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At what point did aerials stop being skiing?

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Drail
Posts: 14012 - Karma: 10,010
This isn't really a serious question, it's more meant as an exercise to think about stuff from a different angle and be more open minded towards things.

Since the double's started becoming acceptable in the park skiing world (I say acceptable because people like the Schrab brothers were doing that shit back in the beginning but people didn't really take too well) people on NS have been saying "skiing is now aerials".

Well, as the title of the thread suggests: When did aerials stop being skiing and become whatever it is now? Aerials and moguls skiing are the natural result of the original "freestyle" movement decades past. Moguls went one way, aerials went another, but in the end, it's on a pair of downhill skis and therefore can still be part of the alpine skiing world, no?

I bring this question up because now with the emergence of triples in the competition scene of park skiing and the Olympics on the horizon, what is going to happen to both slopestyle/big air and aerials? When the world sees park skiers doing switch triples with different axis and body positions will aerials have the popularity to survive? If not, what does that mean as far as what this community deems "cool" and what not.

Since the days of the switch 1080 taking over the big air scene the community of park skiing has been split into those that want style and those that want technical difficulty. Well, I predict that once Sochi has come and gone we are going to have to actually address this issue head on. Think about it: the world sees park skiers do switch triple 1440 tail japan and the death of aerials won't be too far behind. If/when that happens, is the competitive side of the sport than trapped in an endless spiral towards more technically difficult trend with no real room for style?

One could argue that such a mentality has ALWAYS been the driving force behind competition skiing, and if that's the case - how has competitive park skiing EVER been different from aerials skiing? Are they not already one and the same?


Mar 18 2013 4:32PM
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Miomo
Posts: 4302 - Karma: 14,133
If aerials isn't dead by now, I don't think it'll ever die.
Mar 18 2013 4:34PM
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will_powder
Posts: 3194 - Karma: 5,445
Ask a Chinese aerials skier to make a turn. There's your difference.
Mar 18 2013 4:35PM
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NewEscuelers
Posts: 1210 - Karma: 10,960
i remember the "skiing is becoming aeriels" days. i guess we just ran out of things to do as "park skiers" and decided to make aeriels look steezy. soon enough park skiers will be doing more flips/rotations than aeriel skiers. unless they already have...
Mar 18 2013 4:35PM
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N.L.
Posts: 2420 - Karma: 2,744
snowboarding is going in the same direction, there will always be those who keep it freestyle
Mar 18 2013 4:37PM
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kootenayklaus
Posts: 3914 - Karma: 2,179
Bingo.
Mar 18 2013 4:39PM
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bnewbs6
Posts: 1919 - Karma: 1,463
.
Mar 18 2013 4:43PM
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Drail
Posts: 14012 - Karma: 10,010
See, I'm not fully sold on that argument.

There have been many cross over athletes over the years in many different sports. There have been inline skaters who have become successful pro park skiers for example. It's just that there haven't been any that only do bir air (yet). If aerials involved more actual skiing technique, the gymnasts would learn how to turn more efficiently. Dylan Ferguson is an aerials skier, would you not admit that he is also a sick skier in other venues of the sport?

Think about all those kids who are learning how to ski and went straight for the park to hit rails... ask them to make a turn, think they'd be any better than your gymnastics aerials person? Ok, yeah, the gymnast is a world class athlete and the kid is just a kid, but I don't think that a few 'bad apples' is a good representation of the sport as a whole.
Mar 18 2013 4:46PM
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a_burger
Posts: 5235 - Karma: 20,715
I would say in the late 70's early 80's when they stopped judging all 3 events (Moguls, aerials, and ballet) together. You had to be good at skiing to win all 3.

Then when the Olympics came around in 1992 places just started churning out gymnasts and the skiing side was lost completely.
Mar 18 2013 4:49PM
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scarsimd
Posts: 668 - Karma: 773
style will never di3
Mar 18 2013 4:56PM
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mountaindewgirl
Posts: 2285 - Karma: 20,798
Bump
Apr 16 2021 2:23AM
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AndrewGravesSV
Posts: 3083 - Karma: 15,098
Slopestyle has different lines you can take through the rail sections, different axes and grabs on the jumps, not to mention having control speed in between features by linking turns and skiing. Also every course is different. It inherently has more options for creativity than aerials. Aerials stopped being skiing when you didn't have to turn.

Not to saying that people who compete aerials can't be sick skiers but the sport itself is gymnastics
Apr 16 2021 11:19AM
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asparagus
Posts: 2476 - Karma: 28,189
Aerials isn’t seen as a skiing discipline because most aerial skiers aren’t good skiers. Throw any professional park, mogul or freeride skier on a resort and they’ll rip, unlike the aerial guys whose skills don’t translate into actual skiing. People always complain about comp jock big air guys not knowing how to ski but you gotta be somewhat of a competent skier to go Mach 10 of a 70 foot jump and land switch.
Apr 16 2021 11:32AM
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hi_vis360
Posts: 5022 - Karma: 50,866
AndrewGravesSVAerials stopped being skiing when you didn't have to turn.


this. being good at turning = being good at skiing, that's why good ski racers can rip all mountain and can pick up park skiing pretty quickly

**This post was edited on Apr 16th 2021 at 3:41:17pm
Apr 16 2021 3:40PM
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freestyler540
Posts: 13083 - Karma: 18,720
Ever since countries extracted failed gymnasts from gymnastics and trained them on water ramps instead. Then perfected the method and pumping them out straight to Olympics.

Im looking at you China.
Apr 17 2021 11:54AM
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