sport



extreme skiing

This kind of sport is performed on long, steep slopes in dangerous forbidden terrains with at least 45 degrees descent and off-piste. As one of these conditions single mistakes at the wrong moment by some extreme skiers have led them to their deaths. Extreme skiing as an English term has changed since the 80s when the term "extreme skiing" was coined to now be classified under Big Mountain skiing and/or Freeskiing which encompasses all aspects and methods of descending off-piste terrain.

Skiers must make lightning-fast decisions throughout the run, lest they careen into a tree, a rock or off the side of the mountain itself. The slopes used for extreme skiing are sometimes not fit for climbing, let alone skiing. The first issue can be solved with helicopters, but extreme skiers embrace a belief that nearly every snow-covered landform is ski-able, and when they reach a portion that isn't, they just catch serious air and try to land on something that is.

The term "extreme skiing" for many people indicates any adrenaline-pumping form of skiing. It should be noted that the term, when used exactly, refers specifically to steep-hill skiing. However, as the practitioners of that sport have themselves taken on newer and bigger challenges, they have expanded the generic meaning of extreme skiing without breaking it, because the evolving hybrid forms still often contain the steep-slope element.
And there's not much these extreme pioneers haven't tried. Skiing off ramps and flipping twice before sticking the landing? Check. Skiing off the roof of a building and parachuting to safety? Doable. Soaring off a mountain top in a flying-squirrel body suit? It's been done. Making up the course of your run on the fly as you ski down virgin powder from a summit that could only be reached by helicopter? You could book that trip online right now if you wanted.
If those possibilities don't excite you, you may just need someone to ski beside you and inject adrenaline directly into your heart. And, given their lust for the next great ski high, that too may already be old-hat to some extreme skiers.