Freestyle Skiing

NORTH VANCOUVER, B.C. -- To win Olympic gold next February at Cypress Mountain, site of the freestyle aerials for the 2010 Vancouver Games, Steve Omischl may attempt the most difficult jump allowed in international competition - three back flips combined with five full twists. At the highest point, he'll be 70 feet off the snow.

The aerialist's shot at Olympic glory is fleeting - seven seconds. The finals consist of two scored jumps and each jump takes three and a half seconds of air time.

Omischl hopes to atone for a mental lapse made in the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy, when he failed to qualify for the finals.

"What happened there was that I chose a jump that carried a high DD [degree of difficulty] in the semi-finals and it didn't go well," he says. "It's sort of like a hockey team - you can't be in the Stanley Cup if you don't make the playoffs."

The penultimate Olympic year was a self-described "up and down" season for the 30-year-old veteran. He successfully defended his aerials title and placed third in the overall standings (behind teammate and overall winner Alex Bilodeau), but won just two World Cup events outright. Both wins came at a preview event at Cypress Mountain.

"I was really on a roll during the 2008 season and I'm happy that I came up with good performances on demand in 2009," he says. "But this season also reminded me that I can be on my game and there are still some incredible jumpers from around the world who can beat me."

Omischl felt he jumped flawlessly at the world championships in Inawashiro, Japan, but got nosed out by long-time American rival Ryan St. Onge for the gold medal.

For the summer leading up to what will be his third Olympics, Omischl uses the months of April, May and June to attend to "little aches and pains" that accumulate over the season.

"I get lots of deep tissue massage and try to work at re-balancing and stabilizing muscle groups which get ignored in the winter," he says. "During the competition calendar, you are always putting out other fires and don't really have time to work on your conditioning."

The "quint twisting triple backflip" has been performed in competition before, with Czech star Ales Valenta striking Olympic gold in 2002 at Salt Lake City.

"I have done five twists in practice before - about 100 times on the water ramp and ten times on snow. It is definitely pushing the limits of what we can do and we'll have to wait until next year to see who is attempting it in competition," Omischl says.

Right now, Omischl speculates that American Jeret Peterson and some members of the Chinese team are working on it.

Much of the training to perfect that routine will take place from July through September at Freestyle Canada's outdoor water ramp and training facility in Quebec City.

"I'll do anywhere between seven and nine jumps each day," he says. "We have video monitors right beside the pool so that we get instant feeback."

Common errors include not holding a straight body position while twisting in the air, and coming apart on the landing, either by sitting back or catching an edge and crashing. Hitting the water in an awkward position can lead to serious injury and Omischl has seen a fellow freestyler break his neck.

Putting in an extra twist doesn't necessarily require more technical skill, the added difficulty comes from the fact that you are making one more twist in the limited amount of hang-time.

Like teammates Bilodeau and Jennifer Heil, Omischl works with a sports psychologist. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professor Barbara Meyer, who also advises Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller, teaches him to be "more present" in his tasks, a skill that can be developed away from the hill as well.

"Look, I have a BlackBerry, but I have learned to do things like let the phone ring instead of having it interrupt me," he says.

Ahead of summer training, Omischl and some teammates are taking a surf trip to Nicaragua, for a mental break. For Omischl, freestyle skiing is a serious job that demands constant planning and preparation.

"I know what to expect, I've been around the block. I don't have anyone to answer to but myself."

Special to the Globe and Mail

Omischl's resumé

Age: 31

Hometown: North Bay, Ont.

Residence: Kelowna, B.C.

World Cup starts: 76 (first: Dec. 4, 1999, at Blackcomb, B.C., finished second)

World Cup podiums: 40

World Cup victories: 20

Olympic appearances: 2 (finished 11th in 2002 and 20th in 2006)