Snowboarding - explained in the PalmerProject-Ski and Snowboard-Lexicon
"Snowboarding is a sport that involves descending a snow-covered slope on a snowboard that is attached to one's feet using a boot/binding interface. It is similar to skiing, but inspired by surfing and skateboarding. The sport was developed in the United States in the 1960s and the 1970s and became a Winter Olympic Sport in 1998. Winter sport that evolved from skateboarding and surfing. Three main styles of competition exist: Alpine, Freestyle, and Boardercross. Developed in the 1960s, Snowboarding was believed to have originated in the United States, where several inventors explored the idea of surfing on the snow. The sport, however, quickly evolved, and the early, rudimentary Snowboards gave way…
It's highly unlikely that there's someone who has never seen nor heard of Snowboarding. But if you really have no idea what Snowboarding is, just imagine it as surfing or skateboarding - only on snow. Snowboarding is a relatively new winter sport wherein you ride an epoxy-fiberglass board (resembling a large skateboard) with your feet strapped on it, and manipulate gravity to go down a ski slope or a specially constructed pipe. The principle of Snowboarding is to maintain your balance as you surf down a ski slope with both feet securely attached to the Snowboard, Backcountry Snowboarding">Snowboard via high-back or non - release plate bindings.
Unlike skiers, who shift their weight from one Ski to the other, Snowboarders shift their weight from heels (heelside) to toes as well as from one end of the board to the other. To stop the board's motion, they push their heels or toes down hard to dig the edge of the Snowboard, Backcountry Snowboarding">Snowboard into the snow. Although most people compare snowboarding to Skiing, Snowboarding Techniques are closer to skateboarding and surfing than to skiing. A snowboard is a board ridden in snowboarding to descend a snow-covered slope. It is often thought as a winter form of a surfboard or skateboard, except that the rider's feet are bound to the board with bindings. Snowboards generally have a length between 140-165cm, a width of around 25 cm, and are constructed with a laminated wood core with a steel edge. A variety of snowboards exist to suit specific body types and riding preferences. The first modern snowboard was arguably the Snurfer, a mixture of snow surfer, originally designed for his children by Sherman Poppen in 1965 in Muskegon, Michigan. Poppen’s Snurfer started to be manufactured as a toy the following year. It was essentially a skateboard without wheels, steered by a hand-held rope.
During the 1970s and 1980s as snowboarding became more popular, true pioneers such as Dimitrije Milovich, Jake Burton (founder of Burton Snowboards from Londonderry, Vermont), Tom Sims (founder of Sims Snowboards) and Mike Olson (GNU Snowboards) came up with new designs for boards and machineries that had slowly developed into the snowboards and other related equipment that we know today.
Dimitrije Milovich, an east coast surfer, had the idea of sliding on cafeteria trays. From this he started developing his snowboard designs. In 1972, he started a company called the Winterstick; by 1975, The Winterstick was mentioned in Newsweek magazine. The Winterstick was based on the design and feel of a surfboard, but worked the same way as skis.
The growing popularity of snowboarding is reflected by recognition of snowboarding as an official sport: in 1985, the first World Cup was held in Zürs, Austria. Due to the need for universal contest regulations, the ISA (International Snowboard, Backcountry Snowboarding">Snowboard Association) was founded in 1994. Today, high-profile snowboarding events like the Olympics, Winter X-Games, the US Open, and other events are broadcast to a worldwide audience. Many alpine resorts are now setting up terrain parks. It is also notable that the sport has had a significant impact on such countries that are largely without snow, such as Australia and Afghanistan.
Although many skiers and skateboarders took up the sport, the vast majority of ski areas didn’t. Many of the early snowboards were extremely difficult to control and they were generally banned. Only 7% of U. S. ski areas allowed snowboarding in 1985 and the story was much the same in Europe . As equipment and skill levels improved, though, snowboarding gradually became more acceptable. Most of the major ski areas had separate slopes for snowboarders by 1990. Now, about 97% of all ski areas in North America and Europe allow snowboarding and more than half of them have ramps and pipes.
Today, more than 3.5 million people have taken up snowboarding. That is around 20% of all visitors to US ski resorts."