Snowboarding - The Real Sport

Snowboarding is an interesting sport that cropped up from surfing and skateboarding. The rider's feet are attached to a snowboard and the rider and the board descend a snowy slope with great speed. For this purpose a special snowboarding pair of boots should be used to bind the feet to the board.

This is the real sport as it helps to maintain a good balance of the body while the feet are securely strapped to a long plate like binding that does not allow the rider to get away from while descending a snowy slope. While performing this sport the rider shifts the weight of the body from the heel to the toes to stop the movement or to go further.

The snow board was initially a crude model that people used a hundred years ago. The first snowboard was manufactured in Utah in the early 1970s. From then on snowboarding became a real sport in the USA during the 1970s and has also found a place in the 1998 Olympics.

Since the sport involves much of the time on the mountain slopes, safety measures should be followed diligently. This is a winter game and hence there is bound to be snow in excess and because of this the speed of the game could be at high pace. For this purpose the rider should wear the right protective gear to be safe from the danger of getting badly hurt or at times even loss of life.

Since the most accident prone parts of the body are the wrist and the ankle, proper protection to these two parts is mandatory. Avalanches cause a great threat to the snowboarders which could result in injury to the tailbone or the head causing serious brain injury. For this purpose head gear should be worn by all riders.

While snowboarding the dress code of the rider plays a very important role. You should wear the right type of clothes that would make you comfortable and free to be able to maneuver the slopes of snow from the top to the bottom.

For a few it could be the first experience, so it is good to take precautions on clothes, footwear, and any other disciplines that are involved with the sport. It is always not advisable to go directly into heights for the first time. It is also not the right thing to start racing without perfect practice as the speed while descending could be extreme resulting in major casualty.