Mr.BishopSorry to be a stickler here, but you nullify your entire argument with this statement. The idea that you're calling two forms of skiing an apples to genocide comparison is totally false.
A hardcore backcountry mountaineer skier would just as easily make the argument that park skiing 'isn't real skiing and those guys can't ski'. Comparing aerials to park skiing is more like an oranges to lemon comparison.
Both are citrus, both have a similar type of citrousy taste - but they invoke completely different taste emotion.
I completely disagree that a corked spin is totally different than a straight over flip. It wasn't that long ago that I could do some of these tricks, and I've fucked around with a ton of them on water ramps in my years at camps. There's a different style sure... but you can't tell me that a double back full is so different from a dub cork that you might as well be comparing a double back full to genocide.
Now, as some others have pointed out - adding in the switch takeoff element is a game changer. Throw me a switch triple to talk about and then fuck yes you're re-inventing the wheel.
My main point is simply that I think its kind of silly that we glorify the 'first ever' type mentality around stuff that is simply being iterated on with tricks that have been done since the '80s.
More than ever before, we need a focus on style and what differentiates us. Dubbing has turned back into a 'form' play, where everyone is just hucking tucked in a tiny little crouched ball.
TL;DR - If we make skiing more of an art than a contest, then hell yes it is some progressive shit. And don't forget the switch.
Never been a fan of the fruit metaphor, but I'll continue with it for a little bit...
I don't think that they are both citrus, but they are both fruit, apples vs. oranges if you will. Not that many Skiers I know of can combine the two. in contrast to the slew of incredibly talented and well rounded skiers that combine Park and Big Mountain. (Dane Tudor, Candide for example - that entire thread about Harlout skiing in the Big Mountain comp).
I remember reading about Dylan Ferguson though, and it seems that he combines the two disciplines in some sort of Apple/Orange hybrid - Appange? That sort of skiing is awesome, but not seen that often, there is different training, culture, and mindset that goes into throwing these tricks. A lot of the above posters are right about Aerial skiers from China not being able to actually ski, but thats not enough to paint the entire discipline with the same brush. Steve Omischl shreds, and though he never placed well at the olympics, that man has flipped and twisted the shit out of a huge amount of World cups.
There is not a lot of transfer between Aerials and the rest of the ski world though, and maybe thats the biggest difference. Racers and Mogul skiers, are typically well equipped to transfer their skills to big mountain or park. Park skiers have shown as well that they can adapt to all sorts of different terrain.
Ladies throwing doubles is not *that* big of a deal, but it's stll pretty fucking sick. Claiming 'world firsts' is of course a little ridiculous, but Red Bull needs to flash their name, and the first gal to do a double cork seems like a good opportunity. Double Corks are different than double backs, just as double backs are different from Double Back Fulls. The training is different, the way your mind works when going through the different axes is different. I think that making a difference between the type of tricks is fine. They are different. I think Katie Ormerod deserves a heap of props, regardless of whether or not Aerial chicks have thrown triples or not. they're playing different games.
