Flair for the Unexpected

“As temps heat up on Mount Hood, OR, 19-year-old Anders Chapman takes flight.
“As temps heat up on Mount Hood, OR, 19-year-old Anders Chapman takes flight with a full arsenal of safety equipment: pants big enough to keep him aloft and a brown bag lunch for when hunger strikes.” Photo:Alex Zimmerman
Words: Milo Harper

We’ve all seen them. The big and the baggy. Rail wizards and jump jocks throwing down in pants MC Hammer wouldn’t think twice about wearing.

Style-wise, we freestyle skiers stole our look from snowboarding, who took it from skaters, who really have surfers to thank for it all. As with any counter-culture movement, hip-hop and punk rock will be the soundtrack, and the fashion statements will subvert the status quo. While the punk rockers resorted to drainpipe jeans, many of the skaters and freestyle skiers followed hip-hop’s eyes and went baggy.

Fashion and skiing are inexorably linked, forms of self-expression that really do matter. Whether it’s high-end fashion in the French Alps or homemade pants in the jib garden, the mantra is the same—look good, feel good, ski good.