What do you get when you cross a surfboard with a skateboard? A snowboard of course!

Snowboarding is a fairly new sport. It became an Olympic sport in 1998.

No one knows for sure when the first snowboard was built, but some say it was in 1929. A man named Jack Burchett made his snowboard from plywood, horse reins and a clothesline. Other people say that Tom Sims built the first snowboard in 1963. He called it a ‘Ski-board’.

We do know that snowboarding officially started in 1964, when a man named Sherman Poppen watched his daughter slide down a snowy hill while standing on her sledge. He decided to make her a special board she could stand on whilst going downhill. He called it a ‘Snurfer’. Soon everyone wanted a Snurfer, so Shermen made more and sold them in local shops.

The front tip of a snowboard is called the nose, and the back tip is called the tail. The binding is what attaches your feet to the board.

There are two basic types of snowboard today – freestyle and alpine.

You use freestyle snowboards to do tricks and jumps and for snowboarding in general. The nose and tail are shaped exactly the same so you can ride down the hill backwards or forwards.

Alpine snowboards are used for races. They are stiff and narrow, and are usually longer than freestyle boards.

The inside (or core) of a snowboard is made from wood. Without a strong core, a snowboard would be too wobbly to ride. A common material for the base of a snowboard is polyethylene. It is a type of plastic. It is smooth so it helps the snowboard to travel faster. It is also hard-wearing.

Snowboarders are also split into these two main groups. Some boarders perform tricks and stunts, and others race down slopes.

The racing events are slalom, giant slalom and super giant slalom (super G). In these races, boarders have to attempt tight corners as they race through gates. The first one to reach the end wins. If a competitor misses a gate then he or she is out of the race. They are disqualified.

The newest snowboarding event is snowboardcross. This involves between four and six boarders racing through an obstacle course.

Snowboarders who perform tricks can take part in these freestyle events: the big air, the half-pipe and the slopestyle.

In the big air competition, boarders slide down a ramp or hill and then perform stunts in mid air.

The half pipe is a semi-circle construction (it looks like half a pipe which is where the name comes from). The boarder travels up and down the walls of the half pipe whilst performing tricks when they are in mid air at the top of the walls.

In the slopestyle, competitors perform their tricks whilst going down a hill and at the same time avoiding obstacles.

Only the slalom and the half-pipe are Olympic events.

Snowboarders use friction to control their snowboards. They use their body to transfer their weight from one side of the board to the other, in order to turn, slow down or stop.

Did you know that there are different types of snow that actually affect how you move on the snowboard?

Powder snow is the best snow to fall off your snowboard on because it is quite soft. It is also easier to turn and control your speed when you are snowboarding on powder snow.

Snowboarders can’t perform tricks as well on wet snow as it is sticky and it slows the board down. It is also harder to turn on wet snow.

So now you know what snowboarding is all about, you’ve just got to learn how to speak the language!

Fakie – Riding the snowboard backwards.

Phat – Cool!

Invert – A trick where the snowboarder balances on one or two hands.

Rail Slide – To slide the snowboard onto almost anything like a pipe, fence, log or even a picnic table.

180 – The snowboard rotates 180 degrees in the air and lands riding fakie (backwards).

Now you’re ready to catch some air (that means ‘hit the slopes’).