Hello folks. I’m proud to say that skiing is officially cool again.
As you know, I’m a *very* important ski blogger, and essentially the preeminent voice in North American skiing and snowboard culture.
In short- I have the final say on what’s cool and what isn’t.
With that being said, the Ski Knuckle Huck competition that took place over the weekend at X Games Aspen 2023, has officially made skiing cool again.
I’m obviously kidding about the part above where I said was very important and what not. If anything, I’m just a dumb white guy who likes to write about skiing more than the average joe.
Still, it’s hard to deny the fact that watching skiers flip, spin, and huck themselves off a knuckle is anything but cool.
If you haven’t already, please either watch the full Knuckle Huck broadcast, or the highlights embedded below. You’ll see what I mean:
If you don’t have enough time to watch the 12-minute highlight video above, because let’s be honest, not many people sit down to watch anything longer than a few seconds on their phones these days, please watch Gold Medal winner Jesper Tjader’s highlights below.
The Swedish madman does things I never even thought possible on skis, and further cements the fact that skiing is cool again.
I’m still in disbelif.
Remember when snowboarding used to be ‘cooler’ than skiing? All of the cool kids in their baggy pants, oversized hoodies, punk music, and copious amounts of weed used to flock to snowboarding.
Now, it seems like those same kids are rocking beanies, wearing weird outerwear that look like track suits, and most importantly- they’re skiing.
That’s probably because they’re in awe of today’s pro freeskiers.
Skiing has a line up of killers that are pushing the sport every single time they ride. That list includes- Mac Forehand, Jesper Tjader, Alex Hall, Henrik Harlaut, Colby Stevenson, and a few dozen more genuine rippers.
^Jesper Tjader posing with his Knuckle Huck Gold Medal, which happens to be his first ever X Games Medal!
Don’t get me wrong. Freeskiing owes its recent rise in fame entirely to snowboarding.
Jason Levinthal’s LINE Skis, the Salomon 1080, and other early twin-tips, were all created so skiers could do tricks in the park like snowboarders.
Snowboarding is still fun to watch, but I feel like this is the first time in my life, as a skier mind you, that I enjoy watching freeskiers compete more than snowboarders.
Tell your snowboarding friends- skiing is cool again!