What is it?
Competitors jump off huge, specially-made kickers (jumps) and perform complex somersaults and twists as high as 17m above the ground. All competitors wear helmets and often practise their jumps during the off-season on ramps with a water landing. Many also practise their tricks by trampolining with their skis on. Broken backs are not uncommon if a jump goes wrong.
Rules
Two different jumps must be performed and marks are awarded for the quality of form in the air (70 per cent) and the precision and control of landing (30 per cent).
History
Trick skiing was first seen in Norway in the 1700s and by the 1920s skiers in Austria and Norway were doing aerials and somersaults. The sport became part of the Olympics first as a demonstration sport in 1988 and then as an official event in Lillehammer in 1994.
Random fact
Slapback is the aerial term for falling backwards and slamming your back on the ground when you land.
The lowdown
- The current men's Olympic champion is Czech Ales Valenta.
- One of the toughest jumps on the circuit is a treble backwards somersault.
- The strongest nations are traditionally America and Canada.
- Aerial skis are specially made with an hourglass shape in the middle and wider tips at the ends; they are also shorter than normal skis. This gives more control in the air.
The one to beat
Former Olympic champion Eric Bergoust is the most exciting aerialist in world skiing. If in doubt he goes for it, as he did at the Salt Lake City Olympics where he got far too much speed up off the runway and ended up over-rotating and landing on his back.
|
