It is a very popular sport in places where snow abounds, this is because its practice is based on performing various pirouettes or acrobatics on surfaces covered with it, on a table made especially for this, where the feet must be placed one in front and the other behind and they must be subject to ensure grip, for this reason it is called snowboarding since this is a term that derives from the English language and means board on snow.
The beginnings of snowboarding date back to the beginning of the 20th century when the inhabitants of the snow-covered mountains looked for an easier way to get off them, trying to use a wooden board by tying their feet on it and then sliding. But it wasn't until the 1960s that the first table was created, the inventor was the engineer Sherman Poppen, from then on only the designs and the different implements that are used until now were improved, little by little this sport was gaining fans, becoming one of the most popular snow sports. During the 80s the first snowboarding competitions were held, in which a world championship and a circuit of said world cup stand out. However, it was not until the nineties, specifically in 1994 when the International Ski Federation recognized them as a sport, the popularity of snowboarding was such that it was immediately named an Olympic sport, debuting for the first time in 1998. in Nagano.
Snowboarding can be practiced in different modalities, some of which stand out the most are the following:
- Freestyle: this is mainly focused on performing all kinds of stunts, whether they are jumps, turns, etc.
- Big Jump: here the competitors must jump from a height greater than 20 meters where they will have to perform different tricks to obtain the highest score from the judges.
- Half-Tube: it is a kind of giant tube made of snow and that is split in half, with large walls and through which the competitors must pass to perform the different stunts, the competitors generally try to perform the tricks when sliding along the walls of the tube as they go through it, they generally exceed the height of the walls and carry out incredible adventures.
