Ski ballet, also known as acroski, debuted as a demonstration sport during the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary and was featured again in 1992 at the winter games in Albertville, France. Although it was part of the freestyle skiing movement, it never became an official Olympic discipline with medal events. With the increasing popularity of snowboarding and other snow sports, ski ballet took a whirlybird off the slopes and was dropped from the Olympic program.
But on Saturday, April 5, 2025, ski ballet came back to life at the first "Ski Ballet on Freeway" at Monarch Ski Resort, just outside Salida, Colorado. The fundraiser event was for KHEN, a community radio station in Salida, and Monarch Mountain Community Outreach, which provides charitable grants to nonprofit organizations in Chaffee County.
The "Ski Ballet on Freeway," held on the Freeway ski run leading to the mountain base, also celebrated Monarch Mountain's 85th anniversary. Monarch Mountain originated as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal Works Progress Administration project in 1939, though skiing in the area dates back to the 1880s when miners used handmade skis.
Lisa Ledwith, KHEN's Executive Director, had the idea for the event while looking at old ski ballet videos.
"I thought: 'how fun it would be to do something like that for a closing day event.' I approached Allie and Kathryn from Monarch with the concept last summer and we've been working on it together since then," Ledwith shared.
Competitors were judged on style, agility, technical execution, and creativity in their costumes. Their choreographed routines incorporated flips, spins, and other acrobatic feats on the slopes. Participants ranged from beginners to seasoned skiers, all clearly having a great time while entertaining a crowd of over 100 enthusiastic and supportive spectators.
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One of the judges was Lara Rosenbaum who spent ten years on the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team in the 1990s. Rosenbaum was a ballet specialist who started out combining mobiles, ballet, and aerial, and then was pulled to the World Cup tour at age 16. Her last competition was in 2000 at the U.S. Nationals.
"I realized that that was the last time there had been a ballet contest, at least in the United States. I'm glad I won that. So I'm technically still the national champion," explained Rosenbaum.
By 2000, Acro/Ski Ballet was suspended as a FIS event (Fédération Internationale de Ski et de Snowboard in French, also known as the International Ski and Snowboard Federation in English) so Rosenbaum's World Champion title remains.
"It's been amazing bringing ballet back. It's just kind of becoming popular again, and it always was such a wonderful, fun sport and for us as freestyle skiers, it was such a cool way to express yourself," Rosenbaum said.
Although ski ballet is not traditionally a competitive sport, its influence can still be seen in modern freestyle disciplines like slopestyle, big air, and terrain park skiing.
"Seeing it come to fruition at the event, watching everyone skiing in their costumes, and seeing the crowd reactions was so satisfying. Also knowing that people came from all over the country because they finally had a chance to use their ski ballet skills – that's been incredible," Ledwith said.
"'Slash,' the first-place winner, came from Minnesota, and 'Cat in the Hat' came from Angel Fire, New Mexico. I didn't see that coming at all. The joy that this brought to people who have been passionate about ski ballet for years was infectious and so wonderful to be a part of."
Copyright 2025 Rocky Mountain Community Radio. This story was shared via Rocky Mountain Community Radio, a network of public media stations in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico, including KSJD.
