Snowboarding

In the article “Snowboarding” we will tell you about a popular winter sport among young people. Let’s figure out what disciplines exist and how to learn complex tricks.

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It is difficult to attribute the idea of creating a snowboard to a specific person, as the first similar prototypes existed at the beginning of the 20th century. For example, the American teenager Vern Wicklund descended a snow-covered hill standing on a sled as an amusement back in 1917.

Austrian Jack Burchett in 1929 created the first wooden board for descending from the mountain. The athlete stood on the board and steered it with a rope. Ten years later, in 1939, Wicklund created a similar board, but with a strap to hold the support leg rigidly.

As is often the case in history, the first inventor is the one who was able to patent his invention. In 1965, the first person to do this was the American Sherman Poppen. He connected two alpine skis with jumpers, and tied a rope to the nose.

He named his product “Snurf” (from the word “snow” and “surf”). This simple design became popular, and within a year Sherman was able to sell about one million copies. Over time, the snaffle underwent many changes: leg bindings and a metal edge were added.

His invention patent Sherman Poppen sold to the company “Brunswick”, which organized competitions among snaurfers. Inveterate skier Jack Burton was among the participants of these competitions, who would go on to further develop the snowboard.

Jack would create a company called Burton Snowboards, which would eventually become a global manufacturer of snowboards and snowboarding equipment. In 2013, the company controlled about 45% of the global market.

Jack Burton’s competitors in snowboard manufacturing and development were companies like SIMS, BARFOOT and Winterstick. During the “golden” period of snowboard development, these companies had their own unique path of development, and each of them believes that they have every right to the title of “creator” of snowboarding.

For example, SIMS went their way to creating snowboarding as an evolution of skateboarding, and Winterstick and BARFOOT went their evolutionary way with a surfboard. Nevertheless, each has made invaluable contributions to the development of snowboarding and snowboarding.

The first snowboarding competitions were held in the 1970s. Despite the growing popularity of the sport, ski resorts were in no hurry to hold competitions because there was a high risk of injury to participants. In the 1980s, only 6% of all ski slopes allowed boarding.

In 1985 the first World Cup was held and in 1994 the governing body, the International Snowboarding Association (ISA), was established. Currently, the International Ski Federation (FIS) is responsible for organizing snowboarding competitions.

Snowboarding became an Olympic sport in Nagano in 1998, when it was introduced in two disciplines: Halfpipe and Giant Slalom. Nowadays men and women can try their hand in 5 disciplines: Halfpipe, Parallel Giant Slalom, Snowboard Cross, Big Air and Slopestyle.

Half-pipe is a competition on a special structure resembling a half pipe. Athletes zigzag down and up the structure, performing various tricks.

The half-pipe is considered the most technical object in snowboarding. In order to create such a structure, you must first make a mound of snow with snow cannons, and then clean the middle part with the help of special machines, snowmobiles.

The half-pipe consists of four main parts. Its upper part is called the deck, the bottom of the chute is the bottom. The part where the biggest curvature is located is the vertical, and the transition part is the transit.

The parallel giant slalom is a competition between two riders in the same race. Athletes go down the course, maneuvering between the markers. Each competitor performs many turns at high speed during the race, and the one who arrives first wins.

Snowboard cross is a competition between a group of snowboarders (from 4 to 6) on a track with artificial terrain barriers (hills, jumps, turns). The winner is the one who shows the best time.

Big Air is a competition for snowboarders to perform acrobatic elements in flight. The athlete accelerates and climbs the ramp, performs a jump, and then an acrobatic element with a landing.

Snowboarding is dominated mostly by athletes from the United States, but we also have someone to be proud of. The naturalized American Victor Wild in 2014 brought our team the 2nd gold medal in the parallel giant slalom and parallel slalom. Victor added a bronze medal at the Beijing 2022 Olympics.

Yekaterina Ilyukhina is well known among the women. In 2010 in Vancouver she won the first medal for Russia – a silver medal in the parallel giant slalom. Moreover, three years before the Olympics in 2006-2007 she won the European Cup.

Snowboarding is impossible without proper equipment. To start you need a board – a snowboard, bindings and boots. Since snowboarding is an extreme sport, you also need protective equipment: goggles, helmet, balaklava, thermal pants, jacket, gloves, back and knee protection, protective shorts.

Professional snowboarders will also need a special iron to apply wax, snowboard bag to carry equipment, avalanche beacon with a probe, and even a shovel.

For fans of back-country will not be superfluous and the gauge of a slope, snowshoes, various warmers for the neck, hands and feet. As bindings tend to loosen over time, you will need a set of tools. And to pass the time on the elevator or to charge with positive energy, wireless headphones with great music will be also in theme

Before each competition, the snowboard is coated with a layer of paraffin. The wax contains fluorine and molybdenum, which have moisture-repellent properties and protect the board. But most importantly, wax allows the board to glide better in the snow and accelerate quickly.

After waxing, the snowboard is left to dry for a certain amount of time. A small amount of wax will soak into the pores of the board during this time, and the excess is then removed with a squeegee. If there are deep scratches on the snowboard, this board will not be repaired. For the highest contingent of athletes boards are disposable, i.e. one start – one snowboard.

An entire technology industry works to create fast, strong snowboard boards. First the main part of a snowboard is made – its core. The wooden billet is given the profile of the future snowboard, and then the excess volume is removed.

Then the side walls made of plastic are glued. Then thin and steel edges are laid and several layers of fiberglass are applied. And finally, the whole “sandwich” is placed under the press. The press has more than 20 different shapes. The most important thing is the deflection. It can be inward or outward.

A rocker is a board with evenly raised ends. If you put weight on the tail of the board, the nose is lifted. Such a board sort of hits the snow and doesn’t bury itself in it, which makes for great riding in freshly fallen snow.

With the “camber” camber, the board is perfectly flat on a hard surface, this allows the athlete to better keep his balance when riding in the parks.

On the surface all snowboarding boards are similar, but in fact – each discipline needs its own board. The smaller the radius of the board, the steeper turns it will allow the athlete to make, but in deep snow it will simply fail. For deep snow, a wider board that evenly distributes the weight of the snowboarder over a larger surface and does not get bogged down in drifts will do.

To teach difficult tricks in snowboarding, an air cushion is used to cushion the fall. There are two types of aero pads, for trampoline and halfpipe. The first one is placed directly behind the springboard and the snowboarder does not land on the hard ice, but on a soft surface.

The second cushion is placed right inside the halfpipe, for this purpose, one of its walls is cut out. Inflate the cushion with regular air, and the valves to adjust the pressure allows it to be placed even in the mountains.

You can land on the air cushion with your head or back, the design will completely cushion your fall. The only risk is flying over it or flying out to the side. With the introduction of this device, complex snowboarding tricks began to be learned even by beginners.

In order to learn how to snowboard, you need to enroll in a specialized section. Children from the age of 5 are enrolled in a sports school, but the optimum age is 7-8 years, as the skeleton and posture are completing their formation.

Snowboarding is a winter sport that is associated with slopes and trails. Not every city has a section, but in many localities there are alternatives that will allow you to master the necessary skills. These include skateboarding sports schools, skiing and skiing sections.

Since in snowboarding most of the disciplines associated with acrobatic elements, a great alternative would be and jumping on a trampoline. Professional athletes practice their jumps on a trampoline. In addition, recently began to produce snowboarding simulators that allow you to work out the turns of a giant slalom indoors.

Benefits for the body from snowboarding is enormous. Since all classes are held in the fresh air, it has a positive effect on strengthening the immune system, cardiovascular system. Snowboarding improves movement coordination, develops leg, back and abdominal muscles.

About snowboarding

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