact that it could go either way
Sep 3 2009 2:57PM
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KevinDineen
Posts: 62 - Karma: 10

Powder used the term on the cover and as the title of an article in the Nov. 1978 issue. In that piece it was essentially a reference to skiing for fun without concern for discipline, which is basically how McConkey and Co. were using it in the early 90s. Racers have used it for decades to mean not training.
Sep 3 2009 2:58PM
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fatbastard
Posts: 337 - Karma: 586
That's what I wanted to hear. Basically, just going out and skiing around is what the word freeskiing originally alluded to. The whole point of this thread was just to let people know "freeskiing" was not "invented" at the turn of this century, contrary to what many NSers think.
Sep 3 2009 5:15PM
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Valind
Posts: 4358 - Karma: 17
I see it this way.  Its called "freeskiing right" right?  So you have two words here, "free" and "skiing".  I would consider that to mean to ski freely.  So that could be a groomer, park, big mountain, pow pow, whatever you "ski free"  thats just my 0.02
Sep 3 2009 6:07PM
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KAS
Posts: 1417 - Karma: 68
I don't really think this should be a big deal to anyone. It's basically just a word. Skiing, freeskiing freestyle skiing. It should all just be the same now. If you want to be specific about what you do then go ahead.
Sep 3 2009 8:46PM
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JTK
Posts: 1695 - Karma: 73
"I just want people to know that "freeskiing" wasn't invented ten years ago."

so it wasn't invented to replace the term extreme skiing?

theres some "freelogic" going on in here, i just invented that term to describe the extreme attempt to blow newschoolers mind with this thread creation.  Down with the machine!!
Sep 3 2009 11:27PM
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jksl
Posts: 12727 - Karma: 854
there really is nothing defined in park skiing. there may be a suggested course and a favorable style, but that's not the only way to ski it. but most people do.
valid points though in the original post, i never call it freeskiing, but then again i call no aspect of skiing freesking.
Sep 3 2009 11:32PM
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Valind
Posts: 4358 - Karma: 17
sure, if thats the way you want to look at it,
Sep 3 2009 11:43PM
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onearmwanderer
Posts: 1153 - Karma: 31
meh with all the flat ground stuff you can do or just riding switch down groomers, i think anywhere on the mountain can be freeskiing including groomers too.
Sep 4 2009 12:02AM
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Alp1ne
Posts: 717 - Karma: 203
Someone will always hate not matter who wins.
Sep 4 2009 12:35AM
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