A Brief History - The events that put together Freestyle Skiing today were invented from 1930 to about 1960. In 1980, Freestyle Skiing was given a World Cup tour and in 1980-81, Freestyle Skiing was recognized as an official sport. Freestyle Skiing was a demonstration at the 1988 Olympics in Calgary, Canada and finally in 1992-94 both events were added to the Olympics.

Equipment-Freestyle athletes obviously need skis (min=190 cm for men, 180 cm for women), ski poles, suits and a helmet. The helmet is important and is made of hard plastic to prevent injuries. They need goggles to protect them from wind and snow getting in their eyes and they need specific boots that fit them perfectly for a good takeoff, form and landing.

Tricks-

Moguls- The object of moguls is for the skiers to ski down a long steep slope covered in bumps as quickly as possible. To get the maximum amount of points possible from the seven judges, skiers must perform two aerial maneuvers.

Scoring- Out of a possible 100%, athletes get scored on the quality of their turns (50%), their two aerial maneuvers (25%), and the speed (25%).

Aerials- In aerials, skiers fly off the jumps at radical speeds, soar high in the air and land after a few flips and somersaults. But the training process is very different. The skiers train in relatively safe places such as trampolines or water ramps.

Scoring- Based on 100%, athletes are judged on take-off (20%), form of their tricks (50%) and landing (30%).