Skiboarding

Ski boarding has long since existed as one of the most exciting extreme sports, with fans awed by a variety of dangerous stunts and high speeds. Also known as snowblading, the sport combines facets of skiing, snowboarding and skating. While many videos exist on the likes of Youtube of stunt-artists showing their latest tricks, more often that not those are on snowboards or by using skis.

The sport of ski-boarding is lesser known- but no less exciting to watch. The first ski-board was designed in 1982. Named the Figl (although previously called the Atomic Glider), it was approximately 64 centimetres, and could easily fit into a small knapsack. About eight years later, this was followed up with another version of the ski-board, the BigFoot- created by Austrian company Kneissel. As skiboarding grew more and more popular and well known, more prototypes of boards were designed, such as the MicroSki (created by K. Keiswieller in 1992) and the Snowblade (created by French company Saloman in 1997).

As more and more ski-boards were required, companies started mass producing them in the 1990s- many new companies emerged such as Canon, Klimax and LineGrooveUSA. So why is ski-boarding different to both skiing and snowboarding? Ski-boarding uses a single board, compared to two skis in skiing. While a single board is used in snowboarding as well, the ski-board is relatively smaller and easier to use. Beginners to winter sports often start off with the ski-board, as since it is smaller it is easier to control. However, this is not to say that skiboarding is an easy sport to master. Maintaining balance is very important, as due to the size of the board a stable centre of gravity must be kept at all times. Also, it is harder to perform tricks and stunts with the ski-board compared to normal skis, meaning newcomers may switch over to get the awe-factor they crave.

Since skiboarding is not yet as skiing and snowboarding, it is often difficult to find qualified instructors that can teach the sport. To try and combat this, Bentfilms released a video (called White Dwarf) in 2004 trying to help novice ski-boarders learn the winter sport, as well as showing highlight clips of those extremely proficient at it already. The sport itself is taking huge strides in becoming popular amongst those that like winter sports. The first ever Ski-Board World Cup was held this year in Predeal, Romania. Organized by The World Ski-board Association, the World Cup showcased six events- three freestyle (Slopestyle, Big Air and Rail Jam) and three racing (Ski-board Cross, Chinese Downhill and Fakie Downhill).

With 37 participants (the most from Latvia and Japan with nine each) from all across the world, the event was undoubtedly a success. With many more events being organized for the coming few years, a music CD being released with hits from the World Cup, new ski-board specifc companies opening up all the time and media interest in the sport increasing all the while, it seems that the only way for skiboarding is up.

Ski boarding has long since existed as one of the most exciting extreme sports, with fans awed by a variety of dangerous stunts and high speeds. Also known as snowblading, the sport combines facets of skiing, snowboarding and skating. While many videos exist on the likes of Youtube of stunt-artists showing their latest tricks, more often that not those are on snowboards or by using skis.

The sport of ski-boarding is lesser known- but no less exciting to watch. The first ski-board was designed in 1982. Named the Figl (although previously called the Atomic Glider), it was approximately 64 centimetres, and could easily fit into a small knapsack. About eight years later, this was followed up with another version of the ski-board, the BigFoot- created by Austrian company Kneissel. As skiboarding grew more and more popular and well known, more prototypes of boards were designed, such as the MicroSki (created by K. Keiswieller in 1992) and the Snowblade (created by French company Saloman in 1997).

As more and more ski-boards were required, companies started mass producing them in the 1990s- many new companies emerged such as Canon, Klimax and LineGrooveUSA. So why is ski-boarding different to both skiing and snowboarding? Ski-boarding uses a single board, compared to two skis in skiing. While a single board is used in snowboarding as well, the ski-board is relatively smaller and easier to use. Beginners to winter sports often start off with the ski-board, as since it is smaller it is easier to control. However, this is not to say that skiboarding is an easy sport to master. Maintaining balance is very important, as due to the size of the board a stable centre of gravity must be kept at all times. Also, it is harder to perform tricks and stunts with the ski-board compared to normal skis, meaning newcomers may switch over to get the awe-factor they crave.

Since skiboarding is not yet as skiing and snowboarding, it is often difficult to find qualified instructors that can teach the sport. To try and combat this, Bentfilms released a video (called White Dwarf) in 2004 trying to help novice ski-boarders learn the winter sport, as well as showing highlight clips of those extremely proficient at it already. The sport itself is taking huge strides in becoming popular amongst those that like winter sports. The first ever Ski-Board World Cup was held this year in Predeal, Romania. Organized by The World Ski-board Association, the World Cup showcased six events- three freestyle (Slopestyle, Big Air and Rail Jam) and three racing (Ski-board Cross, Chinese Downhill and Fakie Downhill).

With 37 participants (the most from Latvia and Japan with nine each) from all across the world, the event was undoubtedly a success. With many more events being organized for the coming few years, a music CD being released with hits from the World Cup, new ski-board specifc companies opening up all the time and media interest in the sport increasing all the while, it seems that the only way for skiboarding is up.