|
Snowboards
A snowboard is a thin, hourglass shaped board ridden down a sloped section of earth covered in snow. It is often thought of as the winter equivalent of a wakeboard, as the rider's feet are bound to the board via bindings. more...
 Home
Accessories
Bags & Backpacks
Clothing & Accessories
Cross Country Skiing
Downhill Skiing
Ice Skating
Lift Tickets
Other
Sleds & Snow Tubes
Snowboarding
 Bindings
Boots
Other
Snowboards
Snowmobiling
Snowshoeing
Telemarking
Snowboards generally have a length between 140-165cm and a width between 24 and 27 cm (For teenagers and older. There are children snowboards available) . The size variants are to accommodate the many varieties of people, skill levels, snow types, and riding styles that exist within the activity known as snowboarding. Snowboards are usually constructed with a laminated wood core sandwiched between multiple layers of fiberglass. The bottom or 'base' of the snowboard is generally made of various constructions of plastic, and is surrounded by a thin strip of steel, known as the 'edge'. The top layer, where a printed graphic usually resides, is usually made of Acrylic.
History
The first snowboard was originally made by Sherman Poppen in Muskegon, Michigan when he bolted two skis together for his children to slide downhill sideways on. This soon became the Snurfer, which is widely accepted as the first commercial snowboard. It is also rumored that Jake Burton Carpenter (founder of Burton Snowboards) and/or Tom Sims (founder of Sims Snowboards) invented snowboarding. Bryan Johnston, Global VP of Marketing for Burton, stated in 2008 that a book which describes Jake Burton as the inventor of the snowboard is \"misleading\". For more on the history of the sport, see Snowboarding.
Types of boards
Snowboards come in several different styles, depending on the type of riding intended:
Racing/Alpine: long, narrow, rigid, and directional shape. Best during machine groomed slopes. Most often ridden with a \"hard\" boot, but also ridden recreationally with soft boots, particularly by riders in Europe.;
Freeride: longer in length, and semi-directional. Moderate to stiff in flex. Used for long, fast turns in various types of snow from groomed hard-pack to soft powder.;
Freestyle: Generally shorter in length with a Semi-directional or twin-tip shape. Incorporates a deep sidecut for quick/tight turning. Used in the pipe and in the park on various jumps and terrain features including boxes, rails, and tables.;
Park/Jib (rails): flexible and short, twin-directional, wider stance, with the edges filed dull. Used for skateboard-park like snowboard parks.;
All-Mountain: A hybrid between freeride and freestyle boards. The 'jack of all trades, master of none.';
Split: Not to be confused with the swallow-tail, the split board consists of a stable powder board that can be broken down into two touring skis, used when hiking in deep backcountry conditions.;
Read more at Wikipedia.org
|
|
