I am doing a large written project on this subject. My real title is more focused and slanted than this but I really need a general response.
I am researching where freestyle has come from and what has created the culture surrounding this lifestyle. I have doing a significant amount of research and come up with a theory:
we can track the freestyle culture and lifestyle back to surfing in the 60's. At the time that was the sick thing to be doing and the cool scene to be seen at. From the "Dude" mentality that came with surfing came the same thing in skateboarding. The surfers wanted to do what they do in the water, on the land. out came the skateboard. in the 80's and 90's this was now the "cool" thing to be doing, all the "dudes" were doing it. At this time, skiing was become stale.
The dude culture from skateboarding found its way onto the snow and snowboarding was born. Parks were built only for snowboarders and this quickly became the cool thing to do.
Through the hard work and determination of a few individuals, freestyle skiing was born. This form of skiing owes everything to snowboarding. i think over the past few years that after snowboarding almost wiped skiing off the planet, there has been a change in direction. I believe that skiing has come back stronger and better than before and is starting to kill snowboarding. i think this may be due the greater diversity of two planks rather than one!
I would love to get a discussion going about where we think its come from where its going and WHY!? Why is culture as it is? Hip Hop? Style , baggy clothes, street, gangsta?
How technology was pushed by the athletes? the twin tip?
