How to watch freestyle skiing slopestyle at the Winter Olympics: A guide to understanding and appreciating the sport

The 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea will be the second games to feature the freestyle skiing slopestyle event. With Team USA’s men’s team finishing the 2014 Sochi games with a history-making sweep of the medal stand, this year’s American athletes should continue their established dominance.

As with the other freestyle skiing events, four men and four women will compete for the United States in the slopestyle event, including three returning medalists.

The men’s squad returns two of the three skiers from the podium sweep in 2014, Nick Goepper and Gus Kenworthy — Joss Christensen was unable to qualify coming off an ACL injury. The two discretionary spots to round out the roster, will be filled by Olympic rookies McRae Williams and Alex Hall — the youngest on the team at 19 years old.

In the women’s group, Devin Logan returns as the sole female medal winner from 2014, claiming silver in the event. Maggie Voisin will join Logan, as she did in Sochi before suffering an ankle injury that would keep her from competing. Voisin will look to finish what she started, along with first-time Olympians Caroline Claire and Darian Stevens.

Because it is awesome.

From front and back flips to 720-degree spins, athletes have minimal time to hit some impressive moves mid-air before landing (right-side up, mind you), and each and every run is different and impressive. With almost an equal chance of landing on their feet as face planting in the snow, each run will keep you on the edge of your seat.

The slopestyle course in Pyeongchang has six total features, including three jumps and three rail sections, which skiers will use to perform tricks on their way down the slope. Each skier gets two runs during the qualification round, with the best single run counting, and the top 12 skiers advancing to the finals. The finals consist of three runs per athlete. Top score wins.

Runs are scored from 1 to 100, with judges using several metrics in their decisions, including amplitude, difficulty, variety, execution, and progression. With the Pyeongchang course featuring three jumps, most competitors will try to choreograph three of the four different ski spins (or grabs in different spots) to showcase the variety of their skills.

During the event’s debut at the 2014 Olympics, the slopestyle finals featured only two runs per athlete, but this year they’ll switch to a three-run final.

All eyes will be on the men’s team, and whether they’ll be able to repeat their sweep of medals in the event. It won’t come easily, and Joss Christensen won’t be there to round out the top three, but with Nick Goepper and Gus Kenworthy qualifying, 19-year-old phenom Alex Hall could claim that third podium.

If you need someone to root though, it’s Maggie Voisin. She was considered a heavy favorite to medal in 2014 (at 15 years old!), but after suffering an ankle injury during practice, ended up missing her chance to be the youngest American to compete in the Winter Olympics over 40 yers. Now, just over a month since her 19th birthday, Voisin will look to claim the first of many Olympic medals.

The goal of this sport is essentially to get from Point A to Point B in the most dangerous and least-direct way possible — which also accurately defines my driving as a teenager. Showing off with gravity-defying jumps and grinding a little metal is American enough to earn five out of five bald eagles.