Snowboarding: Snowboard and Free Encyclopedia
28 August 2013
Basis of Modern Snowboarding
Snowboarding is an incredible simple sport that only requires a rider to strap their feet onto the board and glide down a snow-covered slope. Snowboarding can actually be seen all the way back to the 1920s. At that time though, they would have just tied piece of plywood, or planks from old barrels, to their feet. Usually they would use twine or horse reins to attach these pieces of wood to their feet. Then in 1965 Sherman Poppen invented a toy for his daughter. This toy was called the snurfer, combination of snow and surfing. The toy was simply two skis fastened together with a rope on one end to give her control. He then licensed this to a company and began selling them on a mass scale. This is where the modern version of snowboarding originated. But at this time nobody could have prevented that in 1998 it would become an Olympic sport. Although, there is still the same basic principle, the design of the entire sport has changed dramatically. From the gear to to the extremes of the terrain.
The boards that are used have went from being just pieces of wood that people could scrap together to handmade pieces of art that people will pay thousands of dollars for. Usually the board is as wide as the riders foot is long, this is to ensure that the rider has a good center of balance and when they lean, their foot will not catch in the snow. The length of the board depends on the use and the weight of the rider. There are multiple styles of board including but not limited to freestyle, race/alpine, all mountain, free ride, and park. The all mountain is by far the most common type, due to people not wanting to buy multiple specialty boards. These boards are usually a very symmetrical board that allows for riding in both directions while also being a "jack of all trades board". The freestyle board is also symmetrical but is shorter with a soft to moderate flex that allows for quick/tight turning. For the people that
Basis of Modern Snowboarding
Snowboarding is an incredible simple sport that only requires a rider to strap their feet onto the board and glide down a snow-covered slope. Snowboarding can actually be seen all the way back to the 1920s. At that time though, they would have just tied piece of plywood, or planks from old barrels, to their feet. Usually they would use twine or horse reins to attach these pieces of wood to their feet. Then in 1965 Sherman Poppen invented a toy for his daughter. This toy was called the snurfer, combination of snow and surfing. The toy was simply two skis fastened together with a rope on one end to give her control. He then licensed this to a company and began selling them on a mass scale. This is where the modern version of snowboarding originated. But at this time nobody could have prevented that in 1998 it would become an Olympic sport. Although, there is still the same basic principle, the design of the entire sport has changed dramatically. From the gear to to the extremes of the terrain.
The boards that are used have went from being just pieces of wood that people could scrap together to handmade pieces of art that people will pay thousands of dollars for. Usually the board is as wide as the riders foot is long, this is to ensure that the rider has a good center of balance and when they lean, their foot will not catch in the snow. The length of the board depends on the use and the weight of the rider. There are multiple styles of board including but not limited to freestyle, race/alpine, all mountain, free ride, and park. The all mountain is by far the most common type, due to people not wanting to buy multiple specialty boards. These boards are usually a very symmetrical board that allows for riding in both directions while also being a "jack of all trades board". The freestyle board is also symmetrical but is shorter with a soft to moderate flex that allows for quick/tight turning. For the people that