Ski Ballet never became an official olympics sport but its two showcases as a demonstration sport at the ’88 and ’92 winter olympics was all that we needed.
Some of you may be too young to remember when this “figure skating on skis” sport made its appearance in Calgary and Albertville but athletes would perform a routine for 90 seconds in a flat ring of snow covered earth.
Since the olympic demonstration, the sport has declined to the point of near extinction with no international governing bodies that represent it.
We were able to find a couple good videos from some of the performances in Calgary and Albertville that are accompanied by some wild music from the decade.
The first video is from the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. Robin Wallace from Great Britain puts down some mighty fine moves I must say. The music is just glorious. It is Golden Child by Michel Colombier.
The next video is from Albertville in 1992. Fabrice Becker from France is skiing to La Cumparsita.
This last video is in French but the athlete was apparently “The master of ballet ski during the ’80”. Check out this video from the champion Herman Reitberger.
