Snowboarding

Snowboarding is a boardsport that involves descending a snow-covered slope on a snowboard that is attached to one's feet. It is similar to skiing, but inspired by surfing and skateboarding. The sport was developed in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s and became a Winter Olympic Sport in 1998.

History

The history of snowboarding started with pioneers like Sherman Poppen (the inventor of the first commercially made snowboard called the Snurfer from Muskegon, Michigan), Jake Burton (founder of Burton Snowboards from Londonderry, Vermont), Tom Sims (founder of Sims Snowboards), Mike Olson (Gnu Snowboards). Dimitrije Milovich, an east coast surfer, had the idea of sliding on cafeteria trays. From this he started developing his snowboard designs. In 1972, he started a company called the Winterstick; by 1975, The Winterstick was mentioned in Newsweek magazine. The Winterstick was based on the design and feel of a surfboard, but worked the same way as skis.

The growing popularity of snowboarding is reflected by recognition of snowboarding as an official sport: in 1985, the first World Cup was held in Zürs, Austria. Due to the need for universal contest regulations, the ISA (International Snowboard Association) was founded in 1994. Today, high-profile snowboarding events like the Olympics, Winter X-Games, the US Open, and other events are broadcast to a worldwide audience.

Instruction

Snowboard instruction from certified snowboard instructors is available at most ski resorts. Professional instruction is a good way to learn proper technique, safety policies, mountain etiquette and resort rules. Beginning snowboarders, whether young or old, should consider taking a series of lessons. As students progress in ability they can seek out specialized instruction in areas such as riding steeper slopes and through a wider variety of snow conditions, terrain park skills (jumps, rails, and pipes), mogul technique, powder riding, and racing.

Freestyle snowboarding

Many belive that freestyle snowboarding owes much of its form and content to skateboarding, however it bears a much closer resemblance to freestyle in-line skating. Since a snowboard is attached securely to your feet, you are unable to perform many of the skateboard tricks, like a kickflip. In-line skates are also attached securly to your feet, so many of the arial manuvers, with the exception of board grabs, are the same. With the recent introduction of rails into freestyle snowboarding, a closer resemblance to skateboarding is seen.

Safety and precautions

Although many snowboarders do not wear any protective gear, helmets and some other devices are gaining in popularity. Wearing protective gear is highly recommended due to the dangerous nature of alpine sports (especially freestyle snowboarding). The body parts most affected by injuries are the wrist, tailbone, and the head. Useful safety gear includes wrist guards, padded or protected snowboard pants and a helmet. Goggles are also used by most people, and are very crucial at high altitudes on bright days to prevent snow blindness. Goggles also protect riders from temporary vision loss due to snow getting in eyes that can result in impact into terrain or obstacles. Padding can be useful on other body parts like the hips, knees, spine, and shoulders.

Film

Snowboarding has also been the focus of numerous Hollywood feature films, quite notably the 2001 movie Out Cold, which included appearances by several renowned professional snowboarders as stunt performers, actual characters, or both. Out Cold is one of few major motion pictures to show snowboarding rather realistically and to exhibit a real understanding of the sport, as well as the culture that surrounds it. In countries where snow is either rare or an impossibility, artificial ski slopes such as the Sheffield Ski Village and indoor snow slopes like Xscape at Castleford are present. One such country is the UK, and this artificial snow phenomenon is well documented in the movie "Standing Sideways" by Damien Doyle.
An early Hollywood nod to snowboarding was in James Bond film A View to a Kill — the opening sequence features Roger Moore as Bond eluding attackers with an improvised snowboard.

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 Seone 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.

Slopestyle

Slopestyle is a form of freestyle snowboarding and skiing competition. Slopestyle is also emerging as a niche in the world of mountainbiking with new competitions emerging that seek ways to judge the new breed of freeriders. In slopestyle, the rider or skier is free to choose his or her own route through a course consisting of various terrain features, such as bumps, rails, and jumps. Judges determine the winner based on the degree of difficulty and execution of each trick.

While slopestyle is one of the most popular events at the Winter X Games, it has never been in the Winter Olympics. Few notable slopestyle athletes are Shaun White, Janna Meyen, Tara Dakides, Danny Kass, Simon Dumont, Tanner Hall, Andreas Wiig.

Unlike the Superpipe event, slopestyle is more weather dependent. In the 2006 Winter X Games, the men's ski slopestyle event was changed into a Big Air event due to poor conditions.

This ski or skiing-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Snowboard Cross

SBX redirects here. For the radar system, see Sea-based X-band Radar.

Snowboard Cross (sometimes referred to as Boarder Cross) is a snowboard competition in which a group of racers (usually four or more) start simultaneously atop an inclined course, then attempt to reach the end of the course first.

The course is typically quite narrow and includes cambered turns, gap jumps, berms, drops, and steep and flat sections designed to challenge the riders' ability to stay in control. It is not uncommon for racers to collide with each other. Some observers have compared the sport to short track speed skating because of the amount of contact involved. The name and the riders' full-face helmets show the sport's influence by motocross.

Snowboard cross was created by Steven Rechtschaffer, and the first course was created on Whistler Blackcomb during 1990.

Half-pipe

A half-pipe is a structure used in gravity extreme sports such as snowboarding, skateboarding, skiing, freestyle BMX and inline skating. The structure is usually wood, although sometimes the surface is made of another material. Appearance wise, it resembles a cross section of a swimming-pool, and in its most basic form, it consists of two concave ramps (or quarterpipes), topped by copings and decks, facing each other across a transition. Originally half-pipes were simply half sections of a large pipe. Since the 1980s, half-pipes have had extended flat ground (the flat bottom) between the quarterpipes and the original style half-pipes have become deprecated. The flat ground gives the athlete time to regain balance after landing and more time to prepare for the next trick.

The attraction of the half-pipe lies in the fact that a skilled athlete can perform on it for an extended period of time, using a technique called pumping, to attain extreme speeds, while expending relatively little effort. Large (high amplitude) half-pipes make possible many of the aerial tricks in BMX, in-line skating and skateboarding.

For winter sports such as freestyle skiing or snowboarding, a half-pipe can be dug out of the ground or created by piling snow up. The plane of the transition is oriented downhill at a slight grade to allow riders to use gravity to develop speed and facilitate drainage of melt. In the absence of snow, dug out half-pipes can be used by dirtboarders, motorcyclists, and mountain bikers.

Peformance in a half pipe has been rapidly increasing over recent years. The current limit performed by a top level athlete for a rotational trick in a halfpipe is 1440 degrees (4 full 360 degree rotations). In top level competitions rotation is generally limited to improve 'style and flow'. However with improving rider ability and technology, 1440's will soon be more common in competitions.

Construction for skateboarding and biking

Frame and Support: Skateboard and BMX half-pipes frequently consist of a wooden 2X4 framework that is then covered with sheets of plywood that are then covered with sheets of masonite or Skatelite (see surfacing below). Another approach is to construct a metal frame and then use either wood or metal to surface the ramp. [1]

Surfacing: Most commercial and contest ramps are surfaced by screwing sheets of some form of masonite to a wooden or metal frame. Many private ramps are surfaced in the same manner but some use plywood instead of masonite as surface material. Some ramps are constructed by spot-welding sheet metal to the frame, resulting in bumps and an uneven ride.

Recent developments in technology have produced various versions of improved masonite substances such as Skatelite, RampArmor, and HARD-Nox. [2] While these ramp surfaces are more expensive than traditional materials, they skate and ride better [3] and are more durable.

Design Variations: Channels, extensions, and roll-ins are the basic ways to customize a ramp. Sometimes a section of the platform will be cut away to form a roll-in and a channel. This allows skaters to commence a ride without dropping in, and perform tricks "over the gap". A roll-in is visible in the picture of Hulley's Ramp. Extensions are permanent or temporary additions to the height of one section of the ramp that can make riding more challenging.

Creating a spine ramp is another variation of the half-pipe. A spine ramp is basically two halfpipes adjoined at either vertical end. Go to http://www.heckler.com/ramps/halfpiphi.html

Construction for snow sports

Halp-pipes created using snow were originally done in large part by hand or use of other heavy machinery. Now most "pipes" are cut into a large pile of snow using an apparatus that is similar to a grain elevator. The inventor to bring this technology to the slopes was actually a farmer. He created the "pipe-dragon" which was used in both the 1998 and 2002 winter olympics. [4]. Another manufacturer is a Swiss company that makes the Zaugg Pipe Monster. [5]

The Pipe Monster is different in that it uses 5 cutting edges called haspels to cut the snow, rather than a chain. Also Zaugg Pipe Groomers have an eliptical shape that is safer and allows the rider to gain more speed. Zaugg has created a 22 Foot Pipe Monster that for some years made the world's largest elliptical half pipe.

Since 1996 a Finnish company has been manufacturing and selling HPG halfpipe grinders.[6]. The HPG is the most used techonolgy worldwide for construction and maintenance of halfpipes and superpipes. In spring 2006 the company launched a new world's largest superpipe grinder, the HPG Ultra G23, making 23 foot elliptical hafpipes.

There are two major companies that train snow cat operators and build halfpipes for such events as the X Games. Planet Snow Design and Snow Park Technologies were founded on this growing snowboard market.