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Freestyle skiing goes Olympic

Broadcast Date: Jan. 8, 1994

When freestyle skiers flip and fly through the air, how do they keep their skis on? This is what panellist Pierre Berton wants to know. Today's guest on Front Page Challenge is Philippe LaRoche, a Canadian aerial freestyle ski champ who is getting set to compete in the 1994 Winter Olympics. This is the first time aerial freestyle skiing has been an official Olympic event (it was a demonstration sport at the previous Olympics), and as we see in this clip, LaRoche hopes to become one of the first Olympic medallists in the daring sport.

Freestyle skiing goes Olympic

• Philippe LaRoche did indeed win a medal at the 1994 Winter Olympic Games — he captured silver in the men's aerial freestyle skiing event.

• There are now three categories of freestyle skiing at the Olympics: moguls, aerials and ski cross. Moguls and aerials first appeared as demonstration sports at the Winter Olympics in Calgary in 1988. Moguls were made an official medal sport in the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, while aerials were made an official event two years later at the Games in Lillehammer, Norway. Ski cross became an Olympic sport for the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.

• Freestyle skiing first began to be take off as a popular winter sport in the 1960s and 70s. At that time, it was often referred to as "hot dogging." (For more, please see the CBC Digital Archives clip 'Hot dog' skiers let it all hang out). In Canada, it began to take shape as an organized sport when the Canadian Freestyle Skiers Association (CFSA) was founded in 1974.

• By the 1990s, freestyle had gained more respect as a serious, disciplined sport. But it hadn't completely shed its image as a risky hobby for fun-loving, reckless young folks. A 1994 Globe and Mail article about the sport described "the rock and roll world of freestyle, where the air is filled with throbbing music, flying bodies and cries of 'Air!' from the cool, young, rich kids who watch it through designer shades at resorts around the world."

Freestyle skiing goes Olympic

Medium: Television

Program: Front Page Challenge

Broadcast Date: Jan. 8, 1994

Guest(s): Philippe Laroche

Host: Fred Davis
Panellist: Pierre Berton, Allan Fotheringham, Betty Kennedy, Jack Webster

Duration: 8:31

Last updated:
Nov. 25, 2009