Snowboarding purists and competition don't mix. Hey – it's meant to be about self–expression and personal enjoyment. But here's the truth – good riders still like to be measured against the best, and world–class riders can make a lot of money.
UK competitions
There are regular snowboard competitions on the UK's artificial slopes, indoor snow slopes and the Scottish Ski areas – all great places to start competing. Just check out the Snowlife events diary.
The main snowboard competition circuit in the UK is the Orange Aim Series. To take part you'll need to register in advance, and have a British Snowboard Association (BSA) License..
There is a full half–pipe at the Sheffield Ski Village. It plays host to a number of competitions, and is perfect for practising moves before heading into a real snow half pipe. Sheffield also has the National Aerials Water Ramp. Although it was designed for freestyle skiing, the ramp was instantly adopted by the snowboard big air specialists.
For more information on the UK snowboarding visit the Soulsports website and the Snowboard Club UK.
International competitions
The International competition circuit is made up of independent events in various disciplines and an established World Cup Series run by FIS (International Ski Federation).
FIS is the governing body for skiing, and started to run World Cup snowboard competitions in 1995. It was also responsible for getting snowboarding into the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. British half pipe star Lesley McKenna made history in 2002 in Salt Lake City as the first British snowboarder to compete in the Winter Olympics.
To compete on the FIS tour you must have a FIS Licence, which is issued by Snowsport GB. To move to the international stage you need to be performing to a very high level at national competitions. An international licence gives access to open and then European events. World Cup events have entry restrictions and are usually for British Team members only (FIS).
Independent international competitions such as Air and Style, Verbier Ride, Bomb comp and Cham Jam are open events held in Europe for both the pros and aspiring rider alike. The Snowlife events diary has dates and website links to European events happening this year.
Snowboard slalom
Think fast. Very fast. Competitors race down a course of tightly set control gates against the clock. As well as Slalom, competitors can also compete in giant slalom (control gates set wider apart), parallel slalom (two riders race head to head on identical courses set beside each other) and parallel giant slalom.
Boardercross
This is where competition gets gladiatorial (although deliberate bodily contact is a strict no-no). Groups of four or six riders start together and descend a specially built course which mix up banked turns, jumps, waves and other variations in the terrain. First across the line wins and moves on to the next round.
Let the best boarder win.
Half pipe
The pipe is the ultimate playground for tricks on a snowboard. The snowboard half pipe involves riding from wall to wall in a pipe around 110 metres long, 15 metres wide The average gradient is 17 degrees, and the walls around four metres high.
Riders take off and perform a huge range of manoeuvres. Some are borrowed from other sports such as skateboarding, while others are exclusive to snowboarding. Riders take to the pipe one at a time, with judges marking on degree of difficulty and execution.
Big Air
The title says it all. Take a big jump. Add a good run in, landing zone and plenty of music. Go for it. The moves get wilder every year, as the impossible becomes the humdrum. Inverted manoeuvres with ever more difficult combinations of twists, rolls, hand grabs, reverse landings and spins provide great entertainment. Judges award points for the degree of difficulty and the execution.
Slopestyle
The rider performs a variation of tricks back to back over a course of obstacles including jumps, halfpipe, hips, rails and fun boxes.