Fundamentals
This page is designed solely to teach the basics of snowboarding, and there will be sub-pages attached to this page to provide other information as well. First off, what is a snowboard and what is a snowboard made out of? A snowboard
is considered a "mono-ski" that is the width of roughly a snowboard
boot, depending on what kind of board (e.g. child's board or adult's board),
and has two curves at each end of the board. The length of the board depends on the height and weight of the person.
Here is a height and weight chart from UK Bliss Snowboards that will give you an approximation of how long your snowboard should be. Now, with that being said, it does not mean you have to absolutely ride that size of a board only. This just gives people an ideal size of a board for them to ride in order to get the best response from the board. Meaning that the board will react or "carve" better (I will explain what carving means in How To Get Started link). A lot of other companies, e.g. Burton, have they own size chart and sometimes their size chart will may not match up to the chart to the left. So it really does not make a huge difference, but the board will ride smoother if you stick with the height and weight to board length ratio.
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So what exactly is in a snowboard? Well snowboards are made with multiple,
complex materials causes the board to be able to glide on the snow, flexible,
etc. So what are those materials? Well the materials and the process of making
the snowboard are pretty complex.
- Mechanics of Sport. "Snowboard Construction." Mechanics of Snowboarding. Mechanics of Sport, n.d. Web. 8 Dec. 2013.
For a very brief explanation, a snowboard has 4 main parts, or materials, that are essential to the board. You obviously have your base of the board which is made of special kind of plastic material (Polyethylene Plastic) that allows the board to glide on the snow with little friction. Then you have the steel edges that provide the board with the ability to carve in the snow while keeping speed. Then you have wooden core which is essentially the main part of the board that determines the capabilities of the board (e.g. stiffness, cambers, etc.). The wooden core is then sandwich between two sheets of fiberglass which help keep the wood from being damage and helps keep the board more stiff. Lastly, you have the topsheet which is normally made of plastic but can be made of different materials. The website of Mechanics of Sport provides a more in depth and better definition of each material.
I have also attached a video of a Burton Manufacturing Center creating a board from scratch. It is a interesting process and it is good to actually see how a snowboard is created. All credit of the video is reserved to Cool Hunting.
I have also attached a video of a Burton Manufacturing Center creating a board from scratch. It is a interesting process and it is good to actually see how a snowboard is created. All credit of the video is reserved to Cool Hunting.
- Burton Manufacturing Center: How to Make a Snowboard. Ed. Cool Hunting. Youtube. Youtube, n.d. Web. 8 Dec. 2013.
Now that you know what material a snowboard is created from and how it is created, the next page, Types of Snowboards will explain the basic types of boards that are currently out there and which would fit you to your preference.