Slopestyle

Slopestyle is a winter sport in which athletes ski or snowboard down a course including a variety of obstacles including rails, jumps and other terrain park features. Points are scored for amplitude, originality and quality of tricks. The discipline has its roots in action sports like skateboarding and BMX and has very successfully crossed over into the snow sports worlds of skiing and snowboarding.[1] Skiers use Twin-tip skis for their symmetry since they often go large portions of the course backward (referred to as "switch") and for their balanced weight so as to not destabilize spins. Slopestyle tricks fall mainly into four categories: spins, grinds, grabs and flips, and most tricks done in competition are a combination of these.

For the mountain biking discipline, see Freeride (mountain biking).
Slopestyle
slopestyle course.
Highest governing bodyInternational Ski Federation
Characteristics
ContactNo
Team membersSingle competitors
Mixed genderYes
TypeSnowboarding, Freestyle skiing
Presence
Olympic2014, 2018

Slopestyle is one of the freestyle disciplines, along with moguls, aerials, cross, big air and half-pipe.

History

Slopestyle became an Olympic event, in both skiing and snowboarding forms, at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.[2] The first Olympic champions in Slopestyle Skiing were American Joss Christensen for the men and Canadian Dara Howell for the women. The first Olympic champions for Snowboarding Slopestyle were both Americans, Sage Kotsenburg for the men and Jamie Anderson for the women.

Competition

In competition, athletes compete for points awarded by judges on a structured basis. The scoring criteria vary from one organization to another and from each event to the next, but in general athletes are judged on these criteria:[1][3]

  • Amplitude: Height of jumps, also called air. Bigger tricks score higher.
  • Difficulty: Degree of difficulty of the tricks.
  • Execution: How well the athletes perform their tricks. For example tight rotation, clean grabs, and smooth landing.
  • Variety: The difference of the tricks within the run. Doing the same trick of all the jumps will not score highly even if it is a very difficult trick.
  • Progression: How the trick selection progresses the sport, for example brand new tricks will score high because they push the sport forward.
  • Combinations or flow: The way the athletes string the tricks together. Having to slow down or otherwise reset after a trick will lose points.
  • Overall: The whole package, including the athlete’s personal style.

A feature that is somewhat unique to slopestyle and similar events is that even though it is a judged sport, scores cannot be compared between events: "A run that scores 65 at one event may score 75 at another event. The score is just a tool to organize the rankings and may vary based on the range and anchor score set for the day."[4]

Competitive results

Olympics
Men's Snowboarding Slopestyle results[5][6]
Competition Gold Silver Bronze
2018 Olympics Red Gerard Maxence Parrot Mark McMorris
2014 Olympics Sage Kotsenburg Ståle Sandbech Mark McMorris
Women's Snowboarding Slopestyle results[7][8]
Competition Gold Silver Bronze
2018 Olympics Jamie Anderson Laurie Blouin Enni Rukajärvi
2014 Olympics Jamie Anderson Enni Rukajärvi Jenny Jones
Men's Freestyle Skiing Slopestyle results[9][10]
Competition Gold Silver Bronze
2018 Olympics Øystein Bråten Nick Goepper Alex Beaulieu-Marchand
2014 Olympics Joss Christensen Gus Kenworthy Nick Goepper
Women's Freestyle Skiing Slopestyle results[11][12]
Competition Gold Silver Bronze
2018 Olympics Sarah Höfflin Mathilde Gremaud Isabel Atkin
2014 Olympics Dara Howell Devin Logan Kim Lamarre

References
  1. "Slopestyle". Canadian Freestyle Ski Association. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  2. "Slopestyle Approved For Sochi 2014". GamesBids.com. Archived from the original on 2011-09-04. Retrieved 2011-10-15.
  3. "What Is Slopestyle? | Winter Olympic Guide For Pyeongchang 2018". Mpora. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
  4. 2018 US Ski and Snowboard Freestyle Competition Guide
  5. Final Results - 2018 Men's Snowboard Slopestyle
  6. Final Results - 2014 Men's Snowboard Slopestyle
  7. Final Results - 2018 Women's Snowboard Slopestyle
  8. Final Results - 2014 Women's Snowboard Slopestyle
  9. Final Results - 2018 Men's Freestyle Skiing Slopestyle
  10. Final Results - 2014 Men's Freestyle Skiing Slopestyle
  11. Final Results - 2018 Women's Freestyle Skiing Slopestyle
  12. Final Results - 2014 Women's Freestyle Skiing Slopestyle
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