-Snowboarding-
Different Styles of Snowboarding:
Jibbing and Rail Riding
Rail riding (also known as jibbing) is a niche in snowboarding where the athletes
will ride rails, whether in a park or street.
Freeride
The freeride style is the most common and easily accessible style of snowboarding.
It involves riding down any terrain available. Freeriding may include aerial
tricks and jib (any type of fixture which can be ridden with the board/skis
that is not snow) tricks borrowed from freestyle, or deep carve turns more common
in alpine snowboarding, utilizing whatever natural terrain the rider may encounter.
Dry Slope
Dry slopes are man-made slopes which provide an alternative terrain for snowboarders
wanting to snowboard during the summer or for those who live too far away from
a snowy mountain. They are constructed with a solid cross-hatched metal base
which hold plastic bristles for riding on. Dry slopes are commonly found in
England and parts of Europe but are rare in the United States. Equipment used
is usually old or retired snowboards because of the wear caused by the metal
base and plastic bristles over time.
Freestyle
In freestyle, the rider uses manmade terrain features such as rails, jumps,
boxes, and innumerable other innovative features to perform tricks on. The term
"box" refers to an objects with a slick top, usually of polyethylene,
that the rider can slide on with the base of their board. Like all freestyle
features, boxes come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and difficulty levels. The
intent of freestyle is to use these terrain features to perform a number of
aerial or jib tricks. The term "jib" refers to the rider doing a slide
or press on an object not made of snow. This most commonly refers to tricks
done on boxes, rails, or even trees.
The equipment used in freestyle is usually a soft boot with a twin tipped board for better balance while riding regular or switch, though freeride equipment is often used successfully. Freestyle riders who specialize in jibbing often use boards that are shorter than usual, with softer flex and filed down edges. Shorter length enables the board to be rotated faster, and a softer flex requires less energy for a rider to press a feature. Pressing refers to a type of jib where the rider leans heavily toward the nose or tail of their board- causing the opposite end of their board to lift off of the feature they are sliding on.
Freestyle also includes halfpipe tricks. A halfpipe (or "pipe") is a trench-like half-tube made of snow. Tricks performed may be rotations such as a 360° (a full turn) in the air, or an off-axis spin like a "McTwist". Tricks can be modified while hitting different features. Riders will also usually do a combination of a board grab and rotations.
Freecarve
Similar to skiing, this race and slalom focused style is still practiced, though
infrequently. Sometimes called alpine snowboarding, or the 'euro-carve', freecarving
takes place on hard packed snow or groomed runs and focuses on the ultimate
carving turn, much like traditional skiing. Little or no jumping takes place
in this discipline. Freecarve equipment is a ski-like hardshell boot and plate
binding system with a true directional snowboard that is usually very stiff
and narrow to facilitate fast and responsive turns. Shaped-skis can thank these
"freecarve" snowboards for the cutting-edge technology leading to
their creation.