Tag: freestyle skiing

Ski Free by the BookSki Free by the Book

April 30, 2024 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

In a recent look through the Whistler Museum’s reference section, we came across another book aiming to teach skiing through a combination of the written work and photographs. Unlike Toni Sailer’s instructional flip book from 1964, Greg Athan’s Ski Free targets those who already know how to ski and are interested in learning about the sport of freestyle skiing.

Greg Athans was a Canadian freestyle skier in the 1970s and 80s, as well as a 15-time national water skiing champion. Like many freestyle skiers, he had a background in downhill skiing and won a gold medal in 1971 Canada Games for the alpine slalom. In 1973, Athans became the first person to win gold medals in both the winter and summer Canada Games when he came first in water skiing. Among his freestyle skiing titles, Athans was the 1977 Labatt World Trophy Tour Champion, the 1978 World Ballet Champion and World Mogul Champion, and, as mentioned in a recent article about a very busy week on Whistler Mountain in 1980, Athans was crowned World Cup Freestyle Champion alongside Stephanie Sloan for the 1979/80 season.

Greg Athans at the Labatt’s World Cup Freestyle Championship on Whistler Mountain. Whistler Question Collection, 1980.

Competitive freestyle skiing was still a relatively young sport when Ski Free was published in 1978. The first flip on skis was recorded in 1907 and moves found in ski ballet can be traced back to the 1920s. Flips and spins were seen in skiing exhibitions and shows throughout the 1950s and 60s and, according to a brief history of freestyle skiing found in Ski Free, Doug Pfeiffer’s School of Exotic Skiing taught tricks such as the mambo, the Charleston and more from 1956 to 1962.

In the late 1960s, “trick skiing” demonstrations were caught on films such as Ski the Outer Limits and The Moebius Flip but it wasn’t until 1971 that the first professional competition took place in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire. Over the 1970s, competition circuits and freestyle camps became more popular, with freestyle skiing added to the Toni Sailer Summer Ski Camp on Whistler Mountain in 1973. Freestyle skiing was officially recognized by the International Ski Federation (FIS) in 1979, just one year after Ski Free was published.

Ski Free by Greg Athans, published in 1978.

According to Ski Free, freestyle skiing “offers the skier the freedom to do whatever he or she chooses and, possibly, to do what has never been done on skis before.” It begins, like Toni Sailer’s book, by instructing the skier on what type of equipment will be needed. Helpful notes and safety tips are also included, such as warning skiers not to have safety straps on their bindings for aerials as “a loose windmilling ski can be dangerous” and suggesting that when learning somersaults and flips a helmet might be a good idea. As helmets were not a standard piece of ski equipment at the time, a “well-fitting hockey helmet” was considered sufficient. Other equipment suggestions also place Ski Free at a certain time, as a “light mini-cassette recorder” and a fanny pack are described as useful for choreographing ballet routines.

Ski Free devotes a chapter to each of the three disciplines of freestyle skiing in 1978: moguls, aerials and ski ballet. With descriptions of techniques, common problem areas and solutions, and of specific tricks accompanied by photographs by Allan de la Plante, it would have been a great guide for those looking to learn more about the sport without today’s easy access to videos and film clips. Without the ease of looking up options on the internet, the book also provided a list of summer ski camps and off-season training programs for those looking for in-person instruction.

How to do an Athans’ Walkover, in five steps.

Freestyle skiing has changed a lot since Ski Free came out in 1978 and not all of the information is still relevant. Some of the tricks described are no longer so common (especially as ski ballet is no longer an official discipline), but for anyone wondering what is involved in a Legsbreaker Pivot, a Shea-guy, a Daiglebanger, or an Athans’ Walkover, the step-by-step instructions may prove very useful.

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Speaker Series April 18Speaker Series April 18

April 6, 2022 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

The Whistler Museum Speaker Series is back this month to look at freestyle skiing through the experiences of freestyle legends Stephanie Sloan and Mike Douglas.

Event begins at 7 pm (doors open by 6:30 pm). Tickets are $10 ($5 for museum or Club Shred members) and are available at the Whistler Museum.

*There will be limited tickets available for in-person Speaker Series in accordance withe the capacity of the Whistler Museum. Speaker Series events will also be streamed live – contact us to register for the livestream at 604-932-2019 or events @ whistlermuseum.org.

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Early Freestyle on WhistlerEarly Freestyle on Whistler

February 9, 2021 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

When the first Toni Sailer Summer Ski Camp was held on Whistler Mountain during the summer of 1966, the camp focused mainly on racing and was motivated partly by the need for competitive skiers to stay in shape and improve their technique between competition seasons.  This focus changed as more recreational skiers began participating in the camps with an interest in improving their own skills under the guidance of skiers such as Toni Sailer, Nancy Greene and Alan White.  It wasn’t until the summer of 1973, however, that freestyle was included in the Ski Camp programming and the legendary Wayne Wong began coaching on Whistler, reflecting a change in the sport of skiing.

The staff of the 1969 Summer Ski Camp, including another freestyle skiing legend, Dag Aabye. Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation Collection.

At the time, freestyle skiing was still a relatively young sport.  The first recorded freestyle skiing competitions in the United States were not held until the mid-1960s and it was not until 1969 that the first instructional program began at Waterville Valley in New Hampshire.  In 1971 Waterville Valley hosted the first Professional Freestyle Skiing Competition, drawing together competitive skiers from across North America.  These skiers included Wayne Wong, George Askevold and Floyd Wilkie, all of whom decided to stay at Waterville Valley as coaches of the first Freestyle Ski Team.

We don’t know when exactly the first freestyle skiing competition was held on Whistler Mountain but by the spring of 1971 there was enough demand that Garibaldi Lifts Ltd. hosted the first annual Aerial Ski Acrobatic Championship and Hot Shot Contest.  In 1973 freestyle skiing became part of the Toni Sailer Summer Ski Camp programming under the direction of Wong, Askevold and Wilkie, providing more formal training for skiers interested in the growing sport and “teaching youngsters to ski the ‘Wong Way’.”

Three well-known hot dog skiers show off their style in 1973 at the Toni Sailer Summer Ski Camp. Left to right: George Askevold, Wayne Wong and Floyd Wilkie.  Murphy Collection

In the spring of 1974, Whistler Mountain expanded its freestyle offerings with a spring Freestyle Skiing Camp for “youngsters who can ski parallel, but who want to master some of the popular new maneuvers of freestyle under competent coaching.”  According to Garibaldi’s Whistler News, the “newest tricks” such as skiing sideways, backwards or upside down were becoming more common on Whistler, but were also risky, especially without training or instruction.  They decided to provide an opportunity to explore techniques and tricks under the tutelage of Michel Daigle, Tetsuo Fuji, and Bob Dufour.

Michel Daigle demonstrates his synchronized skills during a competition on Whistler Mountain. Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation Collection.

While freestyle skiing was becoming increasingly popular through the 1970s, it was not officially recognized as a sport by the FIS until 1979, when international regulations and certifications were introduced.  The next year saw the first FIS Freestyle Skiing World Cup with event in moguls, aerials, and “acroski,” also known as ski ballet.  To win the overall title, skiers had to compete in all three disciplines.

In 1986 the first FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships were held in Tignes, France, and then demonstration events were held at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.  Over the next two decades, more and more freestyle skiing events joined the Olympic line up, beginning with moguls in 1992, aerials in 1994, ski cross in 2010 and, most recently, halfpipe and slopestyle in 2014.  Unfortunately, ski ballet, though part of competitions and tours in the 1970s and 1980s, did not continue to grow with freestyle skiing in the same way and has not been recognized as an official freestyle discipline since 2000.

Today freestyle skiing looks a little different than it did in the early competition of the 1970s, but it can often be seen on Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains and around the world.

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