From big air to moguls and slopestyle, what to know about freestyle skiing

Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury competes in the men’s moguls at the Freestyle World Championships in St. Moritz [AP Photo]

You might be inclined to think of freestyle skiing as one of the new kids on the block at the Winter Olympics — after all, there are lot of young athletes doing it — but some of the freeskiiing sports were introduced at the Calgary Games some 38 years ago.

Four decades of familiarity with moguls, the halfpipe, big air and more have turned some of these daring athletes into household names and their tricks have gotten more and more creative.

How it works

The three most popular disciplines in this sport fall under the category of “freeskiing” — halfpipe, slopestyle and big air. Those are judged contests in which skiers are graded on how high they fly and the difficulty of their tricks. In moguls, skiers are scored on their form through the bumps and two jumps along with their overall speed. In aerials, which shares some similarities with big air, skiers flip and twist as soar more than 40 feet (12 meters) into the air. There’s also skicross, a set of side-by-side elimination showdowns that closes with a four-person race for the medals.

Who to watch?

Eileen Gu is the star of this sport. She grew up in San Francisco but competes for her mother’s native country of China. Four years ago, she became the first action-sports athlete to win three medals at one Olympics — gold in halfpipe and big air and silver in slopestyle. Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury is generally viewed as the best moguls skier of all time. He had 99 World Cup wins heading into this season, along with a gold and two silver medals at the Olympics. American Alex Hall, who considers himself as much of an artist as an athlete on the slopes, looks to defend his title in slopestyle.

Memorable moments

Halfpipe freeskiing debuted in 2014, shortly after its foremost pioneer, Sarah Burke, died in a training accident. She had lobbied to get freeskiing into the Olympics. On a magical night in Russia, Burke’s parents were in the stands to watch the contest, which ended with the maintenance crew paying tribute to her by skiing down the halfpipe in the shape of a heart. In 2022, Gu capped off her third medal of the Beijing Games — a gold — with a joy-filled “victory lap” down the halfpipe after she had already secured the victory.

Fun facts

Slopestyle courses double as works of art; at the Olympics, it gives course builders a chance incorporate elements of their country into the Olympic playing field. In Russia, skiers had the option of jumping over a giant Russian nesting doll. In Beijing, the course was lined with a replica of the Great Wall, complete with a guard house (the “shred shed”) built as an option on the rails course. It’s a secretive process, and as of now, what visual treats will line the course at Livigno Snow Park remain a mystery.

The winter games’ venues are in Livigno, a three-hour drive northeast of Milan. Some of the key dates include big air Feb. 14-17, halfpipe Feb. 19-21 and skicross Feb. 20-21. MDT/AP