Mountain boarding

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Mountain boarding, also known as dirtboarding, or all-terrain-boarding, 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. It was only in the last 8 or 9 years that mountain boarding has developed into a sport in its own right.

[edit] Board description

A mountain board is similar to a snowboard. The size of the deck is shorter than the average snowboard, approximately 110 cm in length with four wheels, however three wheeled devices do exist (An "Outback") and also two wheeled devices ("Dirtsurfers" and "Surfaris") which are kind of like riding a bike with no hands - the faster you go, the more stable you are. The wheels consist of small plastic or metal hubs with tires of between 7" and 13" diameter (Dirtsurfers and Surfaris use 20" BMX wheels). The wheel size varies depending on which type of riding is done. For example, an 8" wheel would be for freestyle riding and jumping. The larger wheel is used by the downhill rider. Like a snowboard (and unlike a skateboard) the feet of the rider are attached to the board deck with bindings, however boots are not required. 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, as well as a urethane "Egg Shock" inside the spring coil. However, other designs are used such as regular skate style trucks (Typically used by junior riders because they are light), "Bionic" trucks, "Revo" trucks or other designs such as those found on a NoSno or Howla.

[edit] 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, or boarder cross, a category of racing that is similar to BMX courses, with berms and jumps.

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 power kite to pull the rider on a mountain board and gives them the ability to use the kite to generate enough power to get some lift, normally several feet up in the air and perform tricks.