​Freestyle Skiing at the Innsbruck 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games consists ofa Ski Cross event and a Halfpipe event, both featuring competitions for men and women. This sport hasgrown enormously in popularity in the past few years. In the Halfpipe event,skiers descend a half-cylinder-shaped snow channel, performing acrobatic tricks such as jumps and flips as they pass from one side of the pipe to the other. The amount of speed gathered on the run-indetermines the height of the jumps in the pipe.

The mass-start in the SkiCross event sets the stage for fast and exciting racing. Each athlete must first complete an individual timed qualification run to determine the groups for the heats in the main competition. In these heats, four athletes descend a course full of banked corners, jumps, rollers and other freestyle terrain features. Ski Cross demands both alpine and freestyle skiing skills, meaning that the majorityof competitors have a background in ski racing.

More about Freestyle Ski on www.olympic.org