In 1979 the International Ski Federation (FIS) recognized freestyle skiing as a competition discipline and administered the first World Cup freestyle events. Afterwards, it became part of the Olympic Winter Games.

Among the main freestyle disciplines are the aerials, moguls, dual moguls, halfpipe, acro and others.

Aerials
In this discipline, a take off ramp is used and once in the air, the participant combines spins and turns to impress the jury. The contestants have two jumps, which elements are judged for the degree of difficulty and style. This sport is very spectacular and attracts more and more adherents today.

Big Air
Like in aerials event, the contestants in this discipline are given points for difficulty and execution, but the competition includes bigger ramp and higher jumps. The aerials are two types - uprights and inverted. The upright aerials are also called "quarter pipes", "floaters", "table tops" and "hits". There are some maneuvers, such as "misty flips" and "rodeos that are referred to the inverted type for which there is a requirement to be qualified first on a water ramp and then performed in a competition.

Halfpipe
From 2001 this discipline has become a competition event. It features jumping and series of tricks and maneuvers in the halfpipe. The jury gives points for the degree of difficulty and execution of the performance.

Moguls
The essential part of this event includes speed and turns, including those in the air. The athletes have to ski quickly among moguls (called also bumps) on a steep slope. Besides their speed, points are given also for technical execution and two compulsory upright jumps. Additionally, in order to get full points from the jury, contesters must pass through launch pads on their way down and perform two aerial maneuvers. The highest approval is given for the quality of turns 50%; additional points are given for speed 25% and another 25% for the height and difficulty of the jumps.

Dual Moguls
This is a modification of the moguls contest, where two contestants ski down head to head, simultaneously on parallel mogul courses. The event includes head-to-head knock-out rounds during the contest down the same course. Not only the fast speed is evaluated here, but also the same criteria like in the moguls event.

Acro
This is the discipline that can be called ski ballet and is very interesting for watching. Within 1.5 minutes the contestants have to present their performance, based on music and choreographics of their own choice. The jury gives half of the points for the technical execution and the other half for artistic impression.

Freestyle skiing includes different ski tricks that are a challenge to the followers of this sport and they train in order to execute them professionally. Among them are the 180, where the skier rotates at one side in the air and lands backwards. It is important that the athlete centers his weight during the jump and fixes the landing point in order to land safely after that. Beautiful for watching is the 360 trick, where the contestant takes off, turns aside and pulls the tail of the ski to his spin, after which he lands down. The 540 Tail Grab is very similar to 360 but is more attractive as performance and thus more difficult for execution, requires more concentration. The skier has to spin harder than the 360 in order to reach the 360 and land properly. Another trick is the Mute Grab, where the skier becomes airborne and lifts both his legs but grabs the opposite ski, while keeping a balance in the same time. Other impressive tricks include Corkscrew 720, D Spin 720, Half Cab Mute Grab and others.