Snowboarding: History, Equipment, Information

Snowboarding

Snowboarding is a winter sport, it could be thought of as a cross between surfing and skateboarding. Snowboarders are also called riders. The snowboard is usually constructed out of wood, fiberglass, p-tex, and metal edges. Snowboards vary in their size and shape, but an average snowboard is 150cm long and 25cm wide. There are boots specially designed for snowboarding and the riders’ feet are attached to the board with bindings that typically strap across each boot.

Snowboarding competitions include events like halfpipe, boardercross, slopestyle, and parallel giant slalom. The chief competitions in snowboarding are:

• The legendary Mt. Baker Banked Slalom, held in Mt. Baker in Washington
• The Winter Olympics
• The X Games in Aspen, Colorado
• The World Snowboarding Championship which has four disciplines - Superpipe, Slopestyle, Big Air and Jib Jam and an attractive prize purse
• The SIA (Snowsports Industries America) show in Las Vegas

History of Snowboarding

Snowboarding can be traced back to the 1960s, and is a relatively new sport. Sherman Poppen is credited with inventing the snowboard in 1965. His new invention was called the ‘snurfer’ (combining the words snow and surf). It is said that Poppen attached two skis together for his daughter to surf down the snowy hill outside their home in Michigan. Jake Burton, Demetrije Milovich and Tom Sims pioneered specialized and refined board designs. Snowboarding was introduced in the Olympics in 1998. The 2002 Winter Olympics had two events, the halfpipe and parallel giant slalom.

Snowboarding Equipment

Heel Edge
The heel edge of a snowboard is the edge closest to the heels.

Helmet
A hard plastic helmet is necessary for all competitors in snowboard-cross competitions. It is not required for alpine and halfpipe events.

Hard Boots
Hard boots are designed for parallel giant slalom and other alpine events. They are stiff and provide good support.

Soft Boots
Soft boots are designed for use in freestyle and freeride snowboarding. They are made soft and pliable to allow a wide range of motions.

Giant Slalom Board
Giant slalom boards are stiff and narrow, and are longer than freestyle boards. This makes it ideal for turns and high speed.

Halfpipe Board
A halfpipe board is wide and flexible. This is important for balance and tricks. The board allows to ride forward and backward (twin tip snowboard).

Halfpipe Boots
Halfpipe boots allow movement at the ankles to execute different maneuvers. The rubber/urethane parts of the boots are shock absorbers.

• Base

The base is the bottom side of the snowboard, that is, the side that touches the snow.

• Camber

The camber is the arch the board makes when you rest it on a flat surface.

• Contact points

Contact points, also called the board’s wheelbase, are the points at which the board touches the snow, without the pressure of the rider being displaced on the board.

• Edge

This is the metal edge of the snowboard.

• Effective edge

The length of the metal edge that touches the snow is called the effective edge. It does not include the edge of the tip and the tail.

• Flex point

The flex point is where the board begins or ends its flex and allows for sidecut radius contact.

• Nose / tip

This is the front end of the snowboard. The side that is turned up higher is usually the nose.

• Overall length

The overall length is measured from the tip of the board to the tail.

• Sidecut radius

This indicates how deeply or shallow the board is cut from the nose of the board to the waist and is the part that helps the board turn.

• Stomp pad

This is a rubber mat that you can stick on top of your snowboard, next to your back foot binding.

• Tail

This is the rear end of the snowboard opposite the nose / tip.

• Top / deck

This is the top of the board where the rider stands.

• Waist width

This is the narrowest point on the snowboard.

Snowboard bindings connect the boots and thus the body to the snowboard. Boots and bindings form a combination, and not al kinds of bindings are suited for each type of boot. It is often best to buy the boots and bindings together. You must know your intended riding style before buying a combination of boots and bindings. There are four basic types of snowboard bindings:

• Highback / strap bindings
• Step-in bindings
• Flow-in bindings
• Plate bindings

Good snowboarding boots give maximum control over the board. They also protect your feet and ankles from the pressures of high-speed turns and keep your feet warm and breathing in all weather conditions. There are three basic types of boots used in snowboarding:

• Soft boots
• Hard boots
• Hybrid step-in boots

Snowboarding Information

A stance is how you stand on a snowboard and the stance determines how you mount your bindings. The first element to determine is whether you would ride regular-footed or goofy-footed, that is, left foot forward or right foot forward. The width of your stance or bindings should be a little wider than shoulder width. It should feel comfortable and stable. The angle of your foot in relation to the board depends on personal preferences and riding style. The angle measurements are usually printed on the binding. The stance is unique to every person and can evolve over time.

• Type of board
• Price range
• Length and width of the board
• Special snowboards for women

• Weight

A lightweight board is easy to handle during tricks and makes lift rides a lot more pleasant.

• Torsional stiffness

Torsional stiffness increases the board’s ability to curve during fast turns. Torsional stiffness means how stiff a board is as it twists.

• Vibration damping

Vibration damping increases the durability of the board by reducing the vibrations that travel through the board.

• Do a basic snowboard tuning and wax, either at home or at the local shop
• You can leave the bindings mounted to your snowboard. If you remove them, make a record of your stance width and angles for the next season
• Store out of direct sunlight and don’t stack heavy items on the snowboard as you may flatten the camber

Snowboarding in the Olympics

There are four snowboarding events in the Olympic Games – men’s halfpipe, women’s halfpipe, men’s parallel giant slalom and women’s parallel giant slalom. The halfpipe competition takes place in a half-cylinder-shaped course dug deep into the hill. Using speed gained on the slope, snowboarders come up over the rim of the pipe and perform acrobatic aerial tricks. The object of the halfpipe is to perform difficult tricks with perfect form. Parallel giant slalom is an exciting version of Alpine snowboarding. It features head-to-head matches on the mountain. After the qualification round, a 16-person tournament is established and competitors contend on two side-by-side courses until there is a winner.

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