snowboarding

The roots of this sport lie in surfing. In the 1960s, the American Sherwin Popper developed the idea of ​​extending surfing to winter. The first snowboard didn't hit the market until the mid-1970s, after which the sport began to spread more and more. Snowboarding first became an Olympic discipline at the 1998 Winter Olympics.

In contrast to skiing, with snowboarding you only move on a board with which you slide down a mountain in a swinging technique. A basic distinction is made between freestyle, freeride, carving and race boards. A snowboard is generally around 3 to 6 feet long, and the predominant material is still wood. On the underside is the driving surface, which improves wax absorption and thus the gliding properties. The waisted boards have steel edges on the sides.

There are basically 2 different standing positions on the snowboard (regular or goofy position), the snowboarders are divided equally between the two positions. Every snowboarder has to find the most comfortable standing position for himself, although there are sensible and less sensible standing positions for every riding style.

After the first snowboard races took place in 1981, world championships were held for the first time in 1985. In 1996 the FIS decided to hold a World Cup, which was initially boycotted by the ISF drivers. An agreement was reached between the two associations, based on the qualification procedure for the 1998 Winter Olympics. After the insolvency of the ISF in the summer of 2002, only the FIS Snowboard World Cup existed as an international racing series.