Snowboarding Rules Explained. Useful Information for You to Know

Snowboarding is a winter kind of sport that is an obligatory part of the Olympic Games. Its main principles are represented by sloping snowy mountain hills using a special piece of equipment, i.e., a snowboard. Despite the information stated above, some athletes manage to deal with this kind of sport at summers sloping sandy hills. This variation is also known as sandboarding. As a rule, snowboarding events take place at unprepared slopes and involve great speeds, special attention should be paid to protective equipment. Thus, the given article is going to present the most useful information on snowboarding and its peculiarities.

Snowboarding Disciplines

Snowboarding seems to be a rather straightforward kind of sport, but it is only when it comes to direct moving down. Nowadays, however, there are many variations of this sport. They are the following:

1. Dual Slalom. It had been an Olympic discipline before 2014. Here, two athletes are moving down two parallel tracks having flags of red and blue colors. A victory is given to the snowboarder who is the first to reach the finish line.
2. Giant Slalom. It obtained the status of an Olympic kind of sport in 2002. The main goal for an athlete is to overcome the track marked with gates as soon as it is possible.
3. Snowboard Cross. 2006 witnessed as this discipline became an Olympic one. Snowboarder should move down a long, wide, and easy track overcoming numerous obstacles (relief figures, springboards, and others).
4. Halfpipe. It is an Olympic discipline since 1998. An athlete should perform particular tricks while flying off from the vertical parts of the halfpipe. This construction looks like it sounds.
5. Slopestyle. It is an obligatory part of the Winter Olympics since 2014. Snowboarder should overcome tracks with a great number of supplements to perform acrobatic tricks.
6. Big-Air. It is the youngest of the snowboarding variations because it became an Olympic kind of sport only in 2018. Thus, it is a long jump from a springboard, during which an athlete should perform an acrobatic piece.

Snowboarding Styles

At present, there are three styles that are applied in this kind of sport.

1. Freestyle. This style includes such techniques as springboard jumps, using various constructions, acrobatic tricks on mountain slopes, and overcoming various obstacles. The style is used in snowboard cross, halfpipe, slopestyle, and big-air.
2. Freeride. It is a snowboard style that implies the freedom of movements. It takes place on unprepared slopes or parks, and it does not have any stipulated routes, aims, and rules.
3. Firm Snowboarding. This style is represented by a technical moving down a mountain slope.

Equipment

It should be clear that the given kind of sport implies a particular set of equipment that is obligatory for all professional snowboarders. Thus, it is represented by the following items:

1. Board. It is the most important element in the sport that is represented by a multi-layer construction with a metal edge on its bottom.
2. Shoes. They are also significant because these pieces of equipment contribute to the stable position of the soles and protect them from possible injuries.
3. Bindings. They are obligatory, and they are chosen individually because they depend on an athlete’s shoe size.
4. Helmet. Even though this piece of equipment is essential for protecting snowboarders’ heads from serious injuries, it is not obligatory for everyone.
5. Gloves. The state of affairs is the same as with the helmet – significant meaning does not make them obligatory for the athletes.
6. Snowboarding Mask. This piece of equipment is designed to protect athletes’ eyes from ultraviolet lights and contribute to better vision.
7. Snowboarding Clothes. They should be warm, water and windproof, as well as meet aesthetic goals.

Main Competitions

Snowboarding is a popular and international kind of sport, which makes it clear that various tournaments regularly take place. Thus, it refers to the following events:

1. Olympic Games.
2. World Championships – this event took place in 1996 for the first time. Since then, it is organized every two years (in odd-numbered years). Nowadays, this event includes competitions in six disciplines, including snowboard cross, halfpipe, dual slalom, dual giant slalom, slopestyle, and big-air.
3. World Cup – a series of the greatest international competitions among both male and female athletes.
4. X-Games – an annual sporting event that focuses on extremal kinds of sport.
5. US Open – it is open snowboard championships.

History

Snowboarding is said to be a young kind of sport because it is younger than 100 years old. It was created by an American engineer, Sherman Poppen, in the 1960s. He developed a prototype of a modern snowboard by gluing two skis together. Poppen gave his invention the name of snurfer. That element did not have bindings, and an athlete had to take a special rope attached to the front part of the element.

That kind of sport was becoming more and more popular with every passing year. Thus, the first Snurfing World Championships took place in 1979. It was during that event, when one of its participants, Jake Burton, improved his snurf be adding the bindings to it.

In 1988, the first Snowboarding World Championships took place, and it was not until 1998 when snowboarding obtained the status of an Olympic kind of sport. Nowadays, three snowboarding variations are included in the program of the Winter Olympics. It refers to slalom giant, border cross, and halfpipe.