This sport has come along way from the days of the days of snurf. Snurf was the name originally assigned in the 1960s to the discipline promising an experience of ‘snow surfing’. Today it’s known as snowboarding. Riders ride a shaped plank (attached to their feet) down a snow-covered slope. Special boots are used, set into flexible bindings, as opposed to skiing which uses rigid boots. Snowboarding also differs from skiing in that the boot angle is set sideways, whereas skiers’ boots are set forwards.

In 1998 it became a winter Olympic sport and by 2004 its popularity had peaked with the punters lending its chilly embrace to 6.6 million participants.

When snowboarding first arrived on the scene, the boards weren’t readily available in every part of the world. We have reliable first-hand reports of people trying to use surfboards on snowy slopes in New Zealand’s South Island…and not being very successful (there’s no edge to carve into the snow).

It can be one of the more dangerous extreme sports, with many off-piste riders being caught in avalanches. Wrists are the most commonly injured body part when snowboarding (behind pride!)

Image Credit: Wikipedia