One Olympic trick that “grabbed” my attention...

The Winter Olympics are a wonderful opportunity to catch up with what’s cool among contemporary slope users and have a chance to update one’s wardrobe, fashion elements, moves on snow or cool expressions. 

One that finally go my attention is “grabbing” your ski or your board while the athlete is up in the air. 

My wife asked me why competitors were doing it, I couldn’t answer it on the spot, and then I found out what I suspected, that grabbing your board comes from skateboarding, as one must grab their board to keep it attached to their feet whenever they got air, since there’s no binding. 

While snowboarders (and freestyle skiers) all keep their boards attached via bindings to their legs, that tradition continues (idiotically) because, according to the freestyle experts: “Grabs add control in the air and a tonne of style to one’s jumping. They’re also said to make advanced spins and flips easier to execute…” 

Well, this to me, is an archaism as stupid as it is totally unneeded, but go tell that to the guys in charge of judging a sports is totally unrelated to a kind of ski sport what the vast majority of mountain visitors will never even consider...