(English) freestyle skiing) is a type of skiing. Freestyle includes: ski acrobatics, skicross and mogul. Ski ballet, one of the freestyle disciplines that existed until 1999, was excluded from the programs of official competitions. The ballet consisted of a descent along a gentle slope to musical accompaniment with a demonstration of the elements of sliding, steps, rotations, and jumps.

In ski acrobatics, athletes from a specially profiled springboard perform a series of jumps and somersaults of varying complexity. Springboards come in 3 types: large (height 3.5 m, slope 65 °); medium (3.2 m, 63°); small (2.1 m, 55°). The landing mountain must be covered with loose snow. Points are awarded for lift-off technique, flight altitude and length, element shape and landing.

Mogul- this is a descent along a hilly, hummocky slope. Maneuvering between the hillocks, the athlete constantly turns his legs with skis in one direction or the other. The descent route contains two jumps, on which the skier demonstrates jumps. The performance is evaluated according to the following criteria: the technique of turns, the complexity of jumps and the quality of their execution, as well as the time of descent.

Ski cross- a race on a special ski track, which includes snow obstacles in the form of various jumps, waves, and turns. Ski-cross competitions are held in two stages. At the first stage, in qualifying, athletes pass the track for a while one at a time. According to the qualification results, athletes are divided into groups of four to participate in the finals. The final races are held according to the Olympic scheme, with elimination, the winner is the one who comes to the finish line first.

In the middle of the 20th century, in some countries of Central Europe, skiers began to get involved in competition not only in the speed of descending the slopes, but also in the beauty of the movements, turns and other technical elements performed during this, as well as rather complex acrobatic exercises.

The freestyle craze, which originated in Europe and the USA, swept the entire skiing world in a short time. Amateur local competitions began everywhere, but when their rank rose to the level of national championships and international tournaments, the need arose for unified rules.

In 1966 freestyle first seriously asserted itself as a sport when a major freestyle competition was held in the United States in the city of Attachitash, New Hampshire. In the future, freestyle competitions began to be held more and more often with the participation of athletes from Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Austria, the USA, Canada, France and other countries of Europe and America.

Freestyle has been included in the program of the Winter Olympics since 1992.(men and women) - mogul only, ski acrobatics included since 1994.

Since 1975, annual competitions have been held on freestyle world cup.

In 1979, the International Ski Federation (FIS) created a technical committee for freestyle skiing - and this sport is included in the program of international competitions held under the auspices of the FIS. The Freestyle Technical Committee has developed a unified competition regulation.

In February 1986, France hosted the first world championship in this sport.

At the XV Winter Olympics in Calgary in 1988, demonstration performances demonstrated unique numbers in all types of freestyle.

To our country freestyle came in the 1970s, as an independent sport took shape after 1985. In 1988, an independent USSR Freestyle Federation was created. In the same year, for the first time in the USSR, in Dombai, international freestyle competitions were held, included in the official FIS calendar. Liza Kozhevnikova became the winner of three stages of the World Cup, and Sergey Shchupletsov - in all-around and Vasilisa Semenchuk - in ski acrobatics became the first among Russian freestylers to become world champions on the tracks of the American resort of Wayne.

The Olympic debut of Russian freestyle took place at the Winter Olympics in Calgary (1988). Demonstration performances in acrobatics were demonstrated by Vasilisa Semenchuk and Andrey Lisitsky.

The world champions in ski ballet were Elena Batalova in 1995, Oksana Kushchenko in 1997, Natalia Razumovskaya in 1999, and Vasilisa Semenchuk in acrobatic jumps in 1991.

Freestyle "Free style", translated from English means "free style" - a relatively young kind of skiing, since the 1950s, managed to gain popularity, and is rightfully included in the program of the Winter Olympic Games. Freestyle disciplines: "ski acrobatics", "mogul", "ski-cross", "half-pipe", and very young "slopestyle". They also include two non-Olympic disciplines - "new school skiing" and the abolished "ski ballet". All these types require incredible dexterity, courage and bravado from athletes. After all, they are accompanied by a huge risk to health, and are more than traumatic.

Freestyle as a type of skiing began its history in the middle of the 20th century, since 1971, before that it was known as a “mountain show”, it was entertainment for wealthy aristocrats vacationing in ski resorts.

In 1926, the first specialized author's book about freestyle, represented only by ski ballet, was published with the same name. Written by skier and mountaineer Dr. Fritz Ruehl.

• 1975 The popularity of freestyle increases so much that the World Cups begin to be held.

• 1978 freestyle is included in the Olympic skiing program.

• In 1988, the first Olympic competitions in this type of skiing take place - the venue for the XV Winter Olympics in Calgary.

Classic freestyle disciplines

• Ski acrobatics. The type of discipline speaks for itself: complex acrobatic stunts are performed on skis. For this, a specially prepared profiled huge springboard is used, which is designed for thousands of spectators to want to watch the participant. The whole track consists of three main parts: acceleration mountains, freestyle platforms with various types, complexity and sizes of springboards for jumping, and a steep slope for landing.

At the competitions, only jumps declared in advance and approved by many years of practice in the sports world, such as somersaults, screws, free jumps, are performed. Jumps are evaluated for flight, form and landing, the main criterion is complexity.

• Mogul- a type of discipline that is closest to the real conditions of descent along unequipped mountain slopes. Mogul involves descending a dangerous hilly slope, the ledges of which are called Mogul. In principle, the tracks, which are not too carefully looked after, have their own moguls, and even entire fields. Often circled by skiers, they become even more visible and steeper. Moguls are prepared in advance for competitions. By the way, elements of skiing with a coup over the head are strictly prohibited in mogul - this is too dangerous.

The first in the history of freestyle and Olympic champion in mogul among men was Franz Edgar Grospiron, among women - American D. Weybrecht.

Mogul is present in both the freestyle World Cup program and the Olympic program. Competitions are held in single and double mogul. Speed, jumps (purity of their execution) and turns are evaluated.

• Ski cross is a type of race on a specially prepared and equipped ski track, and there is still a disagreement whether this type belongs to freestyle or alpine skiing. Skis for this discipline require special ones, with well-defined carving geometry, which allows them to develop high speed on turns, and only pros can handle many models. Competitions in this discipline are held in two stages. The first is called "qualification" and involves the passage of the track for a while. Of those who showed the best results, 32 participants are chosen, who go to the second stage - the final. Skiers are divided into quadras, from each quadra the two who have shown the best results are selected until eight remain, fighting for 1-8 places in the final.

• Slopestyle- a type of freestyle in which the skier performs complex jumps and tricks using springboards, complex pyramids, railings, counter-slopes. The fantasy of freestyle fans is unrestrained. This discipline is extremely dangerous, and requires excellent physical preparation of the athlete, because injuries on the track are a frequent occurrence. The beauty of slopestyle is that, passing along the same track, the skier can choose the obstacle to his taste.

• Halfpipe- this is a ski slope, on a specially built structure for competitions in various extreme sports in the form of a concave plane. During the descent, a number of acrobatic stunts are performed. The complexity of the jumps, the height and purity of their execution are evaluated. Competitions in this sport are held in two traditional stages: qualification and final. In qualifying, each skier performs two races, the best one counts. According to the result of the qualification, six or twelve best athletes are selected, who will have the opportunity to compete for the first places. Included in the freestyle program of the Olympic Games.