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Halfpipe skiing lacking style

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codizzle
Posts: 895 - Karma: 2,250
So I watched a bunch of video from the recent Dew Tour halfpipe comp, which was held at Breckenridge over the weekend (Dec. 2011).

OK, first things first: These skiers' tricks are really, really technical. There's no denying it. They're spinning both ways; they're hitting both walls switch; they're doing two or three doubles in each run; they're even doing switch doubles. None of this was commonplace four years ago.

But I gotta admit, just because you grab your skis when you're throwing a trick, and just because you wear  baggy outerwear and listen to your iPod during your run doesn't mean you have style. And sadly, I saw very little style throughout the skiers' halfpipe runs.

So what's it mean to have style anyway? Freeskiers, snowboarders, surfers and skateboarders have only been talking about it for decades now. Somebody has it, and they're the shit; others lack it, and they're wack. But what is it?

To me, style is the ability communicate a thought, feeling or idea through the physical gesture of skiing.

Take for example Eric Pollard. His safety grabs of 10 years ago communicated simplicity, modesty, understatement and a laid-back indifference.

Candide's super-tweaked mute grabs are aggressive and bawdy.

Henrik Harlaut's afterbang let's us know he's boss and that's skiing is fuckin' easy for him ...  kinda irreverent, too.

Tom Wallisch's pretzels off rails mess with your expectations and suggest playfullness. Same goes with his shifty rodeo 540s.

Sadly, a majority of the tricks I saw from the Dew Tour Halfpipe reel had a robotic likeness to them. Sure, this style conveys mastery of the trick itself, but little more. Isn't this kind of sad?
Dec 19 2011 4:10PM
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eheath
Posts: 61603 - Karma: 123,082
Its a contest, not a ski movie or edit. /thread.
Dec 19 2011 4:12PM
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ljs
Posts: 501 - Karma: 1,181
Duncan Adams
Dec 19 2011 4:12PM
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HarryPotter
Posts: 359 - Karma: 52
ingenius. and yes.
Dec 19 2011 4:13PM
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JHendrix
Posts: 1493 - Karma: 48
sometimes I wish it was :( inb4 hate
Dec 19 2011 4:14PM
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Pow.yuHdig*
Posts: 1903 - Karma: 146
pipejocks mannn

Dec 19 2011 4:15PM
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iffe
Posts: 984 - Karma: 120
Came here to say this. In my opinion Duncan Adams is the perfect example that having good style can get you far in competitions.
Dec 19 2011 4:20PM
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FerrisBueller
Posts: 8280 - Karma: 5,173
.
Dec 19 2011 4:22PM
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Heart
Posts: 6156 - Karma: 3,462
this. i was pleasantly surprised when he podiumed with that run. finally getting the credit he deserves
Dec 19 2011 4:26PM
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Stickity
Posts: 7750 - Karma: 769
this thread is neat.
Dec 19 2011 4:28PM
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LeoSpaceman
Posts: 569 - Karma: 44
but then why do i see such shitty styles in edits???????

does not compute.
Dec 19 2011 4:35PM
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eheath
Posts: 61603 - Karma: 123,082
...?
Dec 19 2011 4:39PM
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j.bird
Posts: 6680 - Karma: 15
LOLwut?

Yeah lets just let them keep knee grabbing and rewarding them for it. Is it not part of the contest to do your tricks WELL?

Style isn't just in edits or movies, and should not be limited to such.
Dec 19 2011 4:45PM
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Njens.
Posts: 1688 - Karma: 46
jossi wells?
Dec 19 2011 4:46PM
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eheath
Posts: 61603 - Karma: 123,082
Im just saying, top half pipe athletes usually don't have very much style. Slope style is a little different, but if you want to watch something with style watch a movie or edit, not a contest. Of course grabs and style should be attempted for contests, but when you're doing 2 dubs and both 9s in a run thats 30 seconds, it can be tough.
Dec 19 2011 4:53PM
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LeoSpaceman
Posts: 569 - Karma: 44
well according to your post...
contests are not the place for style.
so i can only assume that edits/video parts are the places for style.
yet, i still see people in edits/movies with atrocious styles.
quite the conundrum, i'd say.
Dec 19 2011 4:55PM
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j.bird
Posts: 6680 - Karma: 15
fair enough, I don't think we are arguing the same issue.

But yes, it is a known fact pipe skiers normally don't have very good style. (Duncan is obv the exception)

But remember when the tanner vs dumont pipe war was going on, and Simon started throwing that busted ass leftside 1260 no grab like 4 feet out of the pipe? Everyone was claiming tanner rightfully won because he spun both ways and grabbed all of his tricks.

JW where are all of those people now?? Did we just ditch that train of thought?
Dec 19 2011 4:55PM
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Aenigma
Posts: 11256 - Karma: 424
Haha, OP reads like a last-minute 100 level humanities paper. Style is the way you ski, not some deep metaphorical expression of your soul.
Dec 19 2011 5:02PM
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codizzle
Posts: 895 - Karma: 2,250
sure, style is the way you ski. and it's simultaneously the expression of what you want your skiing to say.

i actually believe that most skiers, both pros and ams, consciously and unconsciously do a lot of thinking about this.
Dec 19 2011 5:13PM
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HarryPotter
Posts: 359 - Karma: 52
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXb8LBxSY-E&feature=related

1:17 whatttt
Dec 19 2011 5:26PM
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Matty.
Posts: 9458 - Karma: 105
it's all up to the community to be honest. i don't really care if people are chucking aerialist spins in competitions that they train in their private water ramp facilities for, but i'd rather it stay out of ski movies.

the more you guys support superpipe/bigair skiers releasing parts of the same shit you can watch in their competition runs then obviously they are going to continue to put them in year after year.

i'm glad that phil casabon/henrik harlaut are getting a lot of hype from their skiing, because that's who the ski community should be going after!
Dec 19 2011 5:43PM
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NinetyFour
Posts: 8650 - Karma: 13,409
Inb4 pipe skiers are the next "Racers" or are we already there?
Dec 19 2011 5:54PM
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pastysmasher
Posts: 780 - Karma: 664
im not too sure. for example, when they started doing dub 12s in pipe they looked hucked and sketchy, now most of them looked higher and more comfortable with more style. i think pipe style is getting better.
Dec 19 2011 6:17PM
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COskier
Posts: 1066 - Karma: 131
To me, ______ is the ability communicate a thought, feeling or idea through the physical gesture of _______.

Take it down a notch there, dude. If I had to fill in those two blanks they would be making love and fucking like rabbits respectively. This is skiing we are talking about- sliding down snow covered hills on wooden planks. Don't overly romanticize the thing, just have fun.
Dec 19 2011 6:42PM
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LeoSpaceman
Posts: 569 - Karma: 44
the problem is skiers love everything that has to do with skiing
Dec 19 2011 6:54PM
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crab_pretzel
Posts: 3919 - Karma: 622
just because some edits dont have style doesnt meen no edits dont have style. theres always gonna be people putting out shitty edits with no style, but you cant condemn all edits for having no style just because of those
Dec 19 2011 7:03PM
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Drail
Posts: 14012 - Karma: 10,010
I don't see how this is a problem.
Dec 19 2011 7:08PM
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dylanb
Posts: 379 - Karma: 86
didn't read op but... Duncan Adams.
Dec 19 2011 7:14PM
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coldcuts69
Posts: 3718 - Karma: 1,888
yep, this is where the thread should have ended. major /thread miss
Dec 19 2011 7:15PM
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e.wait
Posts: 869 - Karma: 1,954
If you can throw a dub in the pipe with style, then go for it. Until then, stop bitching about pipe skiers having no style. Like you said, the tricks are extremely technical and difficult. The riders are performing to the best of their abilities in order to win. If they can make it look stylish (which many of them do in my opinion), then they sure as hell will. Pipe is a completely different aspect of freestyle skiing. In pipe skiing amplitude and technicality are extremely important, whereas style counts for more in slopestyle.

In the end, if you don't like Simont's amplitude, Torin's cleanliness, or Duncan's style, then you have a strange view of style.
Dec 19 2011 7:33PM
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TheClap.
Posts: 21664 - Karma: 4,140
this
Dec 19 2011 7:44PM
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codizzle
Posts: 895 - Karma: 2,250
i created this thread six weeks ago after the first stop of the Dew Tour. but i take it back now after watching the top runs from Winter X 16. I thought the skiers killed it with a lot of style. kudos to them.


Jan 30 2012 5:03PM
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Pitolairas
Posts: 665 - Karma: 1,174
noah bowman's run was money
Jan 30 2012 5:08PM
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LeoSpaceman
Posts: 569 - Karma: 44
it's as if skateboarders loved that kook that does frontflips onto his board.

not everything in your favorite sport is AWESOME.
Jan 30 2012 5:11PM
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Holte
Posts: 10740 - Karma: 7,814
When was Candide throwing super tweaked mutes?
Jan 30 2012 5:19PM
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FLBP
Posts: 1794 - Karma: 310
Boom Bomb Tanner's gonna bring the style back to the pipe.
Jan 30 2012 5:22PM
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250r
Posts: 2276 - Karma: 1,013
t hall's flat 5 shifties > t wall's
Jan 30 2012 7:46PM
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