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Bullfight Blues
Spain's notorious Bullfight is one of the most famous customs upheld by the Spanish. It draws attention worldwide from people who just love the sport, and also from many others who are agains't this barbaric onslaught. I hasten to add that this...
Childhood Obesity
Along with the increase of obesity in adult, childhood obesity is on the rise. Around 15.5 percent of adolescents in the United States, aged 12 to 19 are obese. Even more alarming, about 15.3 percent of children ages 6 to 11 are obese. These...
Holiday Health: Give Get-Fit Gifts
‘Tis the season to celebrate -- and a time to eat! Most of us gain a few pounds during the holiday season. With family dinners, holiday parties and gift baskets loaded with goodies, who thinks of staying fit? Instead of giving a pyramid of...
Lottery, More Than Just Gambling
A lottery is a popular form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize. There are some states where lottery is forbidden but others endorse it to the extend of organizing a national lottery. Lotteries date back to the period of...
The Best NCAA Coaches
The Best Coaches in NCAA Football History
NCAA football, particularly Division I-A, is one of the most competitive collegiate sports. Many coaches have had winning seasons, but only the greatest are remembered by fans. Bobby Bowden, forty...
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Snowboarding The Great White
Snowboarding has great similarities to surfing and skiing: It's
like surfing in that it is a board sport, and like skiing
because it is performed in the snow. Snowboarders - or riders,
as they are called - strap boards to their feet and slide down
snow-covered slopes. It is an increasingly popular winter sport
across the world, wherever there is snow. In 1998, it became an
eligible medal sport in the Winter Olympic Games. Other major
events include the U.S. Open Snowboarding Championship and the
Winter X-Games in Canada and the United States.
No one knows exactly when snowboarding was invented, but it is
widely accepted that it was created around the 1950s by a mix of
surfers, skateboarders, and skiers - who were able to transfer
their skills to the cold mountains. Snowboarders during that
time used hand-made boards. Because snowboarding was new and
crude at that time, many skiers largely frowned upon the sport.
In fact, many ski resorts would not allow snowboarding.
However, the sport began to gain more popularity in the 1970s
and '80s, and snowboarding equipment became more sophisticated
and advanced. By 1997, almost all of the ski resorts in the
United States allowed snowboarding. Today, the sport is
attracting an ever-growing fan base (more than 3.4 million
people), so much so that the number of skiers has actually
declined. Some people attribute this to the comparative ease of
snowboarding.
Today, standard snowboarding equipment includes snowboards,
boots, bindings, and warm clothing. The sport has three
main
sub-styles: freestyle, freeride, and freecarve, with each style
distinguishable by the equipment used and the desired terrain.
Freestyle riding is currently the most popular style among
snowboarders. It is characterized by a lot of jumps, tricks,
rail slides, and switch riding. Freestyle equipment includes
soft boots and relatively short mobile boards, which are ideal
for the frequent jumps in this style of riding.
Freeride, the most general style of snowboarding, is performed
on most mountain terrains including open terrain and backcountry
chutes. As with freestyle snowboarding, freeriders wear soft
boots; however, the actual snowboard is a little longer and
directional than the one used in freestyle snowboarding.
Freecarve - also known as alpine snowboarding - focuses on
carving and racing. Freecarving is performed on hard-pack or
groomed runs. In this style, there is little or no jumping.
Equipment includes hard boots and plate binding system; and the
boards are stiff, narrow, and long.
Within each of these sub-styles are more variations, including
sandboarding, heli boarding, kite snowboarding, and mountain
boarding.
for more information on snowboarding and skiing you can visit
the site at http://www.winter-skiing.com
About the author:
Ashley Barnard is a great outdoor explorer and apart from
climbing mountains around the world he also enjoys snowboarding
and skiing for a brief insoght into snowboarding and where it
came from you can visit his site at http://www.winter-skiing.com
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