Ski halfpipe is a new kind of freestyle discipline that debuted at the Olympic Games in Sochi.
Freestyle is considered a relatively young winter sport. It was first included in the Olympic Winter Games program in 1988. In Russia, these competitions are only gaining momentum, while Canadian and American athletes are already actively winning medals. In 2014, the Olympic freestyle competitions include 5 types of disciplines, among which two new ones have appeared - ski halfpipe and ski slopestyle.
What is a ski halfpipe?
The name of this discipline literally translates from English as "half pipe" or "half-pipe". It's just that athletes perform their tricks on freestyle skis on the slope, which is a U-shaped bowl. In it, the athlete begins to move from one wall to another, thereby developing speed and height. It is worth noting that this sport is not for beginner freestylers, since here you have to perform tricks on almost every movement.
During the competition, each participant comes out to show his program twice, that is, he has 2 attempts for a successful run. Each of the attempts is evaluated by judges who take into account certain tricks and give points. The sum of the points of both attempts is summed up, and the athlete who gets the maximum number of points wins.
The following types of tricks are evaluated in the ski halfpipe:
- backs: how many revolutions the athlete makes around his axis, while in the air;
- grinds: how smoothly and softly the athlete glides along the railing;
- flips: how cleanly the athlete makes a jump, while he should push off with one ski and land on the other;
- grabs: how long the athlete will be able to hold the position with the captured skis in the air before landing.
