Fashion Mogul #5: The Monoski

Comparing skiing's monoskiers to fashion's hipsters would not be entirely accurate. However, it also would not be entirely off-base.

Monoskiing is a scarcely-practiced, but fiercely prevailing, style of skiing. It is often viewed as a throwback, an ode to decades prior, and more challenging than the "normal" form of resort skiing. Watch monoskiers attack Corbet's Couloir below.

I would be remiss not to mention the adjacently alternative styles of skiing: telemark skiing and snowblading. Both monoskiing and telemark skiing were invented in the early '60s.

While telemark skiing is certainly not mainstream, it is far more common than the monoski. Its praises are sung by POWDER writers, telemark fanatics, and classic skiers looking to preserve style and flow. Words like "intoxicating" and "fulfilling" accompany the art of tele skiing.

Related: Welcome to The Tele Dribble

This enthusiasm for alternative methods of skiing is exasperated in an era when freeskiing's limits are being pushed to an extreme. Succeeding at landing road gaps are common. 360s and flips are necessary to score in freeride contests.

Remember when POWDER magazine was filled with poems about skiing pow ? With prose detailing the euphoria of bounding through snowfields? When POWDER was a magazine about the feelings of skiing? Comparing skiing to another sex?

Nowadays, it is easy to feel a disconnect between ski media and this pure, soulful bliss. We see images of skiers dropping 100-foot cliffs. Skiers throwing triple corks in the backcountry. Skiers doing rail grinds off malls. For the vast majority of us, this isn't representative. It is selling a dream most of us will never experience, and probably don't aim to.

Humans also age. Backflips are a fun goal in one's twenties, but skiing is a sport with plenty of elders. We all know multi-generational skiing families. Lift rides with frothing 80-year-olds are not uncommon. Alternative styles of skiing offer a more physically forgiving chance to explore within a sport that is already aging-friendly.

Both monoskiing and telemark skiing offer ways to challenge oneself to learn a new discipline within skiing. Monoskis are also used for adaptive skiing, furthering the idea that they allow more skiers from all walks of life into the ski space.

Related: This Monoski Saves Lives

Unlike snowblading, which makes appearances from skiers on the west coast of North America during the springtime to play around in corn snow, monoskiing is actually useful--perhaps even a first-place-quiver-winner--for skiing powder.

Jonathan Hritz , who was introduced to monoskiing in Alaska in '77 and has been carrying on the eccentric sport for over three decades, insists that "powder monoskiing is like standing up on a toboggan. There’s nothing like it.”

Vail profiled Hritz , after they banned him from monoskiing Vail's back bowls only to welcome him back years later with open arms. During the profile, they quoted Hritz as reporting that “the likelihood of twisting your knee was really good on two skis. But once you get a monoski going, it starts to plane on top of the snow. It doesn’t sink in the way that two skis do. You’re one tight unit when both of your feet are absorbing the turn together. I say it’s like putting radial tires on your car—everything smooths out.”

Hritz does, however, acknowledge that many by-standing skiers view monoskiing as outdated or retro as opposed to progressive technology or a tool to harness new feelings when powder skiing.

For example, a photo of Hritz monoskiing can be found on "OLDSCHOOLERS", an Instagram account dedicated to preserving the history of skiing. See below.

The monoski functions in the ski space as a fish-shaped surfboard functions in the surf realm. A fish-shaped surfboard allows for a faster, looser feeling surf in smaller waves, but is certainly not a board that can "do it all" in all types of waves. The monoski is a more stable, floatier ski in powder, but is probably not the equipment skiers are reaching for on hardpack days (although, I have seen people monoski in surprisingly poor conditions, and I have seen surfers ride twins and fishes in double overhead surf).

I would perhaps infer that monoskiing is used as a compliment to regular, bread and butter skiing (which is the equivalent to a surfer's tri-fin shortboard) for those already jaded by all types of conditions and pristine powder. Just like the fish, the monoski might not be best in all conditions.

It might not be the only tool in the lineup, but it is a valuable addition to the ski locker on days one would otherwise not go out, or to diversify the experiences at the same mountain.

To further the parallel, like a fish surfboard, monoskis harness older ideals to enhance modern-day outdoors experiences. Fish surfboards are hailed as "retro shapes" (which doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, because by that logic, only asymettrical and twin longboards are "modern" shapes... everything else was invented at least a decade prior). Monoskis are hailed as "retro shapes" even though extra-wide skis have "retro" roots and snowboards were invented in the '60s.

But "retro" things, whether it be vinyls or classic cars, seem to strike a chord with a younger crowd perpetually looking to differentiate themselves from the mainstream.

Everyone else is buying long, fat, powder skis this season? Enter the monoski, a healthy alternative sure to attract attention while also serving a useful purpose. The monoski isn't as gimmicky or purely-for-tricks feeling as snowblades, but it is equally strange to see in the wild.

Related: Fashion Mogul #4: Patriotism, or American Fashion-Lovers’ Lack Thereof

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