Fabian Boesch in the Silvaplana jump line

Last week I went to check out my first FIS World Cup slopestyle event. I wasn’t sure what to expect seeing as even the idea of a “World Cup slopestyle” is still very new. The International Ski Federation (FIS) is moving rapidly to absorb slopestyle and halfpipe skiing into its gargantuan beaurocracy in preparation for these sports’ Olympic debut next year in Sochi. The question is whether FIS has any clue how to organize, execute and judge a world-class slopestyle or halfpipe event.

The Silvaplana slopestyle gave me some insight into the whole “FIS slopestyle” debacle. Although the level of competition was high, the Engadinsnow slopestyle course was not up to the standard that a “World Cup” event should be, and that held back the competitors and raised the risk of injury. All of the jumps had different transitions making it difficult for the skiers to judge speed and pop, the landings were flat, and the final feature, a butter box, was horribly ill-conceived. It was extremely painful even watching the athletes slam into its flat landing after a six-meter drop. Slopestyle features are supposed to be fun, not painful.

I can’t give the Engadinsnow organizers the blame. They held their slopestyle just like they always have, and that’s fine. FIS, however, can’t just take any old slopestyle event and label it a “World Cup” without ensuring that the venue is going to live up to the name. This is the organization that will present freeskiing slopestyle to the world at next year’s Olympics, and also the same organization that freeskiing’s founders rebelled against two decades ago. If these guys are going to try to get their greasy hands on our sport, they better damn well make sure that their “World Cup” events have courses that give the athletes a chance to demonstrate the true level of the sport. Right now there aren’t too many people who give a shit about FIS slopestyles, and it’s because neither the courses nor the level of exposure nor the prize purse come close to that of non-FIS-sanctioned events like X Games or Dew Tour. If FIS wants to get involved in freeskiing, they have to show that they’re ready to push this sport and not hold it back. A World Cup event is supposed to be at the highest level, and this one was, frankly, bush league.

At any rate it was interesting to see a slopestyle event in the middle of its evolution to an international sporting venue. Quite a few national teams, several with contracted American or Canadian coaches, were in attendance, and for the first time ever at a slopestyle I heard someone “hup hup hupping” their athlete out of the start gate (this is not racing, folks). Niklas Eriksson dropped a butter double cork 12 in an epic run but got robbed by the judges. Tiril Sjaastad Christiansen is one of the only girls in the field who actually looks comfortable sliding a box or rail, and James Woods is one of the only men (Woodsy had switch tails, back 270 out of the DFD rail on lock).

You can scope my report on the event over at the ESPN Freeskiing blog.