Snowboarding, The Evolution of a Backyard Play Thing

Not so many years ago, Saturday afternoons were spent making skate-boards from pieces of scrap plywood and worn out skates. It was rudimentary, but it worked. In the winter, runner sleds were abandoned for car hoods that carved errant paths in the powdery snow.

Creativity and a changing culture transformed those archaic forms of entertainment into an Olympic sport called snowboarding. It may take a leap of faith to follow that transition, but consider the definition of snowboarding offered by wikipedia: The development of snowboarding was inspired by surfing and skateboarding, and the sport shares superficial similarities with skiing.

Simply put, snowboarding is a sport that involves descending a slope that is either partially or fully covered with snow on a snowboard attached to a participant’s feet using a special boot set into a mounted binding. It was developed in the United States in the 1960s and the 1970s and became a Winter Olympic Sport in 1998. It’s soared into an $800 million a year industry.

The board itself is a complexity of materials, design, friction co-efficients, geometry, chemistry and bio-mechanics. It is modern engineering at its finest, all driven by uniquely dressed daredevils of years past who pushed the extreme sport envelope wearing baggy jeans and long hair.

Ranked as the fastest growing sport in the world, snowboarding is for the young of mind, body and spirit. Novice skiers can traverse a trail with little skill or effort. But snowboarding requires the ability to swoosh down the powdery hillside, practicing turns and tricks. The two common primary styles of snowboarding are freestyle/freeride and alpine/carving.

The thought of learning to snowboard can be frightening to anyone who hasn’t been exposed to winter sports. It does require a little preparation and a positive attitude. According to an article in The Aspen (Colorado) Post, being a good snowboarder requires a high degree of strength and balance. These are necessary to transition the board from edge to edge with never-ending changes in speed, terrain and weather. It is the increasing craze for snowboarding that brought about a revolution in the ski industry and inspired the ski manufacturers to make shorter and more maneuverable skis with deeper side cuts.

While it isn’t necessary, a degree of conditioning is important.

Off-season training can begin by developing basic strength in your lower body and core. This can incorporate squats, lunges, heel and toe raises, and all types of core work. The majority of the snowboarder’s movements need to be manifested outward from the core of the body (abdominal and hip musculature), with the limbs playing more of a secondary role.

“It takes about three days of getting worked over before you catch on,” local snowboarder Jessie Prewitt said.
Her friend, Mike Swift agreed.

“It wears your legs out. You need to get mentally and physically strong so you can take a hard fall,” he explained.

“After a couple of times, you get it down,” Jessie added.

Prewitt, Swift, Zach Seler, all of the Lake area, and former Lake resident Sara Popelka have made the trek to Colorado for many years.

Jessie got her start snow skiing. “We went every year as a family for 15 years,” she said. Three years ago, she went to Steamboat Springs with her cousin and snowboard instructor Dusty Jewel.

“I went boarding once, and never went back to skis,” she said.

Snowboarding has become an annual event for Prewitt and her friends who work around the Lake in the summer and spend the winters in Colorado snowboarding and working. Prewitt has worked at Backwater Jacks for six years, and Swift has been a bartender at Horny Toad.

While their lifestyles may seem a bit ‘radical’ to some, they both have college degrees from Westminster College in Fulton. Prewitt has a major in environmental science with a minor in business and biology; Swift a degree in business administration.

At 25 and 24 respectfully, Prewitt and Swift thoroughly enjoy their lifestyle.

“It’s nice to go to Colorado, but I like it here at the Lake,” Prewitt said. “I just like to play.”

They earn enough money at their respective jobs to provide them with rent money and food. Their work in Colorado usually provides them free or discounted lift tickets and passes. They usually leave for Colorado in November and return in March.

“We enjoy snowboarding because it’s so much fun,” Prewitt said. “It’s challenging to be better at it, to go faster and do the various jumps. It’s kind of addictive.”

The camaraderie is an attraction for Swift.

“We just get a bunch of people together and go. We stop at the top of the mountain and take in the view. It‘s pretty sweet,” he explained.
the board Buying a snowboard is a major investment with costs from $40 to $200 and more.

The type of riding you do should be the biggest influence on the type of board you buy. The biggest difference, equipment-wise, exists between freestyle riding and the race disciplines. Race equipment, also referred to as Alpine gear, consists of hard-boots that closely resemble ski boots, as well as longer, stiff-flexing directional boards and specialized bindings. Unless you are an advanced intermediate or above, you’ll want to look for freestyle/all-mountain equipment, which features softer flexing boards, soft boots, and either strap-in or step-in bindings.

All snowboards are measured in centimeters from tip to tail, with the last two numbers often incorporated into the board’s name (so a Burton Custom 56 would be 156cm tall).

Beginners and freestyle riders generally look for shorter boards to enable them to maneuver easier – between the collarbone and chin is a good height. All-mountain riders tend to prefer a slightly longer board, measuring between the chin and the nose.

Riders that spend most of their time in the big mountain terrain and deep powder should look for a taller board, generally measuring between the nose to several inches above the forehead.

The final factor in determining the proper sized board is the width. Standing on top of a properly sized board, your feet should stretch almost entirely across the board. Too much distance between your feet and the edges makes it difficult to apply pressure to get the board to turn, while having your toes and/or heels overhanging the edges of the board results in drag that can cause unintended falls.

The stiffness of a snowboard affects both how easy it is to turn as well as how well it will hold an edge on hard snow. Freestyle boards are generally softer than all-mountain boards, due to the freestyler’s need to make small adjustments when performing tricks. Beginners should always go with the softest board that can accommodate their height and weight. More advanced riders generally choose stiffer boards for harder snow and slightly softer boards for powder.

Tags: freestyle, Olympic Sport, snowboarding, Sports & Toys

Category: People fashion Travel