Winter Olympics: Snowboarding

The Winter Olympics will begin on February 12th this year in Vancouver, Canada. One of the events will be snowboarding, both men’s and women’s. Snowboarding is a relatively new sport, combining elements of surfing, skateboarding, and skiing. The first official snowboard competition was held in Colorado in 1991, and in 1998, two events were introduced to the Winter games. The first two events were the half pipe competition and the individual slalom. Later, in 2002, the individual slalom was replaced by the parallel slalom and in 2006, the snowboard cross became an event in the winter games.

In the half pipe competition, snowboarders perform a series of jumps, twists, and tricks on the inside of a ramp or half pipe while traveling side to side. They are judged on their style and the height of their tricks, similar to skateboarding competitions. In a giant slalom, a rider heads down a predetermined course with a series of gates that they must turn through. A parallel slalom is the same, except two riders race for the best time. The fastest goes on to the next round. The snowboard cross involves a longer cross country course and four competitors who race over rough terrain and a series of jumps and twists, with the fastest two going on.

The competition events are as follows: Men’s Parallel Giant Slalom (PGS), Ladies’ Parallel Giant Slalom, Men’s Half Pipe, Ladies’ Half Pipe, Men’s Snowboard Cross (SBX), and Ladies’ Snowboard Cross.

The U.S. Olympic Snowboarding Team was announced on Monday, January 25th, 2010. Eighteen men and women made the cut including Shaun White, the winner of a gold medal in 2006 and the winner of four out five events at the Sprint U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix. The table below lists the members of the U.S. team and their events. There is a twenty year spread in age for this team, with Faye Gulini, the youngest at 17, and Chris Klug, the oldest, at 37.

Everyone on the team is an accomplished athlete in their own right, with many gold, silver and bronze medals between them. Chris Klug is entering his third Olympics and Nick Baumgartner is an all around athlete with many competitions under his belt. It doesn't hurt that the U.S. has dominated the sport since it's debut in 1998. The Olympian newcomers will have large footsteps to follow, but they feel up to the task. The Winter Olympics will air from February 12 to February 28, 2010, and should a spectacular show!