Freestyle Skiing

Acrobats, as well as skiers. Tightrope walkers as well as athletes.

Power is nothing without technique and body control for the freestyle protagonists. The adrenaline rushing as heads duck down for a somersault.

The skis are short, with the lure of a gold medal lying just beyond all those moguls, jumps and aerials.

Freestyle skiing competitions entail going down an extremely steep course and performing aerial manoeuvres and acrobatic jumps with very short skis. The spectacularity is the common element between the discipline and the course: moguls and jumps developing on two parallel courses and merging into one single destination area.

The are two freestyle skiing specialities:

• Moguls, men's and women's;
• Aerials, men's and women's.

Moguls Specialty

Technical features

The moguls competition

The moguls competition comprises a qualifying heat and a final, with the first 16 athletes classified entitled to enter the latter. Both the qualifying heat and the final consist of a descent down a steep slope, evenly covered with moguls, in as short a time as possible, using the correct technique and performing two acrobatic manoeuvres.

The course

The course, 220/250 metres long, has a constant slope of 26/30 degrees. Two air bumps are constructed along the route in order to perform the acrobatic manoeuvres.

Score

Technique: 50% of the score
Aerials: 25% of the score
Speed: 25% of the score

Judgement criteria

Technique

keep to the line of maximum slope;
use of moguls;
minimum of one curve per mogul;
economy of movement;
absorption: the skis must remain in contact with the snow as far as possible;
carving;
position of the body;
use of ski poles;
control of skis;
aggressivity.

Aerials

Account is taken of the quality of the aerial manoeuvre (form and landing), as well as the height and spontaneity of the performance. The score assigned by the judges is multiplied by the level of difficulty of the aerial performed.

Speed

The score is calculated on the basis of a mathematical formula.

Judges

Athletes are judged by 7 judges. 5 of them judge technique (with the lowest and highest scores being rejected); 2 judge the aerials.

Aerial Event

The aerials event

The aerials event consists of the performace of two different acrobatic jumps. The sum of the scores acquired provides the final result. The first 12 athletes classified in the qualifying heat can take part in the final.

The course

The aerial course comprises a run-up, 5/7 air bumps of various heights and angles, landing and arrival.

Score

Air: 20% of the score
Form: 50% of the score
Landing: 30% of score<

Judges

Athletes are judged by 7 judges. 5 judges for Air/Form (with the lowest and highest scores being rejected); 2 judges for landing. The sum of the scores is multiplied by the level of difficulty of the jump performed.

Source: www.torino2006.org

Event schedule