Snowboarding
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
Snowboarding is a winter sport which involves throwing oneself down extremely steep mountains
with both feet strapped to a piece of wood. The knack is, being able to steer oneself down the slope
while remaining upright on the board.
The act of manouvering a snowboard down a slope is know as "carving". This involves a repeated
heel to toe motion which utilises the snowboards edges and allows steering.
Stopping a snowboard requires a heavy turn onto either heel or toe edge thus bringing the line of the board
parallel to the slope.
Snowboards themselves, come in three flavours:
1. Alpine boards which have a raised front lip but flat back-end (hence directional) are mainly used for racing.
2. Freestyle boards are completely symmetrical front and back and can be ridden in any direction either face-front or backwards "fakey". This is the most popular type of board.
3. Freeride boards are semi-directional, their front lip slightly higher than the back however riding "fakey" is possible on these boards.
Typically the shorter the board the easier it is to ride, all beginners should start off with a short freeride board. How
short depends on height and weight. The board must be able to flex. It is recommended that you try out different
sized boards before you buy.
Bindings are used to attach the riders feet to board, these come in two flavours:
1. Soft Bindings, this type of strap binding is the most comfortable, flexible, inexpensive and hence popular binding.
2. Step-In Bindings, Semi-hard Boots clamp directly to the board using this type of binding, easier to get in and out
of but more expensive.
Snowboarding is fast replacing skiing as the number one alpine sport. Snowboarders visited the slopes twice
as many times as skiiers last year. Despite this many ski resorts still refuse to allow snowboarders on their
slopes. Typically skiiers complain that snowboarders carve up the snow thus reducing snow quality. To many
snowboarders it appears that the traditional skiing elite is simply upset that snowboarding has brought more
people to the slopes.
Arf
with both feet strapped to a piece of wood. The knack is, being able to steer oneself down the slope
while remaining upright on the board.
The act of manouvering a snowboard down a slope is know as "carving". This involves a repeated
heel to toe motion which utilises the snowboards edges and allows steering.
Stopping a snowboard requires a heavy turn onto either heel or toe edge thus bringing the line of the board
parallel to the slope.
Snowboards themselves, come in three flavours:
1. Alpine boards which have a raised front lip but flat back-end (hence directional) are mainly used for racing.
2. Freestyle boards are completely symmetrical front and back and can be ridden in any direction either face-front or backwards "fakey". This is the most popular type of board.
3. Freeride boards are semi-directional, their front lip slightly higher than the back however riding "fakey" is possible on these boards.
Typically the shorter the board the easier it is to ride, all beginners should start off with a short freeride board. How
short depends on height and weight. The board must be able to flex. It is recommended that you try out different
sized boards before you buy.
Bindings are used to attach the riders feet to board, these come in two flavours:
1. Soft Bindings, this type of strap binding is the most comfortable, flexible, inexpensive and hence popular binding.
2. Step-In Bindings, Semi-hard Boots clamp directly to the board using this type of binding, easier to get in and out
of but more expensive.
Snowboarding is fast replacing skiing as the number one alpine sport. Snowboarders visited the slopes twice
as many times as skiiers last year. Despite this many ski resorts still refuse to allow snowboarders on their
slopes. Typically skiiers complain that snowboarders carve up the snow thus reducing snow quality. To many
snowboarders it appears that the traditional skiing elite is simply upset that snowboarding has brought more
people to the slopes.
Arf
