Paying Attention: Slopestyle Skiing is new to the Winter Olympics in 2014. It’s the skiing equivalent of slopestyle snowboarding, a multi-facet aerobatics competition which has already run. Depending on your coordination, you might consider slopestyle skiing an order of magnitude more difficult than the snowboarding version simply because you have two boards under your feet to maneuver and be aware of versus one bigger one. In the prelims, one thing we’ve seen that’s pretty spectacular is the slopestyle skiers’ skiing backwards down the course–that trick is made possible by the fact that skiers face “forward” on their skis and have the ability to turn 180 degrees to ski backwards and snowboarders face sideways (in relation to the snowboard), so there really isn’t a “backwards” component in snowboarding technique (“backside” in snowboarding is not the same as backwards on skis). Both slopestyle disciplines require amazing ability. Here’s a written brief on slope style, both skiing and snowboarding and heres the Official Olympic Video on the sport. You’re now fully briefed. Settle in and enjoy the show.