Freestyle Skiing

Freestyle skiing developed out of ski acrobatics which started in the 1930s in the United States. It became popular in the 1960s, with the first formal competitions starting at Waterville Valley, New Hampshire in the USA.

Freestyle skiing was first held at the 1988 Winter Olympics as a demonstration sport. In 1992, moguls was contested as a full-medal sport in Albertville, with aeriels and ballet contested as demonstration events. Freestyle has become a very popular spectator sport at the Olympics and the program has expanded to now include aeriels, moguls, skier-cross, halfpipe, and slopestyle events for both men and women. Ballet was never contested as a medal sport at the Olympics, and international competition in that event basically stopped after 2000.

Freestyle is considered a discipline of the sport of skiing by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and, as such, it is governed by the Fédération internationale de ski (FIS). The FIS was founded on 2 February 1924 during the Chamonix Olympics. The FIS succeeded the Internationale Skikommission (CIS) which was formed on 18 February 1910 in Christiania (today Oslo). FIS not only governs freestyle skiing, but also Alpine skiing, cross country skiing, Nordic combined, ski jumping, and snowboarding. As of 2020 the FIS had 132 member nations.