A lot of people think freestyle skiing and snowboarding are sports mostly for men and are too dangerous for women...
Freeskiing is a young sport spreading through the world really quickly. The word 'free' actually shows us how we should understand skiing .The sport means to freeride (the big mountain), which means to ride in terrain that is left natural, not adjusted and freeskiing itself.
The history of this sport has been written since year 1996. In that time, freestyle skiers and skiers doing moguls started to be bored and felt limited by the old rules of acrobatic skiing. They moved to snow parks, which were intended for snowboarders only.
As a main characteristic of freeskiing is considered twin tip skis, created in this time period. Except for the raised top, the 'heel'/back of the ski is also raised so skiers are able to ride and switch easily.
Subsequently another aspect of free skiing that was created is the “half pipe” and “slope style“.
“Slope style” in this sport means riding in the “snow park“, which is a specific place of the slope or the entire slope. It also includes different obstacles and kickers or jumps. It is apparent that the “snow park” should have its own lift. Obstacles can have various levels of difficulty, a lot of possibilities of the shape and also the creativity. Kickers, also called ”big air“, can have a variant height and length of flight. It can be from 1 meter for the beginners till 20 meters and more for professional skiers. They are able to jump a huge number of combinations of spins and tricks.
The rareness of this sport is that judges in all competitions are focusing on style, the smooth ride and clear landing more than on distance or time. That means if the athlete is able to jump a really difficult trick in the air and he is not able to landed it, he has no points at all.
One of the most important moments in the history of “free skiing” was when it became a part of the Winter X Games in year 1999. A lot of people consider this competition as an unofficial winter Olympic game of extreme sports and it helped to spread the popularity of the sport throughout the world gathering more fans and athletes. Another important moment was when in July 2011 the International Olympic Committee decided freestyle skiing would become a part of Winter Olympic Games in Sochi (Russia) in 2014.
After that there was a meeting of the “Slovak Ski Association committee” which accepted the conditions for becoming a member of a Slovak free ski team. For the last season the conditions were met and accomplished by Juraj Bernát, Natália Šlepecká and Zuzana Stromková. Tomáš Murgáč has become the trainer of the team.
Although “free skiing” seems to be a dangerous sport, a lot of athletes say the opposite is true. All athletes realize an efficacious training program is really important. Of course possibilities to train are not only in winter but also in summer. The best activities in summer are jumping on the trampoline, conditioning and gymnastic workouts in the gym and jumping on the special “water jump“. Unfortunately, there is no “water jump” in Slovakia yet. The closest one is on the Czech and Slovak boarders, “Big Air” in the Czech city Nový Hrozenkov.
As we already mentioned, in the winter time snow parks are the best place to train. Slovak snow parks are still not comparable to others in Europe. In our conditions, snow parks cannot survive more that two or three months which is not long enough. We also lack the people who would have the skills and would be qualified enough to take care of the “Snow parks“. That's why conditions for a good training are on a low level. Slovak riders must travel to other countries to train if they want to be capable of competing against athletes in the European or world competition levels.
On the other hand, it must be said conditions are getting better every year. For instance during the entire winter, “Riders Park” in Donovaly offers the best possibilities for training. Also it is so because the park has two shapers that are busy most every day.
This season, Riders Park had become a official training place for Slovak “free ski” team.
“POME movies production” is focusing on documenting extreme sports, also the “free ski” scene in Slovakia and Slovak riders abroad. The production has gained a lot of experience by filming this sports for several years. Now POME has the biggest HD archive in Slovakia so far.
In three years POME was able to produce more than 300 edits and episodes about young people doing extreme sports in summer as well as in winter. The company also offers to riders PR services like cuts in their edits, pictures or press releases.
POME has also created an Internet TV “Pome.sk“, which is supplemented by new episodes every week. Moreover it has invented a few successful projects such as characteristic news called “POME news“, “Game Of Shred” or “Progress Zone“.
At the turn of 2011/2012, the new project Snowgirls has been established. This project is focusing on four girls from Slovakia (snowboarders Klaudia Medlová and Martina Molnárová, freeskiers Zuzana Stromková and Natália Šlepecká). Those girls are riding for a few years and all have nice results in European and world competitions. They were filming several Snowgirls episodes, showing their lifestyle, trips, riding, tutorials or other experiences connected with the snow.
In February 2012 the project took a new idea. One of the main goals is to create a place on a new website, where girls, beginners or professionals, can find useful information about riding, ski resorts, life style, health and more.
Freeskiing is a young sport spreading through the world really quickly. The word 'free' actually shows us how we should understand skiing .The sport means to freeride (the big mountain), which means to ride in terrain that is left natural, not adjusted and freeskiing itself.
The history of this sport has been written since year 1996. In that time, freestyle skiers and skiers doing moguls started to be bored and felt limited by the old rules of acrobatic skiing. They moved to snow parks, which were intended for snowboarders only.
As a main characteristic of freeskiing is considered twin tip skis, created in this time period. Except for the raised top, the 'heel'/back of the ski is also raised so skiers are able to ride and switch easily.
Subsequently another aspect of free skiing that was created is the “half pipe” and “slope style“.
“Slope style” in this sport means riding in the “snow park“, which is a specific place of the slope or the entire slope. It also includes different obstacles and kickers or jumps. It is apparent that the “snow park” should have its own lift. Obstacles can have various levels of difficulty, a lot of possibilities of the shape and also the creativity. Kickers, also called ”big air“, can have a variant height and length of flight. It can be from 1 meter for the beginners till 20 meters and more for professional skiers. They are able to jump a huge number of combinations of spins and tricks.
The rareness of this sport is that judges in all competitions are focusing on style, the smooth ride and clear landing more than on distance or time. That means if the athlete is able to jump a really difficult trick in the air and he is not able to landed it, he has no points at all.
One of the most important moments in the history of “free skiing” was when it became a part of the Winter X Games in year 1999. A lot of people consider this competition as an unofficial winter Olympic game of extreme sports and it helped to spread the popularity of the sport throughout the world gathering more fans and athletes. Another important moment was when in July 2011 the International Olympic Committee decided freestyle skiing would become a part of Winter Olympic Games in Sochi (Russia) in 2014.
After that there was a meeting of the “Slovak Ski Association committee” which accepted the conditions for becoming a member of a Slovak free ski team. For the last season the conditions were met and accomplished by Juraj Bernát, Natália Šlepecká and Zuzana Stromková. Tomáš Murgáč has become the trainer of the team.
Although “free skiing” seems to be a dangerous sport, a lot of athletes say the opposite is true. All athletes realize an efficacious training program is really important. Of course possibilities to train are not only in winter but also in summer. The best activities in summer are jumping on the trampoline, conditioning and gymnastic workouts in the gym and jumping on the special “water jump“. Unfortunately, there is no “water jump” in Slovakia yet. The closest one is on the Czech and Slovak boarders, “Big Air” in the Czech city Nový Hrozenkov.
As we already mentioned, in the winter time snow parks are the best place to train. Slovak snow parks are still not comparable to others in Europe. In our conditions, snow parks cannot survive more that two or three months which is not long enough. We also lack the people who would have the skills and would be qualified enough to take care of the “Snow parks“. That's why conditions for a good training are on a low level. Slovak riders must travel to other countries to train if they want to be capable of competing against athletes in the European or world competition levels.
On the other hand, it must be said conditions are getting better every year. For instance during the entire winter, “Riders Park” in Donovaly offers the best possibilities for training. Also it is so because the park has two shapers that are busy most every day.
This season, Riders Park had become a official training place for Slovak “free ski” team.
“POME movies production” is focusing on documenting extreme sports, also the “free ski” scene in Slovakia and Slovak riders abroad. The production has gained a lot of experience by filming this sports for several years. Now POME has the biggest HD archive in Slovakia so far.
In three years POME was able to produce more than 300 edits and episodes about young people doing extreme sports in summer as well as in winter. The company also offers to riders PR services like cuts in their edits, pictures or press releases.
POME has also created an Internet TV “Pome.sk“, which is supplemented by new episodes every week. Moreover it has invented a few successful projects such as characteristic news called “POME news“, “Game Of Shred” or “Progress Zone“.
At the turn of 2011/2012, the new project Snowgirls has been established. This project is focusing on four girls from Slovakia (snowboarders Klaudia Medlová and Martina Molnárová, freeskiers Zuzana Stromková and Natália Šlepecká). Those girls are riding for a few years and all have nice results in European and world competitions. They were filming several Snowgirls episodes, showing their lifestyle, trips, riding, tutorials or other experiences connected with the snow.
In February 2012 the project took a new idea. One of the main goals is to create a place on a new website, where girls, beginners or professionals, can find useful information about riding, ski resorts, life style, health and more.
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| OXskis Skadi |
Since December 2011 I was sponsored by OX.
About the brand:
OX is Czech brand of freestyle skis established in 2010.
Since the first season, OX is build on high quality, friendly and fair access to customer. OX is also supported young talented riders who help to invent and test the skis.
In season 2010/11, the first skis OX made was Lobotomy, available in two sizes - 155 cm and 165 cm. Next season the portfolio have got bigger. For young skiers Grasshopper, for girls Skadi and for guys it was Maniac Twins, Maniac Sketch and Maniac Scream.
Cooperating with young designers, OX has original design of each pair of skis.
The team is consisted from Czech, Slovak and Swiss riders, guys as well as girls.
Don't hesitate to visit OX page oxskis.com, if you are interested in ordering a new skis, read more on OXblog or simply take a look :).
I had opportunity to create my own promodel SKADI in year 2011/2012. The word itself has its own meaning.
Skadi, in North mythology, means godness of winter. I think the name fits perfectly to this skis :).
My good friend Žabka (Andrea Klváčková) is an artist, so I asked her to help me. We worked together to create the design of Skadi.
