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MOGULS
Aggressive Turns and 3-D Tricks are on Parade!
Moguls are the most popular event in freestyle skiing. It is an event of the Olympics also, and the worldwide publicity is far ahead of the other ones. Every athlete must ski down on steep bumpy courses, and perform tricks after flying off each two air bumps on the course. They compete with rivals in stressing technical turns, the difficulty and perfection of air maneuvers, and speed. The rule has been changed widely, after SALT LAKE CITY Olympics in 2002. The scoring format has been altered, for example, permitted using vertical air tricks, and obliged to wear helmets along with that. Specifically, USA, Canada, Finland, France, and Japan have a lot of powerful Moguls athletes.
DUAL MOGULS
The Heated Battle is the Very Basics for Moguls
To put it plainly, it is a tournament version of Moguls. The champion is decided on the way that two athletes ski down at the same time, and the winner goes to the next race, however not all skiers who reached one's goal first can get win because air tricks and turn quality are also judged. Anyway, we can't miss this event, because there are more athletes ski down at extraordinary high-speed than in single Moguls. In the early World championships, the Dual style had been used in only finals (until Championships LAKE PLACID in 1991). It has been revived as an independent event since the Championships MEIRINGEN in 1999(Switzerland). To ski aggressive is required in Dual, which lead not a few competitors to bring out their own real ability.
SKI CROSS
The Hybrid Event "Get ahead or lose"
Ski Cross is a new event that has become major in the late 1990s. Four competitors ski down on a course about 1km all at once to judge who is the fastest. Grand champion is decided by the tournament style with that rule. This event has not only a strong aspect that "go fast at any rate" as Alpine Skiing, but also has one like a freestyle skiing since there are artificially made "banks" "table top jumps" "washboards" on the course. Ski Cross has appeared in World Championships since the one RUKA (Finland) in 2005.
AERIALS
The Contest by Bird Men with Distinguished Techniques
This is an event that aerialists ski off the big ski jumps without poles, and compete the difficulty and perfection of their maneuvers. It has been played since the Genesis of freestyle ski, same as Moguls. The difficulty level of the maneuvers has advanced year by year, and the excellent techniques by the top athletes are worth watching. The entertaining part is so strong in the event that Aerial shows are often held among many parts of the world. It has become one of Olympics event since CALGARY Olympics in 1988 (as an exhibition game), and has taken root as an official event since LILLEHAMMER Olympics in 1994.
HALFPIPE
Expand the Possibility of Skiing
Athletes ski the course shaped "U" which is like cut pipe into half horizontally, repeat tricks at walls on both side, and compete to get points by judgment. This style of event has generalized in Skateboarding, Snowboarding, and in-line Skates ahead of Ski. This is the mainstream in Snowboard contest, and has become official one since NAGANO Olympics in 1998. Skiing halfpipe got popular in Europe and America in the late 1990s, and has become one of an event of World Championships. Halfpipe has been held in World Championships since the one RUKA (Finland) in 2005. It is expected to expand the possibility in future though it is still well unknown.
