Snowboarding Styles

In essence, there are essentially three snowboarding styles i.e. freestyle, freeride and alpine/race. Your preferred snowboarding style will influence the type of terrain you cover and, more importantly, the type of equipment you'll need to get the most out of your ride. This is especially true when it comes to your choice of boards, boots and bindings. Freestyle Probably the most glamorous of the three snowboarding styles where the riders are trendy and full of attitude is freestyle riding. Freestyle primarily involves a variety of tricks and jumps in specially constructed terrain parks, rails and halfpipes (a large and deep U-shaped ramp). Because of the dynamic and acrobatic nature of freestyle snowboarding, freestyle competitions are more popular and generate more publicity compared to their other snowboarding counterparts. This is probably the style that you've been the most exposed to in all those posters, magazines, videos and other forms of media. Freestyle snowboarders usually wear soft boots while using boards specifically made for snowboarding which are shorter and have superior flex to facilitate jumping, spinning in the air and landing. These boards also have an identically shaped twin-tipped nose and tail to allow riders to move in both forward and backward directions with ease. Freeride Freeriding is a more general form of snowboarding which combines a variety of snowboarding elements and disciplines. In essence, it encompasses the spirit of exploration where you, as the rider, trek through a variety of powder fields, trees, steeps and anything else the mountain has to offer. Boards for freeriding are generally longer and narrower than freestyle boards while having a more prominent sidecut for more efficient carving. Freeride boots are also of the soft variety although riders may prefer a little added stiffness for a more responsive setup. Alpine / Race Here, the primary focus is speed where riders race through wide open terrain or racecourses made from hard packed snow. For this reason, racing boards are narrow and stiff with small noses and little or no tail kick as they are designed to move in a forward direction only. Because there is very little margin for error, this style of snowboarding is best reserved only for advanced riders who have a firm grasp of the pre-requisite skills. A less extreme form of race snowboarding is called freecarve which uses slightly shorter, wider and more flexible boards to combine race carving with the versatility of freeriding. Competitions in this category of snowboarding usually take the form of giant slaloms where riders are required to make a variety of tight turns to negotiate a specifically designed course marked by poles on a mountain slope. Boots and bindings made for racing are hard and stiff, closely resembling ski boots. These are designed to give as much protection as possible to the feet and ankles during high speed carving while providing maximum control and stability at all times. Which Style For Beginners? If you are a beginner, sticking with soft boots and bindings and using boards made for either freeride or freestyle snowboarding will give you enough flexibility and margin for error so that you can pick up the fundamentals of snowboarding without too much discomfort. Riding for a handful of sessions should then give you a clearer idea of which snowboarding style you'll fancy the most. Snowboard Clothing Your snowboard clothing can be basically broken down into three separate layers. Dressing in layers will give you the flexibility of adapting to cold or sunny conditions by adding or removing layers as required to ensure a high level of safety, fun and comfort. Inner Thermal Layer The inner-most layer should pretty much cover your whole body. This will include a long-sleeve top, long thermal underwear pants (or longs johns) and socks. When choosing clothing for this layer, don't worry about fashion or big brands since they pretty much all perform the same function and nobody can see the weird looking colors and patterns on the set you chose to buy anyway. Look for synthetic materials such as polyester or polypropylene which will help to wick moisture away from your body to the outer layers to keep your skin dry. Avoid garments made from cotton as they have a tendency to absorb water which equals a wet, cold and miserable snowboarder. It isn't really necessary to wear more than one layer of socks. A good thin pair of socks will keep your feet warm by facilitating air circulation around your toes. You can also get socks specifically designed for snowboarding which are thinner around the toes and have a forward lean built into them. Middle Fleece Layers The middle layer (or layers) consist of one or more layers of a quality synthetic fleece or wool (not cotton!) top. These are primarily used for providing insulation and keeping you warm by trapping air next to your body. The thickness of this layer will vary depending on the temperature conditions. On cold days, you may like to wear several layers or a single heavy thick layer while on warmer days, you could possibly even get away with just a simple t-shirt. Outer Shell Layer This layer will provide protection from the extreme cold and winds and will include you outer jacket and pants. Ideally, the attire for this layer will be durable, waterproof, windproof and breathable, allowing perspiration to escape while shielding you from the winds, snow and rain. For more information, please see our article on Jackets and Pants. Accessories To complete your snowboard clothing setup, you'll need goggles to protect your eyes, gloves for your hands and preferably some type of beanie (hat) or helmet to keep your noggin warm. For more information on how to find the right accessories, please see our section on Equipment. Places to go snowboarding in the Inland Empire Resort Lift Ticket Status Website Mountain High $51 Closed http://www.mthigh.com Bear Mountain $51 Fully Open http://www.bearmountain.com/ Mount Baldy $49 Fully Open http://www.shopbaldy.com Snow Summit $51 Fully Open http://www.snowsummit.com/ Snow Valley $52 Fully Open http://www.snow-valley.com/