What is snowboarding?

If you're looking for info on "what is snowboarding?" then you must be new to the sport and interested in learning more.

There are plenty of sites on the web that will give you a matter of fact definition to answer the question "What is snowboarding?". Sites such as wikipedia will bombard you with facts. Dictionaries will give you a dull answer that provides you with no insight into what snowboarding really is or how it makes people feel. Infact, in the Oxford English dictionary the definition of Snowboarding is:

snowboarding

"The action of sliding downhill on a snowboard"

I know...Try and contain yourselves...the excitement continues! Check out the next definition! It goes on to say that a Snowboard is:

"A board resembling a short, broad ski used for sliding downhill on"

More than a boring dictionary definition

What the @#!%?.....if I had have asked the question "what is snowboarding" that isn't the answer I would be looking for...That isn't all snowboarding is!!

"The action of sliding downhill on a snowboard...
what the f@#!"

I dont know about you but I find these descriptions far from inspiring. This page will put that right, it will give you some idea as to what snowboarding really is, how it feels and what it means to those like me who over the years have spent more money than I would care to count for the thrill of "Sliding downhill on a snowboard".

Take a couple of minutes to watch this video and then tell me all these guys are doing is sliding down a hill on a broad ski shaped piece of wood...I dont think so Oxford English Dictionary!

What is snowboarding really about?

Ask five snowboarders "What is snowboarding?" and you will get five different answers. Below you will find both mine and friends thoughts on the sport in an attempt try and give you an idea as to what we love about snowboarding so much. Nothing can beat first hand experience but hopefully the words and images below will inspire you to give it a go sometime soon.

What does it mean to me?

What is snowboarding? "To me is one of the best things in my life. Ever since I started around ten years ago it has been a bug that has not gone away for long. There have been times when I have not been for a couple of years and is not until I strap on my board again that I realise how much I have missed it.

I love it... it is a way for me to spend time with my friends away from the pressures of every day life, a way to push myself out of my comfort zone and to scare myself, a way to meet new people and to explore some of the most amazing places earth has to offer us.
I love it... it is a way for me to spend time with my friends away from the pressures of every day life, a way to push myself out of my comfort zone and to scare myself, a way to meet new people and to explore some of the most amazing places earth has to offer us.

During my season in france I realised that being in the mountains and taking in the views and scenery is just as important as the actual riding. Saying that, when it all comes together and mother nature is kind with both the snow and the weather there cannot be many things that could compare.

The feeling of effortlessly gliding over fresh deep snow on a perfect sunny day with an amazing mountainscape as a backdrop is pretty hard to beat. It is what will keep me coming back again and again as long as I am able."

What do my friends think?

I met Will in Morzine France whilst out there doing a season...He is a great rider and mad about capturing snowboarding on camera. He runs his own videography company and is well liked and respected within the industry. He has been riding for over 10 years. Here's what he had to say about snowboarding.

Snowboarding for me is about having the opportunities to see new places, meet new people and basically live life.. (pretty cheesy I know but it's true).

The amount of times I have thought to myself how lucky I am to have the chance to do these amazing things... and it is only through snowboarding that I can...it is incredible.

It opens up so many adventures in your life it's hard not to carry on.. 10 or 11 years down the line from when I started snowboarding and I have never looked back."

What do the pro's think?

Travis rice, one of the worlds best snowboarders sums it up nicely in his well known snowboarding film "That's it, that's all". In it he says the following in response to the question "What is snowboarding?"...

"It's when i feel passion. When it comes down to it, it's the exploration....being able to travel.

It's the never ending search for the next feature...the new zone.

What is snowboarding to me?...It's my life!!"

Travis Rice

It just goes to show that it doesn't matter if you are a beginner, at the top of your game like Travis Rice or somewhere in the middle,snowboarding is one of those magical things that becomes more than just a hobby. It becomes part of who you are.

To give you an idea of what I mean, I am sitting in a room in the UK whilst it rains outside. I am nowhere near any snow let alone any mountains and just by writing this text about snowboarding I am getting major withdrawal symptoms...I want to get on my board right now! It gets under your skin and will keep nagging at you until you go again...until you get your next fix.

What next?

If you are thinking of starting to snowboard...do it...You will not regret it! Do whatever it takes to start riding. Hire a board, get to the nearest place you can ride (be it Whistler or a local indoor snowdome) and get sliding down the hill...

When you do and someone at a dinner party asks you "what is snowboarding?", you will be able to ramble on for ages and bore them too. If they look like the sort who would prefer a washing line to a fresh snow line or don't seem that interested in what you are saying, pick up the nearest copy of the dictionary and point them to the "S" section....

We don't want them in our club anyway!!!