mountain boarding
Mountain boarding, also known as dirtboarding, or all-terrain boarding (ATB), is a new board sport, derived from snowboarding. It was originally intended to take the place of snowboarding during warm months while there was no snow available.
From the early days there has been a competitive element encompassing racing and freestyle. Competitions have been organised in USA since 1994 and in the UK since 1997.
Tracing its roots to the 1970's, the sport is actively participated in by over 1 million athletes worldwide (Wall Street Journal, April 16th 1998). The first UK Mountainboard manufacturer was noSno which was started in 1992 by brothers Pete and Dave Tatham.
Board description
A mountain board is similar to an oversized skateboard. The size of the deck is shorter than the average snowboard, approximately 110 cm in length with four wheels. The deck varies with each manufacturer, giving a potential buyer a wide range of options. The wheels consist of small plastic or metal hubs with tires of between 7" and 13" diameter. There are also three-wheeled boards such as the "Outback", as well as the two-wheeled "Dirtsurfer" and "Surfari" inline boards. The latter can be described best as, "riding a bike with no hands... the faster you go, the more stable you are." Dirtsurfers and Surfaris use 20" spoked BMX wheels.
Wheels, Trucks and Suspension
The wheel size dictates the riding style. For example, the 8" wheel has evolved into the best choice for freestyle riding and jumping. Larger wheels are more useful to the downhill rider; granting him access to high-speed runs and more stability when travelling at speed. Bindings are another option available to riders. They resemble traditional snowboard bindings. These ratchet style bindings hold the rider and board together while allowing room to move his feet.
Board length is important to take into consideration when in the buying process. The length of the board determines many factors such as terrain one is able to ride, weight of the board (extremely important for kite landboarding), and how much weight the board can support.
Most mountain boards are equipped with 'channel trucks' which are similar in appearance to a skateboard truck but are spring-loaded to stiffen up turning. Urethane "Egg Shocks" can be inserted inside the spring coil to both stiffen the "feel" of a board and also to prolong the life of the suspension system. Truck brands include Bionic, Revo, noSno and Howla.
Regular skate style trucks can also be found on a mountainboard, although these boards are typically used by junior riders because they are lightweight and inexpensive.
Turning systems such as noSno's use rubber bushes and are used for more downhill riding as they are generally considered more stable at greater speeds and on rougher terrain.
Riding styles
The two main styles of riding are downhill (freeride & racing) and freestyle.
Freeride is done on a variety of terrain, from ski resorts, when the snow has melted away, to downhill mountain bike courses, to woodlands and forests. More and more dedicated centres are being opened around the world specifically for the sport of mountain boarding. Racing tends to be either of slalom, two riders weaving between poles, boarder cross, a category of racing that is similar to BMX courses, with berms and jumps or timed one man downhill (as used in the World Downhill Championships).
Freestyle riding consists of ramp jumping; performing tricks which can be rotations (180, 360 and more degree turns), inverted tricks (back flips, front flips), board grabs (tail grab and front grab) and one foot variations (or even no foot variations like "supermans and superman fingerflips".
A variation on mountain boarding is kite landboarding. This involves using a
See Also
Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board
External links
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