Hart Skis - Pioneer in Freestyle Skiing

Pioneer in Freestyle Skiing

The evolution of freestyle skiing can be traced to 1907, when the first ski flip was recorded. By the 1950s, Olympic skiers like Stein Erickson were performing front and back aerial somersaults during professional ski shows in Vermont and Colorado.

In 1965, Austrian gymnast Herman Goellner surpassed the single somersaults achieved by Erickson by performing the first double, triple and mobius (full-twisting) flips. Ski enthusiasts in Vermont were the first to witness the feats of Goellner and Tom Leroy, who performed simultaneous inverted aerials to the astonishment of large ski-show crowds.

In 1965, Swiss racer Art Furrer appeared on the U.S. ski scene. Claiming that increased agility through acrobatics on skis could improve ski performance, Furrer thrilled crowds. His stunts included “the butterfly,” “the Charleston” and a crossed-ski turn called the “javelin.” Furrer’s relationship with Hart Skis and his early appearance in ski press photos performing stunts made him “the face” of the 1960s freestyle movement.

Produced in 1966, the Hart-manufactured Javelin was one of the first skis in metal and fiberglass. Acrobatics were key to the success of the first extreme skiing movies, produced for Hart by Summit Films. These early films included, “The Incredible Ski,” “The Moebius Flip” and perhaps the most popular ever, “Ski the Outer Limits.”

Freestyle skiing was officially recognized in 1979 by the International Ski Federation and was introduced at the Olympics as a demonstration event at the 1988 Calgary Games. Mogul skiing became part of the official program for the Albertville Games in 1992—and aerials were added in 1994 during the Lillehammer Games.