Riding the Snow: A History of Snowboarding
...all snowboarding magazine, Absolutely Radical, was published. After the support that snowboarding received from its public it was well onto its way to being a sport never forgotten. A major landmark in snowboarding happened in 1994 when Snowboarding was declared an Olympic sport. It was finally a real competitive sport, and not a trend that could fade out. The first time snowboarding appeared in the Olympics was in the 1998 games in Nagano. As of 1998 snowboarding was almost half of all winter activity. Although there are a few resorts that still do not allow snowboarding due to its rebellious stereotypes. These few resorts fear that the adolescence of snowboarders will scare away their regular skiers. Veteran Vermont skier Mary Simons complains, “Snowboarding is not about grace and style but about raging hormones. It is about adolescent boys with their newest toy.” (?) This view is taken by a few purist skiers who feel that snowboarders are intruding their terrain. Snow Summit, near Los Angeles, Vail in Colorado, and Sugarbush in Vermont all ban surfing down the slopes. Aspen recently opened up its hardest mountain to snowboarders, showing their trust in riders’ capabilities and experience. An inexperienced rider is expected to know their own limitations on the type of terrain they can ride. There is a responsibility code that all snowboarders should follow when they ride down the slopes. It contains seven rules that a safe rider should always obey. The first rule is to always stay in control and be able to stop or avoid other people or objects. The second is that people ahead of the boarder have the right of way. It is the snowboarder’s responsibility to avoid them. The third rule states that boarders must not stop where they obstruct a trail or are not visible from above. Whenever starting downhill or merging into a trail, look uphill and yield to others, the fourth rule requests. The fifth rule asserts that a good rider always uses devices to help prevent runaway equipment. The sixth rule asks that snowboarders observe all posted signs and warnings, and that they keep off closed trails and out of closed areas. The final rule is that before using any lift, the boarder must have knowledge and ability to load, ride and unload safely. Following the code is essential in keeping the mountains a safe and happy place to ride. Learning how to ride a snowboard is said to be one of the most difficult tasks. Mastering how to ride a snowboard is said to take years less then skiing though. First a new comer must have the right snowboard, boots, bindings, and clothes for this extreme winter sport. Now there are about well over fifty snowboarding companies to choose who to buy your equipment from and they are competing to get the first timers new business. Choosing the right board may prove to be the most troublesome aspect of buying gear. First a boarder has to choose from the three different styles of snowboarding, freestyle, freeride, and alpine. Then they must pick out the right length for their height, the right width for the size of their feet, and the right amount of flex for their weight. A snowboard cost anywhere between one hundred sixty and six hundred dollars, so the rider must also pick his or her price range. Bindings and boots come in three main styles; strap on, step in, and hard. Thw binding’s main function is to keep the boot and the board connected to each other, and the boot’s main functions are to keep the binding connected to the foot and keep the foot warm and cozy. Strap in bindings can work for just about any binding boot combination. This is where the rider fastens straps around the boots to keep them connected to the board. Step in bindings are specifically made for their step in boot counter part. In this arrangement the rider connects the boot and the binding by pieces that link together on both the boot and binding. This method is convenient for the first time rider because it is easier to place together the boot and binding. Hard boots and bindings are just as they sound, hard. They work much like a ski boot and are not as comfortable as either strap-ons or step-ins. Hard boot and binding combinations are usually used for Alpine snowboarding, to aid the snowboarder in their wide turns. Clothing is not nearly as hard to pick out. The rider just has to decide what type of weather they will most likely be riding in. There is clothing that is made specifically for sub-zero temperatures, warm temperatures, keeping the rider dry, keeping the rider from sweating, keeping the rider from getting wind chill, and many other common problems a rider might want be helped with. As a beginner snowboarder who masters the rules and basics of snowboarding has a wide world ahead of them. Most resorts have a place set aside for just snowboards called a snowboarding park. A park contains things for more advanced snowboarders to trick off of, such as jumps, half pipes, quarter pipes, and rails. A half pipe is a semi-cylindrical snow structure for freestyle snowboarding. It consists of two opposing radial transition walls of the same height and size. The boarders ride back and forth from one wall to the other while riding down the fall line. When they reach the edge of the lip they catch air and pe...