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Snowboard Frontside Airs

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Price_Police
Posts: 444 - Karma: 1,786
snowboarders have always found a way to make simple, straight air tricks look really rad. They can even incorporate such airs into a half pipe run without getting dinged on the score sheet - Something even the best half pipe skiers have never been able to accomplish.


Is it because snowboarding lends itself to more iconic, stylish grabs adopted from skateboarding, which makes them more acceptable?
Are we simply not trying as skiers to perfect the art of a straight air that looks good and can be appreciated by the masses; or is our culture so ingrained in spin-to-win that not spinning on a feature would deem the whole line subpar?

The board culture has certainly mastered the concept of less is more. Meanwhile, it seems skiing has taken a path substantiated by furthering technicality, similar to inline skating.


would like to hear others thoughts on this
Jul 18 2020 2:06PM
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little1337
Posts: 8262 - Karma: 48,269
I think it would be cool to see some switch zero spins in a pipe run with some insanely tweaked out mute or something. I think the grab tweaking is the key here and is why snowboarders can get away with it because they tweak so hard
Jul 18 2020 5:57PM
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Price_Police
Posts: 444 - Karma: 1,786
That’s a good point. The tweak is key. I think a super tweaked mute grab is as classic as it gets.
Jul 18 2020 6:16PM
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a_burger
Posts: 5240 - Karma: 20,806
y'all out here acting like skiers haven't been doing steezy straight airs since forever


https://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/968365/Duncan-Adams---X-Games-Switch-Straight-Air


the only reason they don't score well in comps is because FIS sucks
Jul 18 2020 8:54PM
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jerm
Posts: 947 - Karma: 1,061
It's about hang, float and drift. Think about it the same as a regular NBA player dunking the ball. Now think about Michael Jordan dunking the ball. Why was Jordan's dunk more iconic? It was because he would "hang" in the air. Snowboarders seem to have a better ability to grab, tweak, hang, and let the trick drift through the air only to bring it back at the last minute.

I've seen a few skiers get there and a few more get pretty close pretty often. But I really think if skiers focus on the hang, float and drift aspect you will see a similar aesthetic.
Jul 20 2020 2:08PM
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Hamez
Posts: 87 - Karma: 576
guess this guy has never seen Parker White straight air...
Jul 22 2020 12:32AM
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270on420out
Posts: 7514 - Karma: 51,163
Stylish simple airs absolutely exist in skiing. They’re not impossible, they’re just not as common as we see in snowboarding because of the nature of our sports. Although park skiing may have been conceived through snowboarding, comparing board sports to skiing is like comparing apples and oranges. Sideways facing vs. Forwards facing. 2 edges vs. 4 edges. There have always been skiers who have opted for height, steeze, and speed over technicality. I love to watch videos from the early 2000s of our pioneers going absolutely massive. Our sports may be different, but the sentiment is all the same.
Jul 22 2020 9:22AM
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armchair_skier
Posts: 2349 - Karma: 29,658
The reason pipe skiers can’t make a straight air look good is because they are all robots programmed to win and robots can’t understand that their dub 10 is way uglier than a clean straight air because numerically/objectively the dub 10 is harder/worth more points.
Jul 22 2020 12:24PM
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theabortionator
Posts: 51747 - Karma: 163,571
Idk. I think something about it just looks better. I could be biased and probably am but a big ole mute ir something and a method on the backside look better than a lot of skiing straight airs to me.


I think both sports have gotten better at getting crazy tricks but steuggle to get the height. People were getting upper teens in snowboarsing maybe even 20 and skiers were getting like 22 feet out. Idk if thats accurate but they were going huge. Now sometimes one of the best runs will average like 8 feet but never go higher than 10 or 11.

Idk i don't even go above head height in the pipe so i can't call anyone out but I miss thing peope were going to end up at the international space station every time they launched out of the pipe..
Jul 22 2020 12:57PM
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SofaKingSick
Posts: 9339 - Karma: 61,306
OP i kinda hear what you're saying park wise but skiers still lay claim to the most pure straight airs that exist: straight bombs off cliffs so big you're barely holding on and keeping your hands in front of you, forget grabbing!
Jul 22 2020 1:33PM
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theabortionator
Posts: 51747 - Karma: 163,571
SofaKingSickOP i kinda hear what you're saying park wise but skiers still lay claim to the most pure straight airs that exist: straight bombs off cliffs so big you're barely holding on and keeping your hands in front of you, forget grabbing!


I mean a giant 0 spin in the park will always get me aroused
Jul 22 2020 1:41PM
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jerm
Posts: 947 - Karma: 1,061
I would even go as far to say that snowboarding doesn't have anything that compares to the zero spin. Sure we have "the method" but when Wallisch froze time with his zero at Hood that one summer everyone that likes to ride down snow and fly through the air took notice.
theabortionatorI mean a giant 0 spin in the park will always get me aroused
Jul 22 2020 1:51PM
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theabortionator
Posts: 51747 - Karma: 163,571
jermI would even go as far to say that snowboarding doesn't have anything that compares to the zero spin. Sure we have "the method" but when Wallisch froze time with his zero at Hood that one summer everyone that likes to ride down snow and fly through the air took notice.


Yeah I agree. Although I think a giant tweaked method will always look good. There a lot more gnar factor on a zero. Def skiings best "straight air" trick imo.
Jul 22 2020 2:05PM
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