Snowboarding is a popular winter sport that resembles surfing or skateboarding on snow. A snowboarder is strapped onto a single board that looks like a large skateboard and glides down snow-covered mountains. Snowboarders perform many of the same movements as Alpine and freestyle skiers. See Skiing (Types of skiing) .
Loading the player...Snowboarding
A snowboard is a single board 21/2 times as wide as a ski and about 2/3 as long. Snowboarders most commonly wear footwear that resembles hiking boots.
Snowboarding technically is not skiing, but it is performed on Alpine ski mountains. Top-level snowboarders compete in slalom and giant slalom races similar to those in Alpine skiing, as well as an acrobatic event called a halfpipe performed in a deep trough. Snowboarding follows women’s skiing rules for both men’s and women’s slalom and giant slalom events. Competitions are supervised by the governing body of international amateur skiing, the Federation Internationale de Ski (FIS). In 1998, snowboarding became an event in the Winter Olympic Games with the introduction of halfpipe and slalom events. In 2006, the Olympics added snowboard cross. A slopestyle event was included in 2014. In both snowboard cross and slopestyle, competitors perform on special courses that feature various obstacles.
