Snowboarders clip a snowboard to their boots and then ride down snow covered hills. It is a very fast ride!
Athletes compete in these events:
slalom, a fast downhill ride, in and out between flags.
halfpipe, riders drop into the snow that is shaped like a pipe that has been cut in half.
snowboard cross where four riders race across the snow doing jumps and turns.
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Slalom snowboarding
In the slalom event the riders race down a slope, zigzagging and changing direction quickly around flags, called 'gates', set in the snow. Riders try to pass through every gate without knocking any of them down.
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Halfpipe snowboarding
Halfpipe competitions are held in a course shaped like a pipe that has been cut in half lengthwise and set in the snow. Competitors drop into the pipe and then perform tricks off the walls of the halfpipe and in the air above it. Judges award points for for the number of tricks that a snowboarder performs and for the difficulty of the tricks.
Snowboard cross
In snowboard cross four riders race across a course studded with jumps, bumps and huge turns.
Snowboarding became an official Winter Olympics sport at the Games in 1998.
In the beginning…
Snowboarding began in the 1960s when American inventor, Sherman Poppen, built the first snowboard for his daughter and called it a Snurfer. It looked like a cross between a plywood sled and a skateboard deck. A handheld rope was attached to the nose of the board to give the snowboarder something to hold onto. There were also steel tacks that pocked through the board to hold the snowboarder’s feet in place. Snurfers were manufactured and sold to many people and Snurfer competitions were held during the 1960s and the 1970s.
