Hostile Takeover Part II

Two full weeks after the FIS announced that they are introducing slopestyle in their World Championships and aiming for a slopestyle event in Sochi in 2014, not a single voice has clamored from the ”core” snowboarding scene.

 

The story is pretty much the same as the last hostile takeover – even the timing is similar. After 10 years of progression, from hand-dug ditches to superpipes, the FIS and the IOC concluded it was time to bring snowboarding to the Olympics. Since the IOC brings solid financial backing to the Olympic organizer, once the ISF lost the battle with the FIS they inevitably went bankrupt.

 

And here we go again: approximately 10 years after the slopestyle contest scene started to develop, they are getting ready to do it all over again. If you think the qualification season for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics was hectic for the riders and the organizers of events, wait till you see what's in store for the 2013 season when halfpipe and slopestyle Olympic qualifications for the FIS compete with TTR, X Games and Dew Tour dates…

 

We can complain and ask why the FIS, an organizing body that has never held a slopestyle contest, are going to be in charge of exactly that at the biggest winter sports event in the world. Especially taking into consideration that the TTR and others have been doing this for 10 years now. Doing research for this article, I found judged slopestyle contests as far back as 97 (more knowledgeable snowboard historians, please feel free to elaborate more here).

 

The TTR, for instance, oversee and organize more than 100 slopestyle contests throughout the world, backed by a reliable ranking, every season. Yes, I know that the IOC requires an organizing body within the traditional world of national sports organizations. But the TTR has that through its partnership with the WSF.

 

That’s not my point here though. Why doesn't anybody, from riders to media to industry players to fans, have an opinion on this? You can agree, disagree, whatever – any way you cut it, there is simply nobody out there with any say in this at all. Are we too cool for school, have we given up or do we simply not care?

 

I don’t have many friends on facebook, and not that many in real life either, but most of the opinion leaders in our sport are my facebook “friends”. I have not seen one single post anywhere at all about this. Nor have I seen any discussions or articles in leading snowboarding websites (except an opinion piece by Annie Fast in Transworld before the FIS decision was taken).

 

Maybe we are just comfortably numb with life as it is. What used to be punk rock has become boy band and the sound of silence is alarming. There’s something immature about the whole issue which I have witnessed on many other occasions in snowboarding. It's like we’re stuck in our teens and never really understood the concept of freedom of speech. My fellow snowboarders, it is time to leave the prom and embrace adulthood once and for all.

 

In many internal discussions you can see that people are afraid of even broaching the subject or mentioning the FIS. Does anyone really believe that the skiers are afraid of having this discussion with us? No. You can say whatever you like about the FIS, but they are a democratic organization and accustomed to making tough discussions. Granted, the IOC is not as democratic, but I doubt they will sue you if you are simply stating your opinion.

 

But who knows, I might be wrong. Maybe it is more important that Shaun White shines the light on snowboarding by winning two golds in Sochi than having a well-run, well-organized event. Maybe the FIS concept for halfpipe and slopestyle in the upcoming World Cups is so good that there is no need for TTR or any other independent organizers any more.

 

We could leave it be or we could pick a fight. Or, at the very least, we could start talking about it.

 

Have a great summer!

 

by Henning Andersen

 

Cover photo by Andy Juegelt/TTR

Rider: Gjermund Braaten @ BEO