Words by Chris Jerard

With halfpipe and slopestyle skiing being granted admission to the Olympics this past spring, many people have asked, what will happen to the sport?

History has proven that many times sports that have their own identity pre-Olympic status have lost their soul to the Olympics and have been over run by their International Federation.

Four years ago, the AFP was formed to do a variety of things. Obtaining entrance into the Olympic Games was part of the AFP mission. But now, one of our jobs, in addition to helping to keep the sports organized, is to keep the progression of the sport moving forward the way it always has and not let any other entity take the identity the athletes have worked so hard to create.

This past October, after AFP Vice President/Co-Founder Michael Spencer had a private meeting with Joe Fitzgerald, the Director of Freestyle of FIS, the AFP was invited to attend the FIS meetings in Zurich and give their input and suggestions of how the core of the sport wants to be represented. Three of the AFP Founders (Chris Schuster, Josh Loubek and Michael Spencer) flew to Zurich, Switzerland to participate in several of the Freestyle Committee's meetings to provide our input and get a better understand of what to expect and what we might be able to influence in a positive way.

What happened next was unexpected- but undeniably great for our sport. Here are the highlights of the meeting...

The Calendar
Any new events such as the World Cups used to qualify for the Olympics will coordinate around the existing AFP Calendar so athletes will not need to choose what events to go to, but rather be able to make their own schedule and not miss the big events such as Dew Tour and X Games. It was even discussed that events such as the Grand Prix's in the US and the New Zealand Open could become World Cups that would ultimately not add any new events or competitions to the athletes' schedules. Right now there appears to be only the potential for seven World Cups in total during the Olympic Qualification process as well, which begins in July 2012 and runs through January 2014.

Halfpipe Standards
FIS will ensure that in order for an event to be considered a World Cup, the event organizers will guarantee a 22-foot halfpipe. Slopestyle

It was agreed that there should not be standards on slopestyle courses. However, there should be rules in place for the athletes' benefit that state if there is any major change to the course after practice, then all competitors shall be given extra training before competition. This provides a safe competition format. There is also a group in place that is starting the design of the Olympic course. Right now there is no word on them getting any info from athletes. The AFP will track down the right people and provide the athletes with the ability to voice their opinion.

Judging
The greatest victory for the sport was here. FIS has commissioned the AFP to handle all judging materials and clinics to certify FIS judges. The AFP has already created a very detailed presentation to use. It is our intention to have a version of this available on the AFP website for athletes and coaches to look at and have the right tools to perfect their runs and also provide feedback should there be any inconsistency of what the athletes want to see. FIS has also agreed to change to a 100-point system, so all events, whether AFP sanctioned or FIS sanctioned, will have the same point system and consistency with judges.

Again, this has been a very promising and re-assuring meeting that took place that helps the athletes continue to progress and direct the future of the sport. For more information on The Association of Freeskiing Professionals, go to afpworldtour.com.

Newschoolers recently sat down with Kaya Turski to talk about everything from her new sponsors, her views on the Olympics, to her plans for the approaching season.

Read on to see what's 'Kaya Bamba' has been getting into.

How have you been doing Kaya?
I've doing great, thanks for asking.

So I know you've got some big news to announce, and some people might already know about it, but give us the scoop right off the bat.
I sure do. I've just signed with Nike 6.0 outerwear and shoes, which is really exciting for me. It's a company I've wanted to work with for a really long time, ever since I heard they were starting to get involved in skiing, so it's a dream come true for me.

What else have you been up to lately?
Well I just had a week off, so I did a trip down to New York City with my Mom, which we'd be planning for a while, so it was nice to do that with her, and I also got to go to Japan for two weeks a while back to visit my best friend who's teaching English over there. So it was really nice to get away from it all and see a country I've never been too before and have my best friend as a tour guide. Aside from that, I've just been back in the gym here in Montreal working with my trainer, doing some reconditioning and getting my body ready for the season, and then I'm heading down to New Zealand for a few weeks.

What are you planning on getting up to down there?
It's our first Canadian Slopestyle Ski Team trip, so we're all going to head down there together and get back on our skis. I'm super excited to get back out there and feel the snow under my feet, and it'll be great to see what the whole team dynamic is going to be like.

Head over to Newschoolers to read the rest of the interview with Kaya.

"Party on Wayne."

Words by Jeff Schmuck
Photos by Audric Gagnon, Will Gignac, Simon Lebrun & Renaud Robert

Yesterday we unleashed our first colossal update on what went down this past weekend in Montreal, Quebec, Canada at the biggest and best ski film festival in the world, the Nike 6.0 International Freeski Film Festival. The first update focused on the movies and awards, so in an effort to split things up for you, here now is a look at why the Festival is affectionately and fittingly known as 'The Biggest Ski Party of the Year', the parties, along with a look at the true essence of IF3.

As anyone over the age of 18 who's been to IF3 in the past knows, the parties are as much a part of the Festival as the movies, and IF3 co-founders Felix Rioux and JF DuRocher continuously step it up year after year when it comes to the live acts that perform at them, which has allowed music to become a bigger and bigger part of IF3 since its humble beginnings five years ago.

Following the conclusion of The North Face Outdoor Screening on Thursday, the first of three musically diverse shindigs went down with the Nike 6.0 IF3 VIP Party in the swanky Opus Hotel.

Head over to Newschoolers to see just how rowdy things got at IF3.

Do it, we dare you.

The biggest ski celebration of the year went off in Montreal last week, and who better to bring us the recap then our favorite Canadian skiers over at Newschoolers.

Words by Jeff Schmuck
Photos by Audric Gagnon, Will Gignac, Simon Lebrun & Renaud Robert

Now that the madness has subsided on both the biggest ski party of the year along with a tireless amount of hard work and late nights in the Newschoolers office launching our new video and photo sections during the Festival, the time has come for our first of two in-depth and extensive updates on everything that went down this past weekend in Montreal, Quebec, Canada at the fifth annual Nike 6.0 International Freeski Film Festival.

First up, a look at the movies, and boy oh boy was there a lot of them. Over the course of the four days of the Festival, a whopping 26 films and 13 webisodes were unearthed to over a thousand die-hard skiers who made the annual pilgrimage from all over the world to the beautiful and party-hardy city of Montreal for IF3.

The biggest and best ski film festival in the world kicked off its celebrated fifth anniversary on Thursday with an autograph signing at Oberson (a super cool shop in Montreal who was one of the main sponsors of this year's IF3), where a large contingent of the best freeskiers in the world congregated to put down their signatures on posters, clothing and laptops and smiles on many a kids' faces. Following the signing, the premieres officially began with the third annual North Face Outdoor Screening, where in stark contrast to last year's torrential downpour, clear skies were as abundant as the high fives being traded amongst friends, who in some cases hadn't seen each other since the chairlifts stopped turning in the spring.

Missed the biggest party in skiing? Don't sweat. Head over to Newschoolers to check out all the mayhem and the rest of the recap HERE.

What do you look for in a ski movie?

What are your favorite elements and what would you like to see more of? Sammy Carlson pondered these questions and decided he needed to set out and make his own movie in order to capture all the things he wanted in the perfect ski movie. On Top of the Hood is Sammy Carlson's own production and was recently released on Newschoolers for all to see.

Words: Newschoolers

On Top of the Hood is the brainchild of skier Sammy Carlson. Sammy C skied, directed and produced his first motion picture with the help of Nimbus Indpendent and Tom Yaps. Sammy has a unique approach to skiing, and the style he captures on film. On Top of the Hood documents a spring season skiing with Sammy C and friends.

To read all about the film, check out this interview Newschoolers did with Sammy earlier this season.

Also, head here to watch On Top of The Hood in its entirety and to see photos from the flick.