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1 Disciplines

There are three primary sub-disciplines or sub-styles within snowboarding with each favoring a slightly different snowboard design.

1.1 Freeride

The object in freeride is simply to have fun cruising down the mountain. The majority of snowboarders reside within this sub-style category. Freeride is also known as all-mountain snowboarding . Another variant of Freeriding is extreme snowboarding.

Freeride snowboarding is influenced significantly by surfing, where the focus is on making clean lines in the snow. Many freeride purists attach an almost spiritual connotation to carving down the mountain.

1.2 Freestyle

Describes snowboarders who prefer to spend most of their time getting air using ramps and half-pipes. Typically, a wider & shorter snowboard between 130 and 170 centimeters is combined with soft-shelled boots to afford the rider with more flexibility. The flexibility of the fiberglass snowboard allows it to flex on the transitions of a half pipe or obstacle, while the more flexible boots make it easier for the rider to make tight turns.

Freestyle snowboarding is influenced greatly by skateboarding. Many ski areas operate terrain parks which often simulate the urban skateboard environment, complete with handrail s, funboxes and machine formed jumps.

1.3 Alpine

Relative to freestyle and freeriding, there aren't very many people involved in the Alpine subdiscipline. Alpine snowboarders use longer, narrow boards and the hard-shelled boots which resemble ski boots. The alpine board is designed primarily for carving down pistes, both feet are angled sharply forward.

2 Gear

2.1 Boards

The snowboards used in the different disciplines also come in different styles. Longer boards achieve higher speed and stability, shorter boards turn easier and are more suited for freestyle jumps. A flexible board can carve in tighter curves, but begins to wobble at higher speeds.

Currently the following five types of boards are often discerned:

• Racing: long, very stiff, hard boots, slightly waisted, directional.
• Alpine: long, stiff, hard boots, slightly waisted, directional.
• Freecarve: very waisted, flexible, medium length, hard or soft boots, directional.
• Freeride: waisted, flexible, short to medium length, soft boots, bi-directional.
• Freestyle: waisted, flexible, short, soft boots, bi-directional, light.

2.2 Bindings

Snowbord bindings are called either hard boot or soft boot binding, depending on the shoe type needed to be worn. Hard boots are very similar to ski boots, providing higher stability during the ride and more control on the board. Soft boots have more similarities to winter boots, and allow for a more comfortable and flexible standing necessary for landing jumps.

Snowboard bindings, unlike ski bindings, do not automatically release upon impact or after falling over. With skis, this mechanism was originally meant to protect from nasty breaks caused by skis torn in different directions. It is not required when snowboarding, as the rider's legs are fixed in a static position. Furthermore it reduces the chance of the board going downhill riderless (and the rider speeding downhill on his back as he has no more means to keep a grip on a steep slope).

Bindings can be released manually and exist in strap-on and step-in variants. Step-in bindings need a stiffer shoe sole and are therefore more common for hard boot riders.