Is It Your First Time Snowboarding? You Need To Read This

First time snowboarding? Want to become the next big thing in snowboarding.

Well then you will need to learn a bit about snowboarding so that you don’t look like a complete novice

Check out this dump of questions that have been sourced from scouring the web and placed in one simple article for your reading pleasure.

Who invented snowboarding?

The first snowboard was invented by Gunnar Burgeson, Harvey Bugerson, and Vern Wicklund when they attached two planks together, used a rope for steering and a tie down for their boots.

After that, it took almost 30 years before the next person tried creating something similar.

[adinserter block=”3″]

That person was a young surf freak and now legend by the name of Sherman Poppen who was dreaming about surfing the magical pow of the Rockies.

So he decided to build his first prototype which consisted of tying together two 1,20m long plastic planks: otherwise, know as two kids skis.

He attached a rope to enable him to steer and his clever wife gave the contraption the name ‘Snurfing’ which combined the two words ‘Snow’ and ‘Surfing’

[adinserter block=”3″]

When was snowboarding invented?

-The first snowboard was brought into reality in the year 1939.

-Snurfing became a reality in 1965 and sold over a million boards within 10 years

-In 1977, Jake Burton added Ski Bindings to flexible wooden plants (also the year Burton was born, the leading company in snowboard manufacturer in the world)

What is snowboarding?

Snowboarding is a recreational activity that involves sliding down a snow-covered slope while having a snowboard attached to a rider’s feet.

These days snowboarding is well known for its extreme jump video compilations and crazy tricks as well

Is snowboarding a sport?

Depends on what you consider sport.

If breaking a sweat means sport than Snowboarding is definitely a sport, in addition, it is also considered in the Winter Paralympics and Winter Olympics.

[adinserter block=”3″]

Benefits of snowboarding?

Besides being super fun, some of the main benefits of snowboarding are, improving your balance, Aerobic Exercise, endurance building and Calorie Burner.

Let’s face it, sliding down a mountain at blistering speeds, weaving between trees and pulling tricks not only will burn fat as you are literally exercising your ass off but also will greatly improve your balance.

A good indicator that it is a decent exercise is that at the end of a day of snowboarding you are bound to feel every muscle in your body as it’s begging for a cold beer and a chill session around the fire.

[adinserter block=”3″]

Snowboarding calories

While snowboarding you can lose upwards of 450 calories per hour.

This is very dependent on how hard you decide to go down the hill and also if you plan on doing tricks.

Needless to say, do an hour of snowboarding and you can easily drink 3 cold beers which average about 154 calories each.

Do another few more hours and you can get royally sloshed without putting on weight.

Disclaimer: Here at Mendooutdoors we don’t advise you to get blindly wasted, in fact, we recommend drinking in moderation. But let’s face it you probably still will get wasted.

[adinserter block=”3″]

Snowboard slang/ Snowboarding terms

Shreddin’ The Gnar – This pretty much means “We’re going snowboarding.”

Shreddin’/Ridin’/Cruisin’ – All these words mean one thing ‘Going down the hill’

Pow – Pow is short for powder. So when it snows you say “fresh pow”

Kicker/Booter – Names for jumps

Hittin’ – Use this whenever you are pulling a trick off of something. Like a rail, jump etc.

Stomp – Use this term when you pull off a trick and manage to land it.

Bail – This term means you didn’t pull off the trick.

Toe/Heel Drag – this is a technical term used for when the toes or heels of your boot hang over the toe or heel edges. This messes with your carving.

Cut – When you do a hard turn on your toe’s or your heel

Carving – This word is used when you turn

First Tracks – Like the name suggests, you leave the first tracks on the mountain. Meaning you are the first one up there to shred

Tearin’ It Up – When you absolutely destroy the mountain because of your awesome skills

Chatter – when the board shakes because of the rough terrain. Usually occurs when riding on an edge

[adinserter block=”3″]

Is snowboarding hard?

Like with any sport, snowboarding has the potential to be hard.

There are a few days where you have to really dig your heels in and practice.

During these first few days, you might find yourself getting absolutely brutalized due to the fact that you fall over a lot, trying to get your balance.

If you use the simple tricks outlined in this article (Click here to find out how to fall in the snow) you will learn the correct way to fall to prevent any major injuries.

Also just like any other sports you most likely won’t be able to pick it up first go and shred the mountain, but as with everything, the more you practice the better you will get.

The hardest part is the learning curve at the beginning.

Once you learn how to stand up, keep your balance and stop, you will be on your way to making the slopes your bitch.

Just don’t give up as it really is a lot of fun.

[adinserter block=”3″]

Is snowboarding dangerous?

If you are heading down a hill at 25 to 35 miles an hour and crash into something, you will most likely get injured.

That is why it’s important to learn the basics first which are standing up, keeping your balance and learning how to stop.

My recommendation would always be to get an instructor at first, who will get you up to speed much faster than if you tried everything on your own.

Also if you are stubborn and don’t want to learn from someone, then stick to the very basic slopes at first and work your way up from there.

Majority of injuries are of the wrists, shoulders and collar bones but there have been worse incidents as well.

But if you stick to the basics at first you will have a really good time and as you become more proficient you will also feel more confident hitting up the bigger slopes.

Did this article answer your questions about snowboarding? Do you have any others?