Snowboarding is a sport that involves descending a
slope that is covered with snow on a
snowboard attached to a rider's feet using a
special boot set into a flexible mounted binding. The development
of snowboarding was inspired by
skateboarding,
surfing
and
skiing.
It was developed in the U.S.A.
in the 1960s
and the 1970s and became a Winter
Olympic Sport in 1998.
History

Proposed state quarter design
commemorating the first snowboard being invented in Utah
Snowboarder "dropping" a cornice.
Snowboarder riding off cornice
Snowboarding contributes greatly to the economies of ski
resorts
Many crude
versions of the snowboard were made up to 100 years before the
first commercially manufactured model, but it is believed that the
first snowboard was invented and manufactured in Utah
beginning in
the early 1970s. This claim was
commemorated in 2007 by the
United
States mint when a snowboard theme was among the three
semi-final designs of the Utah state
quarter.
There are also claims that the first snowboard was the
Snurfer (a
portmanteau of snow and surfer), originally
designed by Sherman Poppen for his daughter in 1965 in Muskegon,
Michigan. Poppen’s Snurfer started to be manufactured as a toy the
following year. It was essentially a skateboard without wheels,
steered by a hand-held rope, and lacked bindings, but had
provisions to cause footwear to adhere.
During the 1970s and
1980s as snowboarding became more popular, pioneers such as
Dimitrije Milovich, Sonny Sini, Jake Burton Carpenter (founder of
Burton Snowboards from Londonderry,
Vermont
), Tom Sims (founder of
Sims Snowboards), Chuck Barfoot
(founder of Barfoot Snowboards)
and Mike Olson (founder of Gnu
Snowboards) came up with new designs for boards and mechanisms
that slowly developed into the snowboards and other related
equipment that we know today.
Dimitrije Milovich, an east coast surfer, had the idea of sliding
on cafeteria trays. From this he started developing his snowboard
designs. In 1975, he started a company called the WinterStick,
which was mentioned in 1975 by Newsweek magazine. The Winterstick
was based on the design and feel of a surfboard, but worked the
same way as skis.
In the spring of 1976 Welsh skateboarders Jon
Roberts and Pete Matthews developed a Plywood deck with foot
bindings for use on the Dry Ski Slope at the school camp, Ogmore-by-Sea
, Wales
. UK.
Further development of the board was limited as Matthews suffered
serious injury while boarding at Ogmore and access for the boarders
was declined following the incident. The 'deck' was much shorter
than current snow boards. Beveled edges and a convex, polyurethane
varnished bottom to the board, allowed quick downhill movement, but
limited turning ability.
Sonny Sini actually pioneered the "boot and hook" snowboard design
in 1979 which utilized a carbon fiber sleeker design. He worked to
further the development of the foot bindings of the board by
specializing a set of boots so they would actually "hook" onto the
board. His designs were later abandoned because they did not allow
the rider to easily snap out if needed. He didn't have the chance
to copyright his designs because soon after their conception he was
killed after falling out of a helicopter.
In 1979
the first ever World Snurfing Championship was held at Pando Winter Sports Park near
Grand Rapids,
Michigan
. Jake
Burton Carpenter, came from Vermont to compete with a snowboard
of his own design. There were many protests from the competitors
about Jake entering with a non-snurfer board. Paul Graves, the top
snurfer at the time, and others, advocated that Jake be allowed to
race. A “modified” division was created and won by Jake as the sole
entrant. That race was considered the first competition for
snowboards and is the start of what has now become competitive
snowboarding.
In 1982 the first National Snowboard race was held near Woodstock,
Vermont at Suicide Six.
In 1983 the first World Championship
halfpipe competition was held at Soda Springs,
California.
Tom Sims, founder of Sims
Snowboards, organized the event with the help of Mike Chantry a
snowboard instructor at Soda Springs.
Snowboarding's growing popularity is reflected in its recognition
as an official sport: in 1985, the first World Cup was held in
Zürs, Austria. The International Snowboard Association (ISA) was
founded in 1994 to provide universal contest regulations. In
addition, the United States of America Snowboard Association
(USASA) provides instructing guidelines and runs snowboard
competitions in the U.S. Today, high-profile snowboarding events
like the Olympic Games, Winter X-Games, US Open, and other events
are broadcast worldwide. Many alpine resorts have
terrain parks. The sport has also had an
impact in countries that are largely without snow, such as
Australia.
Initially, ski areas adopted the sport at a much slower pace than
the winter sports public. Indeed, for many years, there was
animosity between skiers and snowboarders, which lead to an ongoing
skier vs snowboarder feud. Early snowboards were banned from the
slopes by park officials. In 1985, only seven percent of U.S. ski
areas allowed snowboarding, with a similar proportion in Europe. As
equipment and skills improved, gradually snowboarding became more
accepted. In 1990, most major ski areas had separate slopes for
snowboarders. Now, approximately 97% of all ski areas in North
America and Europe allow snowboarding, and more than half have
jumps, rails and half pipes.
On March
18, 2008 Taos Ski
Valley
officially welcomed the first snowboarders to their
resort, after years of exclusion. Founder of Bonfire
Snowboarding, Brad Steward, joined Transworld Snowboarding Editor
in Chief Kurt Hoy, Java Fernandez, Ryan Thompson, Josh Sherman and
a local advocate for the first legal turns.
The peak year for snowboarding was 2004 with 6.6 million
participants.
By 2008, this number had dropped to 5.1 million snowboarders
because of the weather and what is called "ski-comeback", quite
strong in Europe. An industry spokesman said that "twelve year-olds
are out-riding adults." The same article said that most
snowboarders are 18–24 years old. Females constitute 25% of
participants.
On September 20, 2009 a snowboarding event (Guaraná Antarctica
Snowboard Championship) was held on Botafogo beach in the city of
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Styles
Since snowboarding's inception as an established winter sport, it
has developed various styles, each with its own specialized
equipment and technique. The most common styles today are:
freeride, freestyle, and freecarve/race. These styles are used for
both recreational and professional snowboarding. While each style
is unique, there is overlap between them.
See also List of snowboard
tricks.
Jibbing and Rail Riding
Rail riding (also known as jibbing) is a niche in snowboarding
where the athletes will ride rails, whether in a park or
street.
Freeride
The
freeride style is the most common and
easily accessible style of snowboarding. It involves riding down
any terrain available. Freeriding may include aerial tricks and jib
(any type of fixture which can be ridden with the board/skis that
is not snow) tricks borrowed from freestyle, or deep carve turns
more common in alpine snowboarding, utilizing whatever natural
terrain the rider may encounter.
Freeriding equipment is usually a stiff soft shell boot with a
directional twin snowboard. Since the freeride style may encounter
many different types of snow conditions, from ice to deep pow down
powder slope.
Dry Slope
Dry slopes are man-made slopes which provide an alternative terrain
for snowboarders wanting to snowboard during the summer or for
those who live too far away from a snowy mountain.They are
constructed with a solid cross-hatched metal base which hold
plastic bristles for riding on. Dry slopes are commonly found in
England and parts of Europe but are rare in the United States.
Equipment used is usually old or retired snowboards because of the
wear caused by the metal base and plastic bristles over time.
Freestyle
In freestyle, the rider uses manmade terrain features such as
rails, jumps, boxes, and innumerable other innovative features to
perform tricks on. The term "box" refers to an objects with a slick
top, usually of polyethylene(HDPE), that the rider can slide on
with the base of their board. Like all freestyle features, boxes
come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and difficulty levels. The
intent of freestyle is to use these terrain features to perform a
number of aerial or jib tricks. The term "jib" refers to the rider
doing a slide or press on an object not made of snow. This most
commonly refers to tricks done on boxes, rails, or even
trees.
The equipment used in freestyle is usually a soft boot with a twin
tipped board for better balance while riding regular or switch,
though freeride equipment is often used successfully. The most
common binding stance used in freestyle is called "duck foot", in
which the trailing foot has a negative degree of arc setup while
the leading foot is in the positive range i.e. +12°/-9°. Freestyle
riders who specialize in jibbing often use boards that are shorter
than usual, with softer flex and filed down edges. Shorter length
enables the board to be rotated faster, and a softer flex requires
less energy for a rider to press a feature. Pressing refers to a
type of jib where the rider leans heavily toward the nose or tail
of their board- causing the opposite end of their board to lift off
of the feature they are sliding on.
Freestyle also includes halfpipe tricks. A halfpipe (or "pipe") is
a trench-like half-tube made of snow. Tricks performed may be
rotations such as a 360° (a full turn) in the air, or an off-axis
spin like a "McTwist". Tricks can be modified while hitting
different features. Riders will also usually do a combination of a
board grab and rotations.
Freecarve
Similar to skiing, this race and
slalom focused style is still practiced,
though infrequently. Sometimes called
alpine snowboarding, or the
'euro-carve', freecarving takes place on hard packed snow or
groomed runs and focuses on the ultimate carving turn, much like
traditional skiing. Little or no jumping takes place in this
discipline. Freecarve equipment is a ski-like hardshell boot and
plate binding system with a true directional snowboard that is
usually very stiff and narrow to facilitate fast and responsive
turns. Shaped-skis can thank these "freecarve" snowboards for the
cutting-edge technology leading to their creation.
Safety and precautions
Like other winter sports, snowboarding comes with a certain level
of danger. Protective gear is increasing in popularity. This is a
natural progression in any high-velocity sport which has the
possibility for injury. The progression of protective gear is also
attributed to professional riders adopting protective gear, with
Shaun White being a premier competitor advertising the use of
helmets. Wearing
protective gear is
highly recommended to all participants, beginner or advanced, due
to the dangerous nature of alpine sports. The body parts most often
injured in snowboarding are the wrist and ankle. The wrists,
scaphoid fractures and Colles fractures of the wrist are relatively
common, with around 100,000 wrist fractures worldwide among
snowboarders each year, tailbone, head, dependent on landing
position could cause serious brain injury. Avalanches are a clear
danger when on snowy mountain slopes.The use of portable ultrasound
for mountainside diagnostics has been reviewed and appears to be a
plausible tool for diagnosing some of the more common injuries
associated with the sport It is best to learn the different kinds
of avalanches, how to prevent causing one and how to react when one
is going to happen. Also when going out onto the snow, all who
practice an activity with increased chances of injury should have a
basic First Aid knowledge and know how to deal with injuries that
may occur.
The recommended protective safety gear includes wrist guards and
helmets (as snowboarders often land on their hands and knees,
resulting in wrist breakage). Knee Ligament Injuries are number one
in the list of Snowboarding and Skiing Injuries. Get familiar with
Medial Collateral Ligament Sprain (MCL Sprain) and padded/protected
snowboarding pants, and a helmet.
Snowboarding boots should be well-fitted, with toes snug in the end
of the boot to minimize movement. Goggles are crucial on bright
days to prevent snow blindness and protect riders from temporary
vision loss to eye damage from snow from impacts into terrain or
obstacles. Padding or "armor" is recommended on other body parts
such as hips, knees, spine, and shoulders. To further help avoid
injury to body parts, especially knees, it is recommended to use
the right technique. To acquire the right technique, one should be
taught by a qualified instructor, this way you will hear about
other people's mistakes and are less likely to have to learn from
your own. Also, when snowboarding alone, precaution should be taken
to avoid
tree wells, a particularly
dangerous area of loose snow that may form at the base of
trees.
Competition
Slopestyle
Competitors perform tricks while descending a course, moving
around, over, across, or down terrain features. The course is full
of obstacles including boxes, rails, jumps, jibs (includes anything
the board or rider can slide across).Slopestyle contests consists
of choosing your own line in a terrain park using a variety of
boxes, jibs and jumps. To win a slopestyle contest one must pick
the best and most difficult line in the terrain park and have a
smooth flowing line of tricks performed on the obstacles.
Big Air
Big Air competitions are contests where riders perform tricks after
launching off a man made jump built specifically for the event.
Competitors perform tricks in the air, aiming to attain sizable
height and distance, all while securing a clean landing. Many
competitions also require the rider to do a trick to win the prize.
Not all competitions call for a trick to win the gold; some
intermittent competitions are based solely on height and distance
of the launch of the snowboarder. One of the first snowboard
competitions where a snowboarder attempted and landed a "double
backflip backside 180" took place at the 2006
Red Bull Gap Session.
Halfpipe
The half-pipe is a semi-circular ditch or purpose built ramp (that
is usually on a downward slope), between 8 and deep. Competitors
perform tricks while going from one side to the other and while in
the air above the sides of the pipe.
Boardercross
In Boardercross (also known as "Boarder X"), several riders
(usually 4, but sometimes 6) race down a course similar to a
motorcycle motocross track (with jumps, berms and other obstacles
constructed out of snow on a downhill course). Unlike traditional
head-to-head races, competitors use the same terrain, sometimes
resulting in accidental collisions.
Competitions involve a series of heats, traditionally with the
first 2 riders in each heat advancing to the next round. The
overall winner is the rider that finishes firstin the final
round.
Indycross
Much like Boardercross (above), but instead with single-competitor
runs, so as to remove 'pole positioning' from competitive equation;
the rider has to skid and turn down the course. Normally there are
3 runs.
Rail Jam
A rail jam is a jib contest. Riders perform tricks on rails, boxes,
pipes, wall rides, and several other creative features. Rail jams
are done in a small area, usually with two or three choices of
features for the rider to hit on a run. They are sometimes done in
an urban setting, due to the relatively small amount of snow
required. Scoring is done in the "jam" format, where every rider
can take as many runs as time allows, usually around an hour;
prizes are typically awarded for best overall and best trick in the
male and female category.
Racing
The racing events are slalom, giant slalom, and super G. In slalom,
boarders race downhill through sets of gates that force extremely
tight turns, requiring plenty of technical skill as well as
speed.
Giant slalom uses a much longer course with gates set further
apart, resulting in even higher speeds. Super G is the fastest of
all, with speeds of up to .
Slush Cup
The slush cup is an event held at some ski hills on the last day of
the season, the point being to cross a manmade lake at the bottom
of the hill. Very few people make it across but there are often
prizes for all that try. This event is more just for fun than other
types of competition.
Also referred to as a "pond skim".
Well-known events
Some of the larger snowboarding contests include: the
Air & Style, the
X-Trail Jam, Burton Global Open Series,
Shakedown, and the
X
Games.
The
Ticket to
Ride is the largest culmination of independent freestyle events
acting under one common Tour Flag. Officially recognized as the TTR
World Snowboard Tour or simply ‘The
TTR’, this
culmination of Independent Freestyle Snowboard events has grown
substantially over the last four years. Now in its seventh year,
the TTR has a 10-month competition season including snowboarding
events over four geographical zones. The Tour includes events like
the TTR 6Star
Air & Style,
The Arctic Challenge and the US
Open of Snowboarding.
Snowboarder Magazine's Superpark event was created in
1996 and is the 3rd largest snowboarding event in the world. Over
150 of the World's top pros are invited to advance freestyle
snowboarding on the most progressive terrain parks.
A wave of
Anti Contests have taken over snowboarding including The Holy Oly
Revival at The Summit at Snoqualmie
, The Nate Chute Hawaiian Classic at Whitefish, the World Quarterpipe
Championships and the Grenade Games.
One of the more unique and legendary contests is the Mt. Baker
Legendary Banked Slalom.
Since 1985 it has been won by some of the biggest names in the
history of the sport and continues to be an event that attracts the
top riders from around the world.
Terje
Haakonsen and
Karleen Jeffery
are the riders that have won the most in the race with six wins
each.
Subculture
The snowboarding way of life came about to rebel against the more
sophisticated way of skiing, and skiers did not easily accept this
new culture on their slopes. The two cultures contrasted each other
in several ways including how they spoke, acted, and their entire
style of clothing. Snowboarders first embraced the punk and later
the hip-hop look into their style. Words such as "dude", "gnarly",
and "Shred the Gnar" are some examples of words used in the
snowboarding culture. Snowboarding subculture became a crossover
between the urban and suburban styles on snow, which made an easy
transition from surfing and skateboarding culture over to
snowboarding culture.
The early stereotypes of snowboarding have been known to be "lazy",
"grungy", "punk", "stoners", "troublemakers", and numerous others,
many of which are associated with skateboarding and surfing.
However, these stereotypes may be considered "out of style".
Snowboarding has become a sport that encompasses a very diverse
international based crowd and fanbase, so much so that it's hard to
stereotype such a large community. Reasons for these dying
stereotypes include how mainstream and popular the sport has
become, with the shock factor of snowboarding's quick take off on
the slopes wearing off. Skiers and snowboarders are becoming used
to each other, showing more respect to each other on the mountain.
"The typical stereotype of the sport is changing as the
demographics change".
Language
The language of snowboarders is a collision of two opposite styles.
The general tone of the language is a laid-back style, while the
verbs and adjectives project a much more aggressive tone. Shred,
stomp, mob,wildhood, and crank are combined with adjectives such as
sick, sketchy, tight, wicked, steezy, rad, gnar gnar, buttery, ill,
and gnarly Snowboarders also have many words for snow, including
freshies, hard pack, hero snow, pow pow, mashed potatoes, hot pow
and boiler plate.
Local Scenes
Snowboarding culture thrives in the
communities of Alaska
, the
Pacific Northwest, parts of
New
England
, Colorado
, Utah
, California
and the Canadian provinces of British
Columbia
, Alberta
, Quebec
, Nova Scotia
, Ontario
, and
New
Brunswick
.
Countries
with strong snowboarding subcultures and many local riders include
Germany
, Austria
, Switzerland
, Japan
, Chile
and New Zealand
. The title "Snowboarder City" is used by
snowboarders to describe both Salt Lake City
, Utah, USA and Innsbruck
, Austria.
Media
Films
Snowboarding films have become a main part of progression in the
sport. Each season, many films are released, usually in Autumn.
These are made by many snowboard specific video production
companies as well as manufacturing companies that use these films
as a form of advertisement. Snowboarding videos usually contain
video footage of professional riders sponsored by companies. An
example of commercial use of snowboarding films would be
The White Album, a
film by snowboarding legend and filmmaker Dave Seoane about
Shaun White, that includes cameos by
Tony Hawk and was sponsored by
PlayStation,
Mountain
Dew and
Burton Snowboards.
Snowboarding films are also used as documentation of snowboarding
and showcasing of current trends and styles of the sport.
Snowboarding films also offer professional snowboarders an
opportunity to focus on a creative project as an alternative to
traveling exclusively for competitions. An example of this is
professional snowboarder
David
Benedek. His film company, Blank Paper Studios, produced the
documentary 91 Words For Snow (2006) as well as a collection of
short films, In Short (2007).
Snowboarding has also been the focus of
numerous Hollywood
feature films.
An early Hollywood nod to snowboarding was in the James Bond film
A View to a Kill — the opening
sequence features Roger Moore as Bond eluding attackers with an
improvised snowboard.
A new movie to be released on the Disney channel is called
"Boarding on Snow" that has yet to announce a release date is
casting one of the promising rookies of sport Julian Jose. The
movie will also include "Johnny Tsunami" that was in a previous
original movie.
Magazines
Snowboard magazines are integral in promoting the sport, although
less so with the advent of the internet age. Photo incentives are
written into many professional riders' sponsorship contracts giving
professionals not only a publicity but a financial incentive to
have a photo published in a magazine. Snowboard magazine staff
travel with professional riders throughout the winter season and
cover travel, contests, lifestyle, rider and company profiles, and
product reviews. Snowboard magazines have recently made a push to
expand their brands to the online market, and there has also been a
growth in online-only publications. Popular magazines include
Transworld Snowboarding
(USA), Snowboarder Magazine (USA),
Snowboard Magazine (USA), Method
(Europe), Onboard (UK), Step-On (UK), Powder Room (UK- women
specific), Whiteroom Magazine (BG), Snowboard Canada (Canada), and
NZ Snowboarder. (New Zealand)
Skills and exercises
Stance and balance
How to maintain body balance is the key point of this skill. It is
critical for any snowboarder to keep his or her body on the center
of the board. After the rider is well aware of his or her body
balance, he or she can perform various tricks by moving the
balance. Riders can improve this skill by doing exercises like
hopping between each turn, or switch riding.
Pivot and steering
This skill is closely related to the turning of the board. Pivoting
and steering are mainly performed by rotation of the body. When
people first ride snowboards, they are advised to use their upper
body to move their boards. By rotating their upper body, they can
change the direction of the boards. It is crucially important for
an instructor to make riders feel the rotation of their body; from
upper body to the board. To improve this skill, there are exercises
such as fall line pivot, motorboat exercise, and static
steering.
Edging
Riders can use their hips, knees, and ankles to create the edge.
Key point of this skill is how to maintain body balance on the edge
of the board. Riders can create much more speed by riding on the
edge. Riders can also perform carving turns after they learn to
keep their body balanced on the edge. Exercise for this skills are
static edge change excersice, rail-to-rail, and J-turn. Also known
as carving.
Pressure control
If riders are good at pressure control, they can perform much more
stable riding. This skill is essential when riders are on the bumpy
slope, or on the various terrains. By flexing or extending the
body, a rider can absorb or add to the pressure of the board,
controlling speed. Advanced riders can use lower parts of their
bodies to control the pressure of the board. Exercises for this
skill are fall line stop, ollies, nollies, and small straight
air.
Timing and coordination
This skill is about changing in rhythm of the performance. If you
are good at this skill, you are very confident with performing any
kinds of turns by coordinate your body movement in a proper timing.
Exercises for this skill are top gun turn, counting with focus on
symmetry, and tornado turns.
Lessons
A lot of beginner snowboarders find the first few days frustrating
and thus opt to pay for lessons. While lessons may help you, many
seasoned snowboarders never paid for such lessons. There are many
ways to learn the sport without paying. Some well known ways are:
1. Videos, 2. The web, 3. Watching others, 4. Skateboarding (to
keep you in shape during off-season), and 5. Practice. There is no
'magic rule' to learning the sport, but rather it's a matter of
getting comfortable with it. And that takes time on the
slopes.
See also
References
External links