The growth of ‘New School’ skiing

If you have ever felt the urge to ski backwards off a jump at your local hill, you are not alone. There is a growing trend of new school skiers hitting the slopes of late. Built on the style and attitude of snowboarding, new school, or freeskiing, began in the 90’s when freestyle skiers felt there were too many restrictions on the sport. With limits on the number of flips and a ban on inverted tricks in mogul competitions, freestyle skiers were looking for a new way to develop their sport.

Utilizing the same terrain parks and half pipes that were once meant only for snowboarders, new school skiers began to move the sport forward. Ski manufacturers caught on to this trend and today there are a multitude of twin tip skis to help you get into the park.

Twin-tip skis are more flexible than the average ski, and, as the name implies, they are turned up at both ends to allow for forward and backward skiing. They are designed for skiing on man made features such as boxes, rails, jumps and halfpipes.

According to Kristoff Kardas of The Ski Exchange, twin-tip skis make up almost 90% of new ski sales. But it’s not just the youth market who are thinking backwards. With every major ski brand now carrying a variety of twin-tip models, many are switching over for something new. Regardless of the reason, twin-tip skis are making it cool to be a skier again.

-D. McChristie