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US ski team to propose big air event for the olympics

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RubberSoul
Posts: 11249 - Karma: 14,642
Just saw this on unofficial

http://unofficialnetworks.com/ski-team-propose-big-air-event-olympics-131010/

and hadn't heard anything about it on here yet.

Thoughts?
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May 29 2014 11:15AM
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00000000
Posts: 11075 - Karma: 82,508
Another article
May 29 2014 11:24AM
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CheddarJack
Posts: 5203 - Karma: 7,380
Big air in no way defines freeskiing - it's not a sport by itself. If it was, it'd just be glorified aerials. It's as much of a "sport" as a rail jam would be.

Slopestyle is better in the sense that it's a better test of skill as it requires rail skills, jump skills, creativity, and more general skiing abilities, which more so defines freeskiing, or at least the park aspect to it.
May 29 2014 11:28AM
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RubberSoul
Posts: 11249 - Karma: 14,642
CheddarJackBig air in no way defines freeskiing - it's not a sport by itself. If it was, it'd just be glorified aerials. It's as much of a "sport" as a rail jam would be.

Slopestyle is better in the sense that it's a better test of skill as it requires rail skills, jump skills, creativity, and more general skiing abilities, which more so defines freeskiing, or at least the park aspect to it.


i think i'm inclined to agree. I love watching big air for the crazy stuff that goes down, but slope has things going for it that will keep it cool and true to our sport that i don't think are guaranteed in big air
May 29 2014 11:40AM
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John18_6
Posts: 7313 - Karma: 49,158
inb4 quads
May 29 2014 11:43AM
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John18_6
Posts: 7313 - Karma: 49,158
Sorry for dub post but it's already in the Olympics too.
May 29 2014 11:46AM
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arnie_grape
Posts: 3426 - Karma: 11,362
no thanks.

and if it does end up getting added no gaper will ever be able to tell the difference between big air and aerials. I'm pretty confident it won't be accepted though as there was talk of removing slopestyle because it was "too dangerous"

and as it was said above me they might as well add rail jams too because big air really isn't much of an event on it's own. sure it's a lot of fun to compete in and see new jump tricks but besides JOI and xgames I find big air events pretty repetitive.
May 29 2014 12:23PM
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mski
Posts: 4791 - Karma: 3,803
They should have an aerialist and a freeskiier do tandem big air hits next to one another.
May 29 2014 12:35PM
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Holte
Posts: 10730 - Karma: 7,744
Historically big air is a bit of a crap shoot. On one hand, there have been embarrassing moments like double frontflips winning major events, but on the other hand we've seen groundbreaking tricks like sw dub mistys and butter triple corks.

I've always thought big air would make for a good Olympic spectacle. It's an event that doesn't mean much, but has the capacity to seriously progress the level of professional skiing. Think Goepper would have a butter dub cork if Henrik hadn't won X-Games big air? Doubt it. Powder had a good article on it a few years ago: http://www.powdermag.com/stories/olympic-big-air/

Now that we're months away from freeskiing's debut in the Olympics, the best thing about it in my mind was talking with other NSers who were crazy enough to get up in the very very early hours of the morning to watch a low-quality British livestream of the events. It was fucking fun!!!

I can't think of a downside of adding big air to the Olympics. It's always been sort of a weird event, yet occasionally incredibly exciting, and if there's a chance that it's the latter and I can get stoked with you guys at 3:45am about an underdog throwing an absurd trick that nobody though was possible, I'm in.
May 29 2014 12:52PM
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BWalmer
Posts: 9141 - Karma: 12,883
The benefit to having it in the Olympics is the exposure it'll bring the sport. Let's face it, big air at say X-Games is generally way more exciting and gets way more views than slope or pipe, at least from a general population aspect. If it's in the olympics the sport will gain more exposure, more exposure means more money for companies, more money for companies means more money for athletes so they don't have to all be broke. I can almost guarantee that sales on "twin tip skis" increase in the 6 months following olympics than they did in the same time frame in years past.

Am I in favor of the event being added? Yes. Will I personally watch it? Probably not, I'll just wait for the highlights, if that.
May 29 2014 12:56PM
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Mingg
Posts: 13936 - Karma: 48,464
I think for people who know nothing about freestyle skiing, big air wouldn't be as exciting. The title makes it sound exciting but one trick at a time might bore the audience. In slope and pipe they have a run with several different tricks being done and there's a bunch of different things going on but in big air it's just one trick. For us it's really cool because we can put into perspective just how big those tricks are but to a normal person it might just look like one jump from slope and that's not exciting to them.

I think it would be awesome for skiing to have another event in the Olympics but the reality and likelihood of it are slim at the moment in my opinion.
May 29 2014 1:02PM
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boo10159
Posts: 270 - Karma: 137
The Olympics will be the death of freeskiing as we know it. If you don't believe me, go back to when NORBA took over mountain biking. It ruined the competitive side of the sport. It won't be long until mountains are hating on park (even more than they already are) and regulating how we ski. Inb4 IOC takeover of skiing.
May 29 2014 3:32PM
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cheener12
Posts: 2881 - Karma: 5,882
FUCK THAT
May 29 2014 3:34PM
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404404
Posts: 11358 - Karma: 21,033
Do it... You wont!

Why not?

We already have half pipe and slope so why not big air? Do you want to kill a fellow freeskiers chance to win a gold metal, get a big endorsement deal, and be a national hero?

Big air can be just as exciting as slope. Its more focused event that the public can get into, and not be AS confused about. Its a heroic event that with a decent announcer can make into something dramatic.

Think about it....

Luke is announcing and its just two skiers left with one jump each.... Skier X is in the lead with a quad corked 1620, but skier Y landed the quad 1800 in practice the day before!

Skier X drops in and falls! Oh no! His score will stay the same!

Its all up to skier Y to land the 1800! Hes dropping in going over 70 miles per hour heading into a 100 foot table! Her he goes! Wow he is spinning and flipping like crazy man! He lands it! Skier Y has won a quad 1800 tail grab to japan!

Come on who wouldn't love that?

Anyways the flood gates have already been opened so why not let them pour out.
May 29 2014 3:49PM
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*DUMBCAN*
Posts: 2447 - Karma: 5,627
ParryWithAnADo it... You wont!

Why not?

We already have half pipe and slope so why not big air? Do you want to kill a fellow freeskiers chance to win a gold metal, get a big endorsement deal, and be a national hero?

Big air can be just as exciting as slope. Its more focused event that the public can get into, and not be AS confused about. Its a heroic event that with a decent announcer can make into something dramatic.

Think about it....

Luke is announcing and its just two skiers left with one jump each.... Skier X is in the lead with a quad corked 1620, but skier Y landed the quad 1800 in practice the day before!

Skier X drops in and falls! Oh no! His score will stay the same!

Its all up to skier Y to land the 1800! Hes dropping in going over 70 miles per hour heading into a 100 foot table! Her he goes! Wow he is spinning and flipping like crazy man! He lands it! Skier Y has won a quad 1800 tail grab to japan!

Come on who wouldn't love that?

Anyways the flood gates have already been opened so why not let them pour out.


At the moment, this is pretty much the snowboard big air. Ski big airs this year have been on point. X games, frost gun and JOI were all really good to watch
May 29 2014 3:52PM
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CheddarJack
Posts: 5203 - Karma: 7,380
If there's anything that'll make freeskiing aerials its Big Air, and specifically Big Air in the Olympics. Not saying that it's necessarily a bad thin. I suppose competitive freeskiing will become like many other professional sports where the amateur competitions will be like a different sport than the professional comps (think pro vs college football, basketball, etc). The pro comps will be where people are throwing the future spins and quads while the am comps will be where kids are still mastering dubs and are doing more creative stuff.

College sports in general are often time much more exciting than pro sports because the athletes just aren't as good. This will be the case in freeskiing in years to come. With more and more am comps and more kids competing I can see something like usasa becoming much more popular and start to have a following like fis and afp.

But this is all implying that freeskiing becomes vastly more popular than it is now.
May 29 2014 4:08PM
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theabortionator
Posts: 51252 - Karma: 157,266
Holteembarrassing moments like double frontflips winning major events


Thanks to Xgames with there stupid fucking ideas.

Xgames is the ultimate because there isn't a challenger. Unfortunately the olympics will never really be the spot for action sports in my eyes. It just feels weird.

I'd like to see a big winter contest come up to compete with the xgames. It probably won't happen but it would be nice. Especially if the focus was on the sports more than the $.
May 29 2014 4:11PM
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busterburns
Posts: 485 - Karma: 539
Surprising response from Andy haha, if quads are gonna be done on skis I bet thats the stage for the show..

I'd be hyped to stick a dub before people start throwing quads
May 29 2014 4:19PM
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broto
Posts: 9039 - Karma: 25,658
i'm over the olympics. they have done next to nothing for our sport
May 29 2014 4:20PM
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NPF
Posts: 5152 - Karma: 12,116
no.
May 29 2014 4:22PM
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theabortionator
Posts: 51252 - Karma: 157,266
Inb4 everyone complains that the big air jump is too big.
May 29 2014 4:34PM
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lewis10123
Posts: 122 - Karma: 418
Big Air would be such an awesome Olympic event, it's probably the only X-Games style event that would draw the same number of viewers.

Think about it, Big Air is quick, appealing, no holds back balls-to-the-wall entertainment. How on earth can that not be fun? The only thing that may hold it back is just how much of a 'sporty' sport it actually is, with many seeing it as just an entertainment event rather than a seperate sport.
May 29 2014 4:49PM
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Thevillain
Posts: 498 - Karma: 908
Aaand we can now prepare for quads?
May 29 2014 5:31PM
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sleepyhollow
Posts: 139 - Karma: 188
The Olympics are bad for skiing. Sponsors are only putting money into comp guys now and film guys cant get shit, you guys are killing the core side of freeskiing without even knowing it.
May 29 2014 7:25PM
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C-Wal
Posts: 185 - Karma: 1,370
the kickers in the olympics for the slopestyle were huge, and possibly boarder line big air level anyway. Would we really see any different tricks that would make it worthwhile and enhance the sport? the kicker would have to be huge
May 29 2014 7:28PM
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C-Wal
Posts: 185 - Karma: 1,370
the kickers in the olympics for the slopestyle were huge, and possibly boarder line big air level anyway. Would we really see any different tricks that would make it worthwhile and enhance the sport? the kicker would have to be huge
May 29 2014 7:29PM
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theabortionator
Posts: 51252 - Karma: 157,266
C-Walthe kickers in the olympics for the slopestyle were huge, and possibly boarder line big air level anyway. Would we really see any different tricks that would make it worthwhile and enhance the sport? the kicker would have to be huge


The boundaries get pushed harder in a big air because there's one jump. In a slopestyle one fall and you're done. You need to be able to link a whole run. In a big air you just need to land that one jump once or twice depending on the format.

To thread
I feel like action sports have already gone mainstream enough. Xgames is fucking huge. Obviously the olympics brought a lot more attention to skiing and boarding but it wasn't like they were unknown sports still.
May 29 2014 7:40PM
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Randy_Quench
Posts: 5447 - Karma: 4,342
Wasn't the Olympic Committee worried about snowboard and ski SLOPE being too dangerous? If thats the case I can't see them warming up to having a big air event.

That being said I would love to see another freestyle skiing event in the olympics.
May 29 2014 7:47PM
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histonskiah
Posts: 467 - Karma: 1,834
Big air is by far my favorite event to watch, X-Games big air is alway insane. Im not sure it belongs in the olympic though.
May 29 2014 9:57PM
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Willard
Posts: 5117 - Karma: 429
Hasn't there been talk of eliminating slope style already? I can't even stand hearing the word "olympics" I hate them so much. Hey guys look how much money we can waste on a 2 week event that will soon be long forgotten.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/theedge/2014/02/03/268917536/the-games-are-a-great-party-but-not-a-great-investment
May 30 2014 12:47AM
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sleepyhollow
Posts: 139 - Karma: 188
WillardHasn't there been talk of eliminating slope style already? I can't even stand hearing the word "olympics" I hate them so much. Hey guys look how much money we can waste on a 2 week event that will soon be long forgotten.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/theedge/2014/02/03/268917536/the-games-are-a-great-party-but-not-a-great-investment




Amen
May 30 2014 1:10AM
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