Freestyle skiing began in the 1930s, when Norwegian skiers began performing acrobatics during alpine and cross-country training. Later, non-competitive professional skiing exhibitions in the United States featured performances of what would later be called freestyle. Aerial skiing was developed in about 1950 by Olympic gold medalist Stein Eriksen.

The winter sport of Nordic Combined, comprises both Ski-Jumping and Cross-country disiplines.

Speed skiing is the sport of skiing downhill in a straight line as quickly as possible and is one of the fastest non-motorized sports on land.

Cross-country skiing (also known as XC skiing) is a winter sport in which participants propel themselves across snow-covered terrain using skis and poles. It is popular in many countries with large snowfields, primarily Northern Europe, Canada, Alaska and the upper midwest United States.

Ski jumping is a sport in which skiers go down an "inrun" with a take-off ramp (the jump), attempting to go as far as possible. In addition to the length that skiers jump, judges give points for style.

Telemark skiing is a term used for skiing using the Telemark turn. It is also known as "free heel skiing." Unlike alpine skiing equipment, the skis used for telemarking have a binding that only connects the boot to the ski at the toes, just as in cross-country skiing.

Skicross (also known as skiercross or skier-X) is a relatively new type of skiing competition. It is based on the snowboard discipline of Boarder Cross. Despite it being a timed racing event, it is often considered part of freestyle skiing because it incorporates terrain features traditionally found in freestyle.

Alpine skiing (or downhill skiing) is a recreational activity and sport involving sliding down snow-covered hills with long skis attached to each foot.

Snowboarding is a sport that involves descending a snow-covered slope on a snowboard attached to a participant's feet using a special boot set into a mounted binding. The development of snowboarding was inspired by surfing and skateboarding, and the yes shares superficial similarities with skiing. It was developed in the United States in the 1960s and the 1970s and became a Winter Olympic Sport in 1998.