But now, as in every other sport, it seems, a team concept has emerged.
Wanaka freeskier Jossi Wells is part of the Dew Tour's first ski Team Challenge, captaining Team Atomic to a win against five other teams.
After two heated battles, Team Atomic has officially beaten the other teams with a combined total of 183.66.
United States skier Gus Kenworthy laid down a solid run in the first heat while teammate Wells, who was originally captain, showed up and schooled the field in the final round. Wells' stellar run, complete with a switch rightside 270 on, 270 off, on the top rail, alley-oop rightside 270 and switch 630, 270 out on the last down rail, scored him a 93.66, solidifying the win.
Earlier, in the individual competition, Wells finished fourth overall at the Dew Tour in the US. In a new format for 2016, the slopestyle event was spread across two days, with the jump and rail (jib) sections split into two competitions with separate scoring. In the new two-part format, the jib section scores were added to the jump section scores to determine an overall slopestyle winner.
Wells finished 11th in the jump section which, due to early season conditions, ended up as being a one jump course, essentially a Big Air competition.
``Jump day I took it kind of cruisey and just wanted to land on my feet,'' he said.
But yesterday, on the rail section, Wells took a more aggressive approach that resulted in a rise up the rankings.
``Today, I went out guns blazing and managed to jump from 11th to fourth with the second highest score for the rails.''
The event was won by Swedish skier Henrik Harlaut.
