Last month, the FIS Snowboard & Freeski Park & Pipe Judges Handbook was released announcing poles are mandated for all level 1 competitions. The mandated poles news isn't completely shocking, especially after the debacle that happened at the World Championships in Georgia last year that resulted in a temporary mandate that required poles.

Below is an excerpt from the Judges Handbook briefly explaining the reasoning behind the implantation of the requirement.

"Poles (Freeski) It is commonly agreed that using poles drastically increases the complexity and difficulty in competitive Freeskiing. Over past seasons, the Freeskiing community came to an agreement the using poles should be mandatory in all Level 1 competitions (OWG, WC, WSC, WJC and YOG). An athlete who chooses to compete without poles will be scored accordingly and will receive a score in the crash range." - Snowboard & Freeski Park & Pipe Judges Handbook

As painful as it is to say, FIS isn't wrong in stating that having no poles makes it significantly easier to hold a grab.

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The pole vs no pole debate is certainly not breaking news, especially when FIS is involved, likely why our April Fools joke from two years ago was such a hit, "FIS To Ban Poles In Big Air Contests".

The whole freeskiing community tends to be actively against the implementation of rules but with freestyle skiing improving so quickly it's not farfetched that poles are being mandated.