Snowboard
A snowboard is the main piece of equipment used in snowboarding. It is a board designed to be attached beneath the rider's feet with bindings, and ridden down dry ski slopes or snow-covered slopes. No ski poles are used.
Most snowboards are constructed of a wood core and laminated with fiberglass. The front of the board (the "nose" in snowboarder parlance) is upturned, to help the board glide over uneven snow; the back of the board may be equally upturned, less upturned, or relatively flat, depending on how much time the snowboarder plans to spend riding backwards. The base (the side of the board that touches the snow) is covered with a plastic called p-tex, which is typically sintered to help it absorb wax, which helps it slide faster. The edges of the base are fitted with a steel edge, just a couple millimeters square, which helps the board grab the snow when tipped up on edge. The top of the board typically sports graphics designed by board makers to attract riders to their boards. Snowboard topsheet graphics can be a highly personal statement and many riders spend many hours customizing the look of their boards.
Snowboard designs differ primarily in:
- Length - Boards for children are as short
as 120 centimeters; boards for racers (aka "alpine" riders)
are as long as 215 cm. Most people ride boards in the 140-165
cm range. A good rule of thumb is that with the board standing
on end, it should be as tall as the chin of the rider. The
longer the board, the more stable it is at high speed, but
also a bit tougher to control.
- Width - The width is typically measured
at the waist of the board, since the nose and tail width
varies with the sidecut and taper (which we will get to
in a moment). Freestyle boards are up to 28 cm wide, to
make it easier to keep one's balance. Alpine boards are
typically 18-21 cm wide, although they can be as narrow
as 15 cm. Most folks ride boards in the 24-25 cm range.
- Sidecut - The edge of the board, as viewed
from above, is not straight but curved, so that the tip
and tail are wider than the center. This curve aids turning
and affects the board's handling in ways too complex to
describe here. The curve has a radius that might be a short
as 5 meters on a child's board or as large as 17 meters
on a racer's board. Most boards use sidecut radii in the
8-9 meter range.
- Flex - The flexibility of a snowboard
affects its handling, again in ways too complex for this
space, and typically varies with the rider's weight. There's
no standard way to quantify snowboard stiffness, but novices
tend to prefer softer flex, racers stiffer flex, and everyone
else something in between.
Bindings
Though bindings are not strictly part of the snowboard, they are necessary for its use. The bindings are affixed to the board, and the booted feet are then held in place in the bindings using a variety of systems. Behind the heel and up the calf area is a stiff molded support called a "highback." This allows the rider to lean back and effect a "heelside" turn. Unlike ski bindings, snowboard bindings do not release. There are several types of bindings:
- Strap-in - These are the earliest types
of bindings, but perhaps still the most popular and technical.
The rider wears a boot which has a thick but flexible sole,
and padded uppers. The foot is held onto the board with
two buckle straps - one strapped across the top of the toe
area, and one across the ankle area. They can be tightly
ratcheted closed for a tight fit and good rider control
of the board. The downside for this is they take longer
to put on, usually requiring the rider to sit in the snow
and bend over to adjust the straps. Also, because there
are two points of pressure, the strap locations must be
adjusted for each individual rider, making it more cumbersome
for rental operations.
- Step-in - In response to the invonvenience
of strap-in bindings, step-ins were created to make entry
easier for beginners, allow for fast ski-lift to slope transition,
and appeal to the rental market. Step-in bindings require
special boots which are stiffer and particular to the step-in
binding system. Step-ins use a technology similar to the
clipless pedals in cycling, by allowing the binding to snap
and engage stiff hardware on the rider's boots. Popular
(and incompatible) step-in systems include Burton, K2 Clicker,
Rossignol and Switch. While much more convenient than strap-ins,
they are widely considered to be inferior because they do
not provide as much immediate response from the rider's
legs to the board.
- Hybrid - There are also proprietary binding systems that seek to combine the convenience of step-in systems with the control levels attainable with strap-ins. An example is the Flow binding system which is similar to a strap-in binding, except that the foot enters the binding through the back (which then clips into place) rather than the top.