In the early 1970's is when "extreme" skiing began. Back then it was not all that big though it was only a few people in small groups from France.  It was for the people in France that liked to climb high and remote from mountains.  But in a short time Americans started to  become slowly interested in it.  And were soon going even faster then the Europeans.  Most of them where highly skilled mountaineers, or pioneers.  

We seemed to become much more interested in extreme skiing by film makers in the early 1980's.  by Warren Miller, who had made his very first skiing movie in 1949.  And continued making them for the next fifty years!    He had also set the worlds record for skiing 107,800 vertical meter (67,000ft) in just one day!  

The main plays for extreme skiing around the world are, European Alps, North America Rocky Mountains, South America Andes, and Alpine Regions of Australia and New Zealand.