What is Skwal?
Skwal is a snow sliding device where the rider’s feet are positioned one in front of the other. It sits halfway between monoskiing and snowboarding, offering the advantages of monoskiing due to its forward-facing position, along with the benefits of snowboarding related to the staggered foot position. It can be practiced with or without poles.
What is Free Skwal?
Free skwal, which emerged in the 2020s, differs from the original skwal in terms of board shape, maneuverability on all types of terrain, and the use of poles.
Definition of Free Skwal: A wide skwal (14.5 cm and up) and a pair of poles.
The practice of Free Skwal is open to everyone; it is not elitist:
=> Accessibility – There are no restrictions or limitations on the slopes and runs you can descend. Everything is related to technical skill level (as in all sliding sports).
=> Versatility – In particular, new-generation Free Skwals are particularly at eae in powder and off-piste snow (unlike earlier generations of skwal) while still maintaining very good capabilities for carving on groomed runs.
The Skwal Riders association, to facilitate the introduction and spread of the sport, primarily promotes a “Free Skwal” oriented practice. This will eventually allow access to other, more “specialized” segments of skwal practice (X-Carving, Free-Heel Skwal, Skate Skwal, etc.), for which we can also provide support at a later stage.
A bit of history: the origin of Skwal
Skwal was created in 1992 by French ski instructor Patrick “Thias” Balmain in Valfréjus. The first prototype appeared in 1992. He envisioned it as a way to offer different sensations than skiing and snowboarding at a time when parabolic skis were just starting to emerge. The French company Lacroix showed interest, recruited Patrick Balmain, and began producing boards under the Skwal brand, registered in 1992 by Patrick Balmain. A few years later, Thias left Lacroix and founded his own board manufacturing company: Thias Skwal. A few other manufacturers of such boards subsequently emerged.