Alpine snowboarding

Another type of snowboarding is Alpine snowboarding. There is a few major differences between regular snowboarding and Alpine snowboarding, for starters the boards are different, a regular snowboard has rounded ends on both compared to a Alpine board which the nose is rounded up and the end is flat for more speed. The reason that both ends are not rounded is because in alpine racing you never have to go switch which means your back foot forward. As to a regular snowboard with both rounded ends it allows you to ride switch for more tricks and for lending big air stunts. Also the difference between Alpine snowboarding and regular snowboarding is that instead of doing tricks and grind, its more of a ski races where you are paired up with another contestant and race down the hill turning in and out of flags, or in some cases post. The other difference with the two is the foot stance, with Alpine snowboarding your feet are almost at the same degree with your board compared to regular snowboarding where your feet are horizontal n the board. They do this for increase of speed and also when your feet are horizontal it gives you more control over you board and it just allows you to grind and get bigger air and land better without hurting your knees and legs.

Chairlifts

Some of you must be wondering what you do when you finish you run, or how you would get back up the mountain. Well the answer is the great invention of the chairlifts. They are what the sound like, a chair that carries you back up the mountain. But that was back in the old days, now its more of a bench but when you go out to do rocky mountain boarding or skiing its called a gondola. It is a both that can fit up to 30 people and it will carry you up the hill at a good rate of speed, or in some knurly cases you get a helicopter ride up the mountain to travel in snow that has not yet been touched by others. But in the regular average joe’s life your not going to do that. You are just going to take a chairlifts which resembles a lot like a bench and it will bring you up the hill, now if you’re a border you have to take out your back foot out of your binding and go up the hill with the one foot tied into your binding. They make you do this so u can sit better on the lift and so that they can fit more people on the lift at the same time.

Skiing or Snowboarding?

Skiing or Snowboarding? A question many of us ask ourselves. Personally I chose Snowboarding because A I thought it looked cool and B I am young pretty strong and I can still move and I love to push myself to the limit so I figured why not, lets try it. Skiing is a bit more laid back and less intense as boarding because you have your legs on two different supports, so it gives you that much more control, also when you want to stop you have more ways to do so, ass to snowboarding you have to go down face first and then rather stop on your front side or back side, so you have to go faster before you can slow down. Also when boarding you have you entire body facing the mountain and not in the direction you are going, so it complicates thing because you can only see half of what the skier see’s because of the stance on you board. Also when you fall on ski’s they tend to come off so that you don’t break your ankle or anything else, but a snowboard you are strapped in for good, so when you fall your going along with your board for the ride.

Boots

Boots are probably the most important thing you are wearing when you out on the hill, because well lets face it you cant be doing much riding if you were bear foot lol. But if your boots don’t fit right or don’t feel good you really cant do much with your board, because your boots control your bindings which control your board so if your boots don’t fit the board properly then you are in for one miserable snowboard trip! If you have really long feet you have to buy a wide board, which Burton sells many of, but the boots have to A feel good on your feet, and B they must fit your board to give you more control over it. When your buying a pair of boots first thing you want to check is that if they feel good on your feet, then you check if they fit in to the bindings you want to buy, then you check if the boot and binding will fit on to the board you wish to buy. You can get any kind of interior that you want anywhere from fake fur to a tough materiel or even smother like under armor, the possibilities are endless.

Brand Names :)

There is an endless amount of big names and brands when it comes down to the sport, but there is definitely a few that stands out from the rest. For example Burton has been one of the founders of the sport, then after Burton did the big beginning of snowboarding many of other brands have tagged along with Burton. K2 is another big name in the sport, along with ride, sims and flow. Burton has great products; from the boots to the board they also make a wide variety of bindings. They have everything from beginner to intermediate. Ride makes more on the advance line, so for experienced riders. Flow completely redesigned the look and function of the bindings. They took your regular 2 strapped bindings and kept those permanently tied down, and made the heel of your binding fall backwards for easier access and quicker time doing up your bindings. Sim is a newer brand of boards that is made for more of the beginners riders, because it is a thicker board so it is more forgiving when you land and such. Also it wont react right away, because of the thickness, so if you are shaky on your feet the board will stay nice and flat on the ground so it will keep you from falling over and avoiding accidents, and wipeouts.

Different Events

They’re many different kinds of events when it comes to snow boarding their anything from big air competition to grind to races to half pipes. So for any riders out their, there is definitely an event out there for you to enjoy. Personally I enjoy rail jams and big air competitions, I have only participated in 2 rail jams and one big air competition in my life but I am hopping for better snow so I can go out and strut my stuff out on the mountain. The big air competitions are pretty self explanatory but it’s based on how much air you get and what kind of tricks you can pull off with that big air. The half pipe competitions is when you have to climb the half pipe and pull of tricks while and the top of the pipe. The grind competitions is when you judged on what kind of grind you do and what you combo it with, for example when mounting on to the grind and when getting off of it. And the races is just who the first one is at the bottom of the coarse or who has the fastest time coming down the mountain.

Wipeouts

Snowboard crashes are a regular part to learning. Same as everything else you learn failing is the first step towards success. Of coarse once you master the basics tricks mastered of coarse you want to move on to bigger and better jumps. Obviously with risk comes danger, so when you go attempt a big jump you’re risking your board to break, or worse your bones breaking and ending up hospital. But after a few falls you seem to learn pretty quickly, but if you don’t learn then I would recommend you stop trying the trick, unless you go to a special trick spot where they set up a jump with a stunt mat over 70 feet long to cushioning your fall if you fail. (Much easier to learn then on regular snow) The most important thing to remember is to be sure you where a helmet and protective gear such as elbow pads knee pads. But the most important thing is to wear a helmet because that Is where the most injuries occur on your body when snowboarding. But never let failure disappoint you because if you do not fail you are not trying.