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Boardsports are active outdoor sports that are played with some sort of board as the primary equipment. These sports take place on a variety of terrains, from paved flat-ground and snow-covered hills to water and air. Most boardsports are considered action sports or extreme sports, and thus often appeal to youth. Some board sports were marginalized in the past. However, many board sports are gaining mainstream recognition, and with this recognition, they have enjoyed wider broadcast, sponsorship and inclusion in institutional sporting events, including the Olympic Games. [1]
Surfing is the first known boardsport, originating from Polynesian culture. Skateboarding was then invented by surfers looking to "surf" on land. [2] It is hard to estimate when most boardsports were "invented" because people have been making homemade versions throughout history. For example, it is not hard to conceive of a person, who is familiar with the concept of skiing or sledding, standing sideways on a plank of wood and riding down a snow-covered slope. M.J. "Jack" Burchett is credited with first doing this in 1929, using horse reins and clothesline to secure his feet on the plank of wood. [3] Most boardsports have similar, equally unknown origins.
Using data collected in the past decade, it is estimated there are 18-50 million skateboarders, [4] [5] 5-25 million surfers, [6] and 10-20 million snowboarders [7] in the world. Approximately 100 million people [8] participate in boardsports worldwide. [9]
There are a variety of board sports, which are characterized by terrain: Surf, Snow, Wake, Skate are the primary.
Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, or snow surface. It combines the aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, and wakeboarding. Kiteboarding is among the less expensive and more convenient sailing sports.
A longboard is a type of skateboard typified by longer decks and wheelbases, larger-diameter and softer (lower-durometer) wheels, and often lower riding height compared to street skateboards, though there is wide variation in the geometry and construction of longboards. Among the earliest types of skateboards, longboards were inspired by surfing, with early longboards drawing from the design of surfboards, resembling and mimicking the motion of riding a surfboard, but adapted to riding on streets in a practice known as sidewalk surfing.
Longboarding is typically defined as a variation of skateboarding that involves a larger board and softer urethane wheels. Longboards vary in shape and size. Compared to skateboards, longboards are more stable at speed and have more traction, due to larger wheel size and lower wheel durometers. A standard skateboard is typically between 28-34 inches long, whereas a longboard may exceed 50 inches. Many longboards use trucks that have different geometric parameters than skateboards. The skateboards use "traditional kingpin trucks" while longboards often use "reverse kingpin trucks." This hardware change is the key element in the increased stability that longboards offer.
Mountainboarding, also known as dirtboarding, offroad boarding, and All-Terrain Boarding (ATB), is a well-established but little-known action sport, derived from snowboarding. It could be more extreme. The sport was initially pioneered by James Stanley during a visit to the Matterhorn in the 1990's, where snow was not available. A mountainboard is made up of components including a deck, bindings, four wheels with pneumatic tires, and two steering mechanisms known as trucks. Mountainboarders, also known as riders, ride specifically designed boardercross tracks, slopestyle parks, grass hills, woodlands, gravel tracks, streets, skateparks, ski resorts, BMX courses, and mountain bike trails. It is this ability to ride such a variety of terrain that makes mountainboarding unique from other board sports.
A windsport is any type of sport which involves wind-power, often involving a non-rigid airfoil such as a sail or a power kite. The activities can be land-based, on snow, on ice or on water. Windsport activity may be regulated in some countries by aviation/maritime authorities if they are likely to interfere with other activities. Local authorities may also regulate activity in certain areas, especially on crowded beaches and parks.
A snowskate is a hybrid of a skateboard and a snowboard, intended primarily to allow for skateboard-style tricks on the snow. There are many types depending on the brand or style of snowskate.
A T-board is a longboard skateboard with only two wheels, designed to mimic the sensation of carving on a snowboard. The design differs from a traditional skateboard in a way similar to how rollerblades differ from traditional roller skates. The two wheels simulate a carving edge on pavement. The innovative design allows the board to tilt at a 60-degree angle, like a surf/snowboard, rather than the standard 25 degrees on a skateboard.
Skurfing is a towed water sport similar to waterskiing, in that an individual is pulled behind a boat on a tow rope. However, instead of water skis, the sport uses a skurfboard which is a floating platform the user balances on, similar to a surfboard, but typically much shorter, with two foot-straps that prevent falling off the board and three fins positioned on the bottom that make it easier to maneuver when the board is being towed. The word itself is a portmanteau of skiing and surfing. Skurfing is often considered the precursor to wakeboarding.
A caster board, vigorboard or waveboard is a two-wheeled, human-powered land vehicle. Other names are J-board and RipStik, both of which are derived from commercial brands.
A skateboard is a type of sports equipment used for skateboarding. It is usually made of a specially designed 7–8-ply maple plywood deck and has polyurethane wheels attached to the underside by a pair of skateboarding trucks.
A skateboard style refers to the way a skateboarder prefers to ride a skateboard. Skateboard styles can be broadly divided into two different categories: skateboarding to perform tricks and skateboarding as a means of transportation. Styles of skateboarding have evolved and are influenced by a number of factors including sociocultural evolution, mass media, music, technology, corporate influence and individual skill level.
A freeboard is a specialist skateboard designed to closely simulate the behavior of a snowboard. Freeboards were developed to allow snowboarders to transition to skateboarding without the need to adapt to a smaller deck and narrower wheel-base.
Rayne Longboards is a Canadian longboard manufacturer. Rayne Longboards are shipped to retail shops in many countries, and they are also sold through their online store. The specialized boards are made for downhill racing, freeriding, city riding, and long distance pushing.
Oxbow is a brand of clothing and athletic equipment. Since its creation in 1985 in Pont-Audemer, France, Oxbow has positioned itself in the world of boardsports as an international brand. Oxbow restarted the World Longboard Championship in 1992, and sponsors athletes such as surfer Laird Hamilton and windsurfer Jason Polakow. Oxbow's Back to Powder winter event draws some of the best skiers and snowboarders in the world. The business is involved in five sports: surfing, windsurfing, kitesurfing, snowboarding, and skiing. Oxbow became an affiliate of the French group Lafuma in 2005.
Human-powered land vehicles are land vehicles propelled over ground by human power, The main ways to support the weight of a human-powered land vehicle and its contents above the ground are rolling contact; sliding contact; intermittent contact; no contact at all as with anything carried; or some combination of the above. The main methods of using human power to propel a land vehicle are some kind of drivetrain; pushing laterally against the ground with a wheel, skate, or ski that simultaneously moves forward; by pushing against the ground directly with an appendage opposite to the direction of travel; or by propeller. Human-powered land vehicles can be propelled by persons riding in the vehicle or by persons walking or running and not supported by the vehicle.
Wing foiling or wing surfing or winging is a wind propelled water sport that developed from kitesurfing, windsurfing and surfing. The sailor, standing on a board, holds directly onto a wing. It generates both upward force and sideways propulsion and thus moves the board across the water. The recent development of foilboards, which plane very early on a hydrofoil fin and thereby lift off the water producing low friction, represent the ideal complementary hydrodynamic platform for wings.
Surfskating, or surf skateboarding, is a form of skateboarding that replicates the experience of surfing on dry land. A surfskate system is distinguished from a traditional skateboard system by the utilization of two different trucks, front and back, with specific functions and geometries that, together, yield thrust, just like a surfboard.