not at all. keep in mind i didnnt have much time to really get across my message, but here it is:
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I’ll bet your all wonder who thatlittle gangster is cutting you in the lift line at your local mountain with hispants at his ankles and a triple XL Iverson jersey. Or who those masked hooligans are cat calling and screaming‘Biggie’ from the quad. Those kidsare all part of the growing culture of freestyle skiing.
But the freestyle skiing culture is more than a group ofthugs decked out in XXXL’s bombin’ down your local mountain. It is a community of people dedicatedto progression, full of attitude, and united by the twin tip ski, an objectwhich separates them from the millions of skiers worldwide.
In this speech I will begin bytelling you about my history in the sport of freestyle skiing, I will outlinecommon practices of those in the culture, and finally, I will show how the twintip ski nearly perfectly embodies the values and norms of the sport.
I was three years old when I firststepped into a ski. As I grew up,I began to ski race for various mountains. By the time I got to middle school, ski racing was behindme, I joined the team solely as a means to get to the mountain on a dailybasis. You see I had joined acompetitive mogul team, and it had introduced me to the awesomeness that isfreestyle skiing. By the time Igot to high school I joined the freestyle team, and I became fully emerged inculture and sport of freestyle skiing.
Much like most freestyle skiers, ornewschoolers as we sometimes refer to ourselves, I spend the majority of mytime on the mountain sessioning the park in efforts to improve my jibbing, ortricks. In the park there arevarious sized jumps, a half pipe, and multiple rails. Now that you know what wedo when we’re on the mountain, I’ll bet your wondering how this culture cancontinue to exist off the mountain and during the 6 or so months without snow.
Off mountain and off-seasonfreestyle skiers have found many ways to bring their culture and sport awayfrom the mountains and right to their hometowns. I can guarantee anyone that has been at UVM for a winter hasseen jumps built in front of any major handrail. A truckload of snow from a local hockey rink is all that isneeded to set up an urban rail. The ability to jib in the summer and daydream to ski videos is more thanenough to keep the culture alive through the warmer months.
The best glimpse into the cultureof newschoolers that you joeys have is to look at the twin tip ski. The twin tip ski was invented to enablea whole new dimension to freestyle skiing, going backwards. Before its invention, tricks werelimited to forwards take offs and landings. This new feature created tons of room for progression; a keyaspect of the sport. Consider theprogression of the sport in the past decades. From pros throwing 720’s off jumps and considering it thepinnacle of tricks, to double flip 900’s, like many do now. The twin tip ski not only allowed thesport to progress to new heights, but it also signifies how much newschoolskiers strive for it.
The edgy graphics and names ofcurrent freestyle skis, and our choice of clothing on the slopes, reflects theaggressive, do-what-you-want attitudes that many of us have. Graphics like those on the skis infront of you, and names like the fugitive, chronic, misdemeanor, and MIPreflect the feelings many freestyle skiers have. The aggressiveness of thesegraphics and names explain our mindset as we bomb recklessly down to theterrain park and huck ourselves mercilessly into the air. The intense focus on stylish graphicsmirrors the way freestyle skiers look at their clothing and presentation,steeze, a skier’s word for style, is of the utmost importance. Someone’s jawdropping steeze is enoughto make a 360 degree spin more appealing than much more difficult off-axis 720or the likes. The baggy, ghettostyle of skiers is testament to their do-what-I-want, laid back style,especially when you look at it in contrast to the tight suits of uptight skiracers.
Coming from someone who has been askier their whole life, I hope I explained the practices and culture offreestyle skiing and presented the twin tip ski as an indicator of newschoolersvalues. The twin tips make itclear that freestyle is a sport constantly progressing, dedicated to visualappeal, and independent and edgy in its attitude phsyche. So next time, before you and your buddiesrip on what you think are just gangster wanna-bee’s. recognize that they’re afreestyle skier, and appreciate the steeze.
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