-->
           |
 
Random Image
Home arrow FAQ arrow What's it all about arrow snowboarding styles
Snowboarding Styles PDF Print E-mail
Monday, 06 August 2007
by a all round rider
 
 
Snowboarding Style is very important in the world of snowboarding and it will largely determine how you snowboard, with what equipment/gear and where you will be riding. Each style has its own fans, community and competitions and once you are passed the beginner stage you are very likely to enter one of the following styles:
 
 
 
FreeRiding
 
As the name of the style explains, its all about mastering an all-round style that will allow you to ride, carve and jump on any terrain on and off piste. Freeriding is about mastering all terrain types and having fun going down mountain sides. It is also called All Mountain Riding as it a style that tries to utilise everything a mountain might have to offer. It is not as much orientated on aerial tricks as FreeStyle but it does involve jumps and aerial manoeuvres. Freeriders generally love powder and will go off piste as soon as fresh powder hits the slopes.

Freeriding could be considered the style of beginners and most people start out with a beginner freeriding board. It is also the most popular style and most boards that you will find in shops and on the slopes are freeriding boards.

Many snowboard are designed for freeriding.
A freeriding board can be recognized by the following characteristics:
  • Often longer boards with a narrower width and a deeper sidecut
  • Often the nose will be longer and the stance of the riders will be slightly positioned towards the rear of the board to make it easier to hang back when riding deep powder
Other Freeriding Equipement:
  • Soft boots
  • Strap or Flow-In bindings
 
FreeStyle
 
Freestyle focuses on adrenaline rushes and is considered by many the most spectacular and wild style of snowboarding. It involves doing tricks both on and off the air in snowboard parks, halfpipes and the natural obstacles a mountain can offer. A lot of the tricks are done in the air in the form of twists, turns, grabs and other radical aerial movements. On the ground tricks are performed using rails and halfpipes.

A freestyle board can be recognised by the following characteristics:
  • Often shorter, lighter, fatter more maneuverable boards
  • Often the boards have a twin tip meaning that the tail and tip are the same
Other Freeriding Equipement:
  • Soft boots
  • Strap or Flow-In bindings
 
Freecarve/Alpine Boarding
 
Carving/Alpine Boarding focuses on Speed. It's all about using the full length of the mountain and decending very hard making impressive slalom-style turns as they go downhill. Often skiers who cross over to snowboarding prefer this style for its simularities with skiing. Because of the highspeed decend the turns are often very powerfull and demand a lot of strength. Alpine boarding is pretty different from Freeriding/Freestyling and is not as accesible to beginners.

A FreeCarve/Alpine Board can be recognized by the following characteristics:
  • Longer, narrower and mostly stiffer boards that give stabilty and edge-holding during high-speed decends
  • The boards are not be used for freestyling tricks
Other Freeriding Equipement:
  • Hard boots
  • Plate Bindings
 

Status Center

No users online