Snowboarding

Snowboarding

Have you ever felt the power of racing faster than a mustang racing into the wind? Snowboarding is a very popular Winter Olympic sport. A lot of people gather to see snowboarding. It’s played every four years in the Winter Olympics. This sport is a combination of surfing, skateboarding, and skiing all in one. Let’s start with the history of snowboarding. The first snowboarding competition was held in Colorado, in 1981. Later the half pipe was invented. There is also the Parallel Giant Slalom. While there are multiple types of snowboarding I am going to start by explaining the half pipe. This year’s venue of the half pipe is in Vancouver, on Cypress Mountain. The equipment they use is: a flexible board, special boots with bindings, goggles, helmet, a jacket, and of course gloves. The half pipe is a half cylinder tube. The half pipe is where one snowboarder performs a routine of acrobatics while on a board. Riders are judged on height and style of their tricks. Some tricks are the 360, the Bone, the Alley-Oop, and a 180. That’s how the half pipe works. The parallel giant slalom is where two snowboarders race down a trail going through gates. They loose points if they miss a gate. The judging is different though. It all depends on how many gates you miss. Whoever misses the least amount of gates wins in the least amount of time. That’s how the Giant Slalom works. As in all sports there are some legendary athletes in snowboarding. There is Gian Simmen, a gold medalist. There is also Shaun White, also a two-time gold medalist. Shaun White has even created his own moves that many snowboarders attempt. The cool things about Shaun White are that he is also known as the “Flying Tomato” and he is in his early twenties. He has made his mark in this amazing sport of snowboarding, specifically the half-pipe. You now know a lot about snowboarding. Now when you watch or try snowboarding you will understand it much better.