Freeride competitive snowboarding is one of my favorite activities to get the adrenaline going. If you are not familiar with skiing and snowboarding competitions, you are in the right place. Skiing/Snowboarding competitions traditionally fall into a few different categories. Freeride, Big Air, Slopestyle, and Racing are the main groupings. All of these disciplines are now included in the Winter Olympics due to the recent addition of Freeride, which will be featured in the next Winter Olympics.
Big air and slopestyle competitions are a very important part of snowboard competition history. Big air snowboarding usually includes 3 large 100-foot jumps. Riders will throw 2340 (6.5 360s) or 2160 (6 360s) spins, which, to the typical rider, is beyond comprehension. Slopestyle includes metal handrails and a mixture of jumps. This is an event where riders will put together a full run jam-packed with multiple features.
Racing is another popular discipline of ski and snowboard competitions. Popular mainstream figures like Lindsey Vonn made this discipline very popular by bringing home gold medals for the United States. Ski racers may reach speeds of 75-95 miles per hour racing down these ski slopes. Ski racing is the more popular race discipline; however, boardercross (snowboarding) is also a popular category, though less featured.
Freeride being added to the next Olympics will bring this discipline ot the main stage. Many people have not heard about this category, but it has been around since the early 2000s. Freeride is a creative competition where an individual finds the most creative and trick-filled line down a mountain slope (which is usually packed with steep terrain and large cliffs). I have been competing in these competitions since the winter of 2023. This next year, I plan to compete in 7 competitions and am very excited to lay it all out on the field this coming year. The freeride competitions that I participate in are freeride qualifiers, and while it is not the Olympics, the competition is very intense and makes for an adrenaline-filled event.
What kind of Winter Olympics sports do you enjoy watching the most?
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