The big bang: The expanding universe of freeski competition, no longer an oxymoron

The big bang: The expanding universe of freeski competition, no longer an oxymoronIt’s only been about a decade since the terms “freeride” and “freeskier” were first used to describe a new movement in the sport and the athletes who compete in non-traditional racing and freestyle events. But in that short time, the freeride movement has had a major impact on skiing, from just about every perspective. It’s given the sport a new identity as an exciting alternative sport; it’s breathed life into what many believed was a stagnant industry; and it’s offered a legitimate venue for racers to continue in the sport, regardless of their level of racing success.

Today, there are three distinct disciplines in the freeride competitive world – big mountain, skiercross and what’s known as “new school” freestyle. Each has grown and matured in the last 10 years – to the point where even the International Ski Federation (FIS) is making noises about hopping on the bandwagon. Here’s a look at where the three are entering the 2003-04 season.

Big mountain: Competing? Or filming?

The extreme skiing championships held in Valdez, Alaska, during the early 1990s drew competitors from around the world. In those days, the equipment skiers were using ranged from old slalom or GS skis to just about anything the cash-strapped competitors could afford. The choice of equipment was reflected in the techniques – short-radius turns, hop turns and some side-slipping to approach a drop off a rock cliff. But as competitors progressed and the events grew in popularity, manufacturers took notice and began to design ski equipment to address the needs of these athletes.

A turning point in big mountain competition, according to many, came during a filming session in Alaska in 1997. A former U.S. Ski Team athlete – turned mountain bike racer, turned freeskier – was given a chance to take a run for the cameras. The same pitch had been skied a year earlier by one of the top extreme skiers of the day. He’d taken several minutes and close to 90 turns to negotiate a 50-degree, 2,000-vertical-foot wall. But on a newly designed ski from Dynastar and with the skills that came from two world junior championship medals and a ninth place in GS at the Olympics, Jeremy Nobis pushed off on cue and created one of skiing’s milestone moments. He screamed down that face in five huge super G-style turns in under 30 seconds, forever changing the way big mountains were skied.

Like Nobis, the majority of current big mountain athletes either grew up in mountain environments and/or had some degree of racing background – ranging from learning their skiing skills at a young age in a junior race program to reaching the NorAm, Europa Cup or World Cup level. Today, Nobis, Seth Morrison and former Burke Mountain Academy racer Shane McConkey can be seen in ski films doing mind-boggling descents on the most insane mountains on the planet. But you won’t find them in big mountain competitions anymore.

These days, there are two distinct sets of athletes in the big mountain category: those who compete and those who film. In general, the driven European athletes are more into competition, particularly on the men’s side, while the laidback North Americans concentrate on filming. There are a few who are into both – France’s Enak Gavagio and Guerlain Chicherit and Sweden’s Kaj Zackrickson come to mind – but they’re the exceptions. More typical is Canadian Hugo Harrison, who dominated competitions for three seasons, but dropped off the tour last year to pursue more film opportunities.

The divide is due in part to the exposure big mountain competitions get in Europe – the media pay attention, the crowds are bigger, and thus the purses are larger. In North America, the venues are generally far off the beaten path and difficult for spectators to reach, and the competitions usually take two days or longer, often in less-than-ideal weather. It’s a bit of a risk for top athletes to attend, particularly when weighed against an opportunity to do, say, three weeks of filming in Alaska. A featured segment in a film is guaranteed to bring more exposure to the athletes – and their sponsors – than any competition.

Of course, contests are still important in North America, if only as opportunities for athletes to gain recognition and, therefore, sponsors – and ultimately an invitation for a film shoot.

New school freestyle: We be jibbin’

New school freestyle is easier to compare to skateboarding and big-air motocross than to traditional freestyle aerials and bumps. Big air, slopestyle and halfpipe competitions have the ambiance of an MTV music video rather than a ski race … which may be why this is the fastest growing segment within skiing today.

The first serious exposure for this new format came from the inaugural ESPN Winter X Games, just six years ago. By the second year of the big air event, ski manufacturers had developed twin-tip skis. In those early years, the “New Canadian Air Force” of J.P. Auclair, J.F. Cusson, Vinnie Dorion and Mike Douglas (following in the boot-prints of the high-flying Jean-Luc Brassard and other more traditional Canadian freestylers) showed what could be done with a pair of twin-tip skis. Today, moves that were cutting edge then are part of the repertoire for reasonably accomplished 13-year-olds.

But the top pros like C.R. Johnson, Tanner Hall, Jon Olsonn, Candide Thovex and Iannick Broulett keep coming up with new and ever bolder ideas about where to take their skiing. They’re the current masters of the jib scene – but they’re being pushed already by a third generation of kids like Simon Dumont, Mike Wilson, Pep Fujas and John Symms.

According to Broulett, more commonly known as Iannick B., the new schoolers look at filming and competing much like the big mountain athletes. “For sure the top guys will compete in the big contests like X Games and the U.S. Open because of the exposure and prize money,” he says, “but filming gives us a chance to push the sport to a new level.” Last season, C.R. Johnson competed in only two events, yet laid down a legendary run in the X Games halfpipe, getting by far the biggest air ever seen in the halfpipe discipline. In addition to the X Games – the finals and some of the qualifying events – Iannnick says other must-do events are the U.S. Open, the Orage Masters and the Telus World Ski Invitational.

The FIS is trying to get into the jib culture by sanctioning a few halfpipe events. Some insiders see this as a futile attempt to get a foothold in the new school movement. Bruno Bertrand of Salomon notes that “the top guys like C.R. are not going to change their lifestyles just to be on the U.S. Ski Team so they can compete in FIS-sanctioned events.” In France, the French Ski Federation (the equivalent of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association in this country) has tried to create a halfpipe team within its freestyle ski team, with its own supplier pool and regulations for qualifying. Candide Thovex, the top French talent, scoffs at the idea. He would rather host his own event: The Candide Invitational is scheduled for his hometown resort of La Clusaz on March 15.

Former-competitor-turned-film-star Eric Pollard thinks the FIS circuit could work as “a proving ground for younger competitors and a good opportunity for them to showcase their talents.” He thinks FIS involvement might be “detrimental to the sport in the short run but good in the long run,” because of the exposure the FIS can generate for its events – if it does things right.

Skiercross: Get ready to rumble

Today’s skiercross has come a long way since the inaugural days of the original Lord of the Board series and the first X Games. What was born in the spirit of freeride – where the structure and rigidity of racing was abhorred – eventually became the NASCAR of skiing.

In the early days of skiercross
, just about the only rule was that athletes couldn’t wear speed suits. So racers adopted the baggy snowboard look, until some of the factory teams brought in hockey jerseys, and then some kids started wearing motocross garb, complete with visored, full-face helmets. At a World Cup race, you see athletes dressed in their national team uniforms racing for their country. At a skiercross event, you see athletes dressed in their sponsors’ attire and racing for their factory teams. The most successful team program right now is Salomon, which has a full-time team manager and up to two service technicians for six or seven athletes.

Two of the best skiercross athletes in the world are brothers and ex-USST racers Zach and Reggie Crist. Both are former X Games champs. They’ve seen the event mature and credit improvements in course design, but believe there is still much work to do. Zach would “like to see courses where there are passing lanes,” so the heats are more than just races for the all-important “hole shot,” the spot, usually not far below the start, after which racers usually end up skiing single file to the finish. Reggie says part of the allure of skiercross is that “it’s so easy for spectators to follow. You don’t need to have a trained eye to see where a racer lost a tenth here or missed his line there to lose a race as in traditional race formats.” He thinks it’s also more interesting because, with six skiers in a heat, “instead of man vs. mountain, you see man vs. mountain vs. men.”

After experimenting last season with a few events, the FIS has adopted skiercross under the World Cup freestyle umbrella and is offering a schedule of nine contests this season. There will also be Europa Cup-level events. According to Salomon’s Bertrand, “The FIS is trying to be the governing body of skiercross, but they have no experience. They will need one or two years to learn how to organize the events and design the courses.”

Most of the top athletes, therefore, will dabble in the FIS-sanctioned events and concentrate on the more lucrative contests run by independent organizers. Zach Crist seems to be taking an approach typical of the top guns: He’ll attend the December World Cup events as training for the X Games – and to see if the FIS puts on a good event – and then re-evaluate pursuing the rest of the FIS calendar.

The Big Daddy of events in skiercross is the X Games. “ESPN has changed the level of exposure for skiing,” says Zach Crist. “It has eclipsed even an Olympic downhill event.” In part, he says, that’s because “ESPN repeats the telecast over and over,” and because the events are covered extensively by European media. No, an X Games skiercross medal doesn’t have more prestige than Olympic downhill gold, but in terms of increasing the number of people exposed to skiing, ESPN and its skiercross event have done more than their share.

To add even more punch, ESPN is toying with the idea of holding the skiercross at night this year in Aspen, to accommodate live prime-time coverage.

Athletes to watch in skiercross this year, in addition to the Brothers Crist, are former X Games champion Enak Gavagio, last year’s winner Lars Lewin and four-time women’s champ Aleisha Cline.