The thrill of the hill.
One of the most popular of the snowsport disciplines, snowboarding will catch your attention with its spectacular and exciting displays.
With elements of skateboarding and surfing, the sport has become one of the most popular at the Winter Olympics.
Albeit its shorter history in comparison to skiing, which has been a competitive sport for more than a century, snowboarding is now a well-established discipline which attracts some of the biggest TV audiences of any winter sport.
SNOWBOARDING IN THE OLYMPICS
Snowboard made its Olympic debut in Nagano 1998. Twenty years on, it’s now a bit part of Winter Olympics with Slopestyle arriving for Sochi 2014 and Big Air becoming an Olympic event at Pyeongchang 2018.
In slopestyle snowboarders tackle a course with various rails and jumps and it’s all scored by a team of judges. They are looking for technical rails and jumps with spins and flips, ideally with a grab to show off the athletes’ skills.
Big Air is a 3-run competition. It takes place on a specially constructed jump with a long in-run to help build speed. Skiers will be throwing huge jumps which are judged, you add the scores for the best two out of the three to get the totals. Skiers have to do two different jumps for it to count though! Expect to see lots of 1440’s (4 full spins) and a few 1620’s (4 and a half spins) and maybe a few beyond that!
WHY SNOWBOARDING?
Snowboarding has almost become synonymous with the thrill and adventure of winter.
Perfect for complete beginners, snowboarding can be learnt relevantly quickly allowing you to go from zero experience to a confident slider.
The attachment of the feet to the snowboard, awkward at first, will get easier with time and once you’re grasped the basics of making a turn, you can start to hit the slopes.
Then the sport will give you all of its many options to choose from, which is one of the fascinating things about snowboarding. You’ll be in store for high-speed adrenaline rushes, complex tricks or just taking a simple relaxing descent.
One thing is certain: you’ll have a hard time finding someone who tried snowboarding and was afterwards disappointed with the experience.
#SNOWBOARDINGATHOME
You can try snowboarding in England! Many clubs and facilities run weekly sessions so you can learn as part of a group or individually with help from an instructor.
Interested in having a go? We can help set you on your snowboarding journey:
START YOUR SNOWBOARDING JOURNEY NOW
or
FIND YOUR NEAREST SNOWSPORT CLUB
If you snowboard yourself, share your photos with us at: iliyana@snowsportengland.org.uk
All you need to know:
What ability do you need to be in order to be able to have a go?
Anyone can have a go. No prior experience is needed and you can pick up snowboarding pretty quickly.
What are the advantages of learning to snowboard in the UK?
You can have a go at snowboarding at your local slope and you can do this anytime during the year, with slopes operating all year round. You can choose to do a number of lessons over a few weeks, which can help prepare you for your holiday, meaning you will get a lot more out of your time in the mountains and be able to move beyond the nursery slopes. Or you can look to develop your ability in the UK.
Can I start off at a dry slope?
Yep there are dry slopes or indoor ski centres across the UK and they will offer Snowboard lessons.
How expensive is it?
This can depend on the slope, whether it is peak time or not. So if you plan it right, you can make it affordable.
Do I need my own equipment?
You can hire all the equipment you need at the slope or facility near you.
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