Freestyle, Ski Jumping, and Alpine Skiing

[walnutqueen]

19 minutes ago, Peace 47 said:

I genuinely don’t understand the physics of how they avoid blowing out their knees on the landings.  How is it possible to fall from such a height in one piece?  I fell literally two feet a few months ago and dislocated my kneecap and tore my meniscus (freak accident, but still, how????).

 

15 minutes ago, Mittengirl said:

Peace 47,  me too!  And I was just standing on solid ground, pushing a snowblower and managed to find the one patch of ice in the driveway.  My knee is achy and puffy in sympathy for ski/snowboarders knees.

My goddamned kneecap dislocates itself if I squat for a low grocery shelf item.  I half missed a 4 inch step in my own house and torqued my foot so badly that I was icing every few hours and barely able to walk for 6 fucking months - with one of those medical boot thingys!  Getting old isn't easy for us non-athletes.  ;-)

I cringe every time I watch this shit - yet I cannot look away.

[voiceover]

I think we need a new thread: the "I hurt just like an Olympian" thread.  I can add my knee horror stories.  And we can all wince at tales of Teh Grind...right before the dreaded "pop".

Here's a question I haven't heard answered: why did Lindsey have to go first??  Obviously a disadvantage.  How'd she draw the short straw?

[opus]

We're by no means skiing aficionados, but we were saying " These are the top skiers in the world, and they're anointing the winner after only 20 skiers?"

[galaxygirl76]

That snowboarder(!!) that won the Super G was just as stunned as everyone else! Love these kind of surprised :)

 

1 hour ago, Peace 47 said:

I genuinely don’t understand the physics of how they avoid blowing out their knees on the landings.  How is it possible to fall from such a height in one piece?  I fell literally two feet a few months ago and dislocated my kneecap and tore my meniscus (freak accident, but still, how????).

I have major knee issues and had three surgeries on the left one, I cringe at all the ski events and everything else people do that require jumps.

[galaxygirl76]

One more thing about slope style skiing. Is it me or is slope style harder on ski's? There seem to be a lot more people who fall on the beginning part with the pipes than with the snowboard.

[Souris]

I'm not familiar with slopestyle, but I just saw somebody ski backward off a ramp, do aerial tricks and land backward. My mind is blown.

[twoods]

My knees hurt just looking at the aerials and slopestyle. These athletes are no joke- absolutely amazeballs.

[Mittengirl]

My cat seems to be enjoying the slopestyle, her head was bobbing and moving as the women jumped and flew - then they cut to a commercial and she got off the bed to get a snack.  I have taught her well.  I just hope she doesn’t try any of the tricks she saw, can’t afford kitty knee surgery.  (I just got what I hope was the last bill from my own accident.)

[KAOS Agent]

I was so pleased to see the announcers had to come back with the actual gold medal winner in the Super G. I hate how they dismiss everyone after a certain point like there's no point in them even skiing because they have no chance, so the snowboarder coming out of nowhere to win was just awesome.  Apparently Shiffrin's skis want to win even when Mikaela isn't the one skiing on them.

Edited February 17, 2018 by KAOS Agent

[pennben]

37 minutes ago, Souris said:

 .....but I just saw somebody ski backward off a ramp, do aerial tricks and land backward. My mind is blown.

I did that once a few years ago in a parking lot in Chicago (sans skis)!  Sadly, I did not stick the landing:)

[Stuffy]

I’m going to need Vonn to medal eventually because of all her injuries but mainly because of the ridiculous hate she’s getting. Apparently it’s been so bad that a US ski jumper named Lindsey Van has been getting Vonn’s hate Mail for weeks.  She’s sick of it too.  

I hate this “karma” nonsense. They did it with Carrie Underwood when she had her accident after the CMAs.  Celebrating the fact that she broke her wrist and cut her face.

 

 

I tried to make this post as vague as possible because I don’t want to get into trouble for politics. 

Edited February 17, 2018 by Stuffy

[Indy]

6 hours ago, galaxygirl76 said:

One more thing about slope style skiing. Is it me or is slope style harder on ski's? There seem to be a lot more people who fall on the beginning part with the pipes than with the snowboard.

I think maybe because you have a small stick attached to each foot instead of one big board attached to both feet, it’s easier to get off balance and fall. I’m just guessing though. I was never allowed to snowboard because according to my father snowboarders are heathens. 

 

I think the rails section looks cooler on snowboards but all the backwards shit on skis is amazing. 

[blackwing]

I don't remember watching ski slopestyle last Olympics.  I know the women's snowboard this time had weather issues, leading to competitors being less ambitious and Jamie Anderson playing it safe to win.  

The conditions looked perfect for women's ski slopestyle, and yet, it seemed to me that so much of it was simply about who didn't fall.  There was a particularly... healthy looking... American that mostly did jumps that was just turning in a simple upright 360 degree circle until her last backwards jump that made it into the finals.  The commentator kept saying she is known for her elegance.  She didn't look any more elegant to me than the others.

On the other hand, it was a bit surprising and refreshing to see an arguably overweight Olympic athlete in a winter sport other than curling.

[peachmangosteen]

8 hours ago, Stuffy said:

I’m going to need Vonn to medal eventually because of all her injuries but mainly because of the ridiculous hate she’s getting.

Why does she get so much hate?

[selkie]

10 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

Why does she get so much hate?

She is very vocal about not being a fan of the current president.  (Shiffrin is also not, but is somewhat quieter about that.)  Some people do not like her statements.  

I think I can go that far here, and will go back to liking the podium of redemption in the super-G. Anna Veith's silver comes after injury and Bode Miller's snarking about how she just hasn't been as good since she got married, and I always like seeing a Lichtenstein flag get raised, so I'm a Tina W. fan. 

[greyhorse]

41 minutes ago, blackwing said:

I don't remember watching ski slopestyle last Olympics.  I know the women's snowboard this time had weather issues, leading to competitors being less ambitious and Jamie Anderson playing it safe to win.  

The conditions looked perfect for women's ski slopestyle, and yet, it seemed to me that so much of it was simply about who didn't fall.  There was a particularly... healthy looking... American that mostly did jumps that was just turning in a simple upright 360 degree circle until her last backwards jump that made it into the finals.  The commentator kept saying she is known for her elegance.  She didn't look any more elegant to me than the others.

On the other hand, it was a bit surprising and refreshing to see an arguably overweight Olympic athlete in a winter sport other than curling.

Agreed.  Theoretically, it would seem like you could do more tricks on skis than on a snowboard because your feet aren't attached on a board.  But whereas we see some 1080s and 1440s during snowboarding, it didn't seem like any were attempting those jumps at all, at least from what I saw.  It seemed like the most they went was a 720.   I found the competition quite boring.  Maybe also because I associate tricks and jumps more with snowboarding than with skiing, although obviously both sports can do them as well as halfpipe.

[RolloTomasi]

12 minutes ago, selkie said:

She is very vocal about not being a fan of the current president.  

I quite like Lindsey Vonn, so I may not have the best perspective, but I don’t think this is it. This dislike dates back to the 2010 Olympics. If I remember correctly, back then Julia Mancuso made some snarky comment about Vonn being the only skier getting any media attention. She definitely was featured very heavily by NBC then, as she is here, and that seems to automatically breed contempt. Add to that the attention she got by dating Tiger Woods for a few years, and I’m sure people just label her as the media’s Anointed One and hate her for that. Her thoughts on the president may add to that, but the dislike has been there for awhile. 

 

Like I said, I like Lindsey. She’s elite in her sport, she doesn’t make excuses for when she loses, she doesn’t badmouth her competitors, and she seems like a nice person. The media focus isn’t her fault. And after missing out on Sochi the way she did, it’s great to see her back. 

[Quickbeam]

Ledecka is why I watch the Olympics. 

[Stuffy]

5 hours ago, RolloTomasi said:

I quite like Lindsey Vonn, so I may not have the best perspective, but I don’t think this is it. This dislike dates back to the 2010 Olympics. If I remember correctly, back then Julia Mancuso made some snarky comment about Vonn being the only skier getting any media attention. She definitely was featured very heavily by NBC then, as she is here, and that seems to automatically breed contempt. Add to that the attention she got by dating Tiger Woods for a few years, and I’m sure people just label her as the media’s Anointed One and hate her for that. Her thoughts on the president may add to that, but the dislike has been there for awhile. 

 

Like I said, I like Lindsey. She’s elite in her sport, she doesn’t make excuses for when she loses, she doesn’t badmouth her competitors, and she seems like a nice person. The media focus isn’t her fault. And after missing out on Sochi the way she did, it’s great to see her back. 

Not this time. It's about the president thing. Julie Foudy commented on it, and you should see some of her mentions too. Lindsey was trending last night, and 85% of it was people calling her anti American etc. The hate mail Lindsey Van has mistakenly been getting has been recent too.

Edited February 17, 2018 by Stuffy

[peachmangosteen]

I'm suddenly a Lindsey Vonn fan lol. I mean I always kinda liked her without ever knowing anything about her.

Does she have any more events or was that it last night?

[galaxygirl76]

1 hour ago, Quickbeam said:

Ledecka is why I watch the Olympics. 

Her response is the best. Just saw where a reporter ran up to her after she was staring in disbelief at the scoreboard and he told her that she won. She responded with a no, he told her again, she said it was a mistake. It's so awesome that these things still happen.

 

Eta, Robert Johansson's(Norwegian ski jumper) mustache game is very strong.

Edited February 17, 2018 by galaxygirl76

[Dots And Stripes]

I'm watching slopestyle and I cannot believe the injuries Gus Kenworthy is coping with. It hurts just to hear it described. I hope he does well. 

[SeanC]

With the slopestyle qualification runs over, I imagine the top three are wishing that they just ran with the first set of marks and awarded the medals.

[KenyaJ]

1 hour ago, Dots And Stripes said:

I'm watching slopestyle and I cannot believe the injuries Gus Kenworthy is coping with. It hurts just to hear it described. I hope he does well. 

OMG, last night on his Insta story, he showed the 6 (!) vials of blood they removed from his hematoma. And I heard he had it drained a second time after that. Between that and the broken thumb, I can't even imagine how he's competing as well as he is so far. 

He and his boyfriend Matt are two of my very favorite people to follow on Instagram. They're so cute and funny and I admire Gus so much for how much he's embraced being an ambassador for LGBT athletes and the LGBT community in general. I'm rooting so, so hard for him tonight.

[blackwing]

I'm crushed for Ted Ligety... after a promising 5th in the combined, he DNF'd the Super G.  Now this not so great performance in the Giant Slalom, his best chance of medalling.  I wonder if his lack of success could lead him to ski in the team event.  

[SeanC]

Alex Beaulieu-Marchand was third in the qualifying round, and he was third in the final round.  Good work.  Plus, on the principle that Canada's medal count of gold/silver/bronze has consistently stayed pretty even, that means we should collect another gold and another silver shortly.

[galaxygirl76]

What I'm getting out of this Big Air thing is that it's basically ski jumping(from a lower hill from looks) but with tricks? Oh. hell. no.

[SeanC]

Good job, Cassie Sharpe.

[Souris]

Mikaela Shiffrin indicated in an interview that she hadn't decided if she'll ski the downhill or not. Why would she not ski an event? Conserving energy for a different event? Only X number of skiers can ski from one country and somebody else might get the spot? Why? Clearly I'm missing something.

[galaxygirl76]

Maybe she's not feeling good, she did throw up before a race earlier this week and played it off as nerves but maybe it was a little more than that?

[greyhorse]

5 hours ago, Souris said:

Mikaela Shiffrin indicated in an interview that she hadn't decided if she'll ski the downhill or not. Why would she not ski an event? Conserving energy for a different event? Only X number of skiers can ski from one country and somebody else might get the spot? Why? Clearly I'm missing something.

I think she realizes that she is not a medal contender.  Any time you're going down the mountain at 65 mph, there's risk for injury.  And if you don't realistically have a chance to medal, then why not play it safe and save your mental and physical energy for an event that you have a chance in?   During tonight's second training run, the announcer mentioned that this was valuable experience on the mountain for her in preparation for the Combined.  

Now, most racers are out there for the Olympic experience.  But Mikaela already has a gold medal and she also has another event besides the Downhill (two if you include perhaps the Team event).  I think she's playing it smart if she chooses not to do the downhill.

[greyhorse]

I don't think this was shown on the broadcast for obvious reasons, but did anyone see this awful halfpipe run?

I'm impressed the commentators didn't call her out on it at all and made comments as if she was actually trying to compete.

Love all the Yahoo comments... "Looks like the average skier on vacation who wandered into an Olympic halfpipe"

The article raises the questions of why this Elizabeth Swaney woman gets a lot of hate, while the Mexican and shirtless Tongan cross country skier get applauded for their efforts.  Or I'm thinking back to the ski jumper Eddie the Eagle from Great Britain.  Maybe it's that she is from the US, claiming Hungarian citizenship, and seemingly having endless time and money to travel the globe "competing' in these qualifiers so she could make it to the Olympics.  I'd frankly be so embarrassed if that was my skill level and it's being shown to the world.

[selkie]

Shiffrin has had better than expected results in limited downhill runs this year, even winning after only a few downhill races. But she's at the stage in development where she needs a certain kind of course and course set to play to her strengths, and her camp is probably going through the training data right now to see if they think it's going to work for her here. 

[Ruby Gillis]

55 minutes ago, greyhorse said:

I don't think this was shown on the broadcast for obvious reasons, but did anyone see this awful halfpipe run?

I'm impressed the commentators didn't call her out on it at all and made comments as if she was actually trying to compete.

Thanks for sharing!  Shoutout to the commentators for being so professional.  I don't know how they didn't laugh.

[Souris]

I saw Shiffrin decided not to race the downhill after they moved the combined up a day because of high winds in the forecast. That would've been back-to-back days.

[legaleagle53]

3 hours ago, greyhorse said:

I don't think this was shown on the broadcast for obvious reasons, but did anyone see this awful halfpipe run?

I'm impressed the commentators didn't call her out on it at all and made comments as if she was actually trying to compete.

Love all the Yahoo comments... "Looks like the average skier on vacation who wandered into an Olympic halfpipe"

The article raises the questions of why this Elizabeth Swaney woman gets a lot of hate, while the Mexican and shirtless Tongan cross country skier get applauded for their efforts.  Or I'm thinking back to the ski jumper Eddie the Eagle from Great Britain.  Maybe it's that she is from the US, claiming Hungarian citizenship, and seemingly having endless time and money to travel the globe "competing' in these qualifiers so she could make it to the Olympics.  I'd frankly be so embarrassed if that was my skill level and it's being shown to the world.

Seriously.  The difference is that Pita and the Mexican guy went all out and gave it their all, but she clearly half-assed that run (hell, I'd say she barely even quarter-assed it!).  It makes me wonder what exactly she thought she was proving to the world.

[Quickbeam]

OMG, that awful halfpipe video is hilarious. Really I could do that and I'm in my 60's. As my spouse says: "how come the Eddie the Eagle rule doesn't apply to THAT?". 

[walnutqueen]

I expected that Game of Thrones nun to walk behind that "halfpipe" performance intoning "Shame. Shame. Shame", whilst the ever-so-gracious spectators threw rotten vegetables in the vicinity.

[blackwing]

That ski halfpipe from Elizabeth Swaney is hilarious.  I love how the commentators said things like "she wants to show that she can elegantly get down the halfpipe".  They were being charitable.  

Then again, they seem curiously optimistic about everyone.  I saw the heavyset American that also did slopestyle, and now I know her name is Devin Logan.  In slopestyle I was thoroughly unimpressed, she just did simple upright 360 degree turns and the commentators gushed about her elegance and experience.  Then I saw her here in halfpipe and they again praised her elegance but all she did was simple turns.  It's more than I can do but when you see people like Cassie Sharp and Marie Martinod flipping upside down, how can you expect simple 540s to win?  Is she getting the kid gloves treatment from the commentators and judges because she is a comparatively very large woman in a sport filled with slim hard bodies?

She has to know she isn't competitive, but good for her for trying.  I don't see that much difference between her and Swaney in terms of effort.  Both skied to the best of their ability.  If Swaney wants to spend money to qualify and chase her Olympic dream, why not?

I too don't see much difference between Swaney, Shirtless Tongan, and Dead Last Mexican.  The two men tried their best but were still awful at it.  Maybe what we saw from Swaney was her best effort.  It might look like she wasn't trying but maybe with her skillset, simply making it up the pipe is a great effort.  If that's the case, good for her.  I don't think I could do it, I'd be too scared.  But all of freestyle skiing looks crazy to me, I don't understand how more people don't break bones on bad landings.

So Shirtless Tongan, Dead Last Mexican, and Devin Logan all know they have no chance to medal and they are just happy to be there.  But Swaney gets hate?

I am aware that Devin Logan medaled last time, but I don't know if she was more skilled then or if the competition has advanced or what.  I guess plenty of athletes have to know they aren't competitive but are just happy to be there for the Olympic Spirit.  Swaney seems to be another one of them.  No different than people like the Mexican skier who is an Austrian prince or something like that or the Indian luger.  

[AshleyN]

6 hours ago, greyhorse said:

I don't think this was shown on the broadcast for obvious reasons, but did anyone see this awful halfpipe run?

I'm impressed the commentators didn't call her out on it at all and made comments as if she was actually trying to compete.

Love all the Yahoo comments... "Looks like the average skier on vacation who wandered into an Olympic halfpipe"

The article raises the questions of why this Elizabeth Swaney woman gets a lot of hate, while the Mexican and shirtless Tongan cross country skier get applauded for their efforts.  Or I'm thinking back to the ski jumper Eddie the Eagle from Great Britain.  Maybe it's that she is from the US, claiming Hungarian citizenship, and seemingly having endless time and money to travel the globe "competing' in these qualifiers so she could make it to the Olympics.  I'd frankly be so embarrassed if that was my skill level and it's being shown to the world.

Lol that's the perfect description of that run and I think is the detail that makes it so funny, as opposed to if she was genuinely terrible. I remember seeing someone joke before that all Olympic events should have a regular person competing in them just for comparisons sake and that's what this felt like.

Like, she's clearly a perfectly competent skiier, but seeing something so normal next to all these people doing flips and twists and shit is completely hilarious to me for some reason.

Edited February 19, 2018 by AshleyN

[Garden Wafers]

44 minutes ago, blackwing said:

Then again, they seem curiously optimistic about everyone.  I saw the heavyset American that also did slopestyle, and now I know her name is Devin Logan.  In slopestyle I was thoroughly unimpressed, she just did simple upright 360 degree turns and the commentators gushed about her elegance and experience.  Then I saw her here in halfpipe and they again praised her elegance but all she did was simple turns.  It's more than I can do but when you see people like Cassie Sharp and Marie Martinod flipping upside down, how can you expect simple 540s to win?  Is she getting the kid gloves treatment from the commentators and judges because she is a comparatively very large woman in a sport filled with slim hard bodies?

I didn't watch the halfpipe event, but after looking up Devin Logan on the FIS website, it doesn't sound like her situation is comparable to the Shirtless Tongan. She's currently 5th in the FIS Freestyle Skiing Worldcup for Halfpipe; true, she hasn't won an event since 2015, but she's at least had podium finishes in the year leading up to this Olympics. I can't imagine the judges would have consistently scored her that highly just for compassion's sake. 

[SeanC]

And a commanding win for Cassie Sharpe, who never scored lower than a 93.00 in any of the first five runs in women's halfpipe between the qualifying runs and the final.

Poor Maddie Bowman.  Glad she's okay after her helmet broke on impact.

Edited February 20, 2018 by SeanC

[mojoween]

Did I hear the announcer correctly that Maddie has a hematoma on her hip that she got this week?

I have to sit down for an hour after stubbing my toe, her ability to try the halfpipe three times while injured like that is amazing.

[sab85]

Frankly I don't know how any of these guys are still walking. I think they had Gus Kenworthy held together with roll of scotch tape and a couple of paperclips by his final run.

 

I honestly thought big air seemed kind of pointless. One of the announcers mentioned that the jump was smaller than some of the jumps on the slopestyle course. Since both slopestyle and aerials already exist it just seems repetitive.

Edited February 20, 2018 by sab85

[greyhorse]

8 hours ago, blackwing said:

That ski halfpipe from Elizabeth Swaney is hilarious.  I love how the commentators said things like "she wants to show that she can elegantly get down the halfpipe".  They were being charitable.  

Then again, they seem curiously optimistic about everyone.  I saw the heavyset American that also did slopestyle, and now I know her name is Devin Logan.  In slopestyle I was thoroughly unimpressed, she just did simple upright 360 degree turns and the commentators gushed about her elegance and experience.  Then I saw her here in halfpipe and they again praised her elegance but all she did was simple turns.  It's more than I can do but when you see people like Cassie Sharp and Marie Martinod flipping upside down, how can you expect simple 540s to win?  Is she getting the kid gloves treatment from the commentators and judges because she is a comparatively very large woman in a sport filled with slim hard bodies?

She has to know she isn't competitive, but good for her for trying.  I don't see that much difference between her and Swaney in terms of effort.  Both skied to the best of their ability.  If Swaney wants to spend money to qualify and chase her Olympic dream, why not?

I too don't see much difference between Swaney, Shirtless Tongan, and Dead Last Mexican.  The two men tried their best but were still awful at it.  Maybe what we saw from Swaney was her best effort.  It might look like she wasn't trying but maybe with her skillset, simply making it up the pipe is a great effort.  If that's the case, good for her.  I don't think I could do it, I'd be too scared.  But all of freestyle skiing looks crazy to me, I don't understand how more people don't break bones on bad landings.

So Shirtless Tongan, Dead Last Mexican, and Devin Logan all know they have no chance to medal and they are just happy to be there.  But Swaney gets hate?

I am aware that Devin Logan medaled last time, but I don't know if she was more skilled then or if the competition has advanced or what.  I guess plenty of athletes have to know they aren't competitive but are just happy to be there for the Olympic Spirit.  Swaney seems to be another one of them.  No different than people like the Mexican skier who is an Austrian prince or something like that or the Indian luger.  

I'm not annoyed at all by Devin Logan.  I do not agree however with the commentator that she was "stylish" and "elegant".  Those are just euphemisms for "simple safe tricks".   As mentioned, she did get silver in Sochi.  And she is ranked pretty high apparently and obviously good enough to make the US team.  Unlike Elizabeth Swaney, whose skill set is so ordinary that there is no way she would make the US Olympic team.  So instead she claims Hungarian descent.  I know that happens a lot and it's not uncommon.  For some, I think just making it to the Olympics and "competing" - even if it's not for your "real" country - is rewarding.  Seems like a lot of time and money to commit to a sport that you're not really good at and then adopt another country just to make it to the competition where your skills are so below par that I would find it so embarrassing. 

I feel like all of these sports should have some minimum performance bar that you have to make in order to compete.  Sort of like the Boston Marathon.  If you're running a 5 hour marathon, they aren't going to let you compete.  Unless I suppose you donate a lot of money.  Maybe that's a similar case here in the Olympics.

[blackwing]

53 minutes ago, sab85 said:

Frankly I don't know how any of these guys are still walking. I think they had Gus Kenworthy held together with roll of scotch tape and a couple of paperclips by his final run.

 

I honestly thought big air seemed kind of pointless. One of the announcers mentioned that the jump was smaller than some of the jumps on the slopestyle course. Since both slopestyle and aerials already exist it just seems repetitive.

 

I agree that big air just seems like another slopestyle jump.  But I want to point out that at the Olympics, big air for snowboarding is the equivalent of aerials for skiing.  At least at the Olympics, I don't think there was an "aerials" for snowboarding until "big air".

I want to say that Big Air replaced parallel slalom in snowboarding?  I remember in Sochi there was some kind of rebel American who gave up his citizenship and became a Russian citizen and competed for Russia.  He won both giant slalom and slalom.

I'm unclear as to why slalom got dumped in favor of big air.  Maybe men's big air will be really big air and like skiing aerials, because the women's version just looked like the last jump in slopestyle.

Edited February 20, 2018 by blackwing

[Dots And Stripes]

I came here after seeing Swaney and I am still at a loss. I have so many feelings about this. I kind of love it and hate it at the same time. At least it gave me a good laugh.

[redpencil]

Is there a reason that all of the women (unless I missed someone?) used poles for ski halfpipe, but the men didn't (again, unless I missed someone)?

ETA: Okay, I apparently missed a couple of the U.S. men with poles. I guess it's just personal preference?

Edited February 20, 2018 by redpencil

[galaxygirl76]

6 hours ago, redpencil said:

Is there a reason that all of the women (unless I missed someone?) used poles for ski halfpipe, but the men didn't (again, unless I missed someone)?

ETA: Okay, I apparently missed a couple of the U.S. men with poles. I guess it's just personal preference?

There were skiiers in the slopes style with and without poles as well.  My husband pointed it out and asked the same thing. Must be a personal thing. 

[SeanC]

6 hours ago, redpencil said:

Is there a reason that all of the women (unless I missed someone?) used poles for ski halfpipe, but the men didn't (again, unless I missed someone)?

ETA: Okay, I apparently missed a couple of the U.S. men with poles. I guess it's just personal preference?

 

25 minutes ago, galaxygirl76 said:

There were skiiers in the slopes style with and without poles as well.  My husband pointed it out and asked the same thing. Must be a personal thing. 

One of the Canadian TV commentators addressed this.  It is purely a matter of personal preference.