Winter Olympics: Explaining difference between moguls, slopestyle and big air

There are various freestyle and snowboard disciplines taking place at the 2022 Games in Beijing

Katie Ormerod is set to get her snowboard slopestyle campaign underway on Saturday (Mike Egerton/PA) (PA Archive)

Katie Ormerod is scheduled to get her Winter Olympic campaign under way in the women’s snowboard slopestyle qualification round on Saturday.

Here, we explain the difference between the various freestyle ski and snowboard disciplines at the 2022 Games.

Moguls

(PA Graphics) (PA Graphics)

Skiers descend individually down a bumpy course. They are scored mostly for their turns and rhythm, partly for the height and difficulty of their jumps, and partly for their speed. The scores are combined to discern the final positions.

Big air

The ski and snowboard big air events will be contested in central Beijing Competitors leap off a ramp in excess of 50-metres high, and are scored for the size and difficulty of their rotations, flips and grabs.

Aerials

Skiers zoom up a near-vertical ramp before performing a series of twists and flips. Scores are determined based on height gained, the degree of the difficulty of the components, and the landing.

Slopestyle

Contested on both snowboards and skis, slopestyle sees each competitor take part in individual runs down a course scattered with rails, boxes and jumps, their respective scores obtained primarily through the variety and difficulty of tricks.

Half-pipe

Canada’s Cassie Sharpe in the ski halfpipe final at the 2018 Games (Mike Egerton/PA) (PA Archive)

Skiers and snowboarders career individually down a precipitous U-shaped course, performing tricks and jumps off the edges of the pipe, before being scored for a variety of factors including height, difficulty and variety.

Ski/snowboard-cross

Competitors race in heats of four down a course packed with jumps and banks. Falls and crashes are common – and often grounds for disqualification – with the first athlete over the line declared the winner.