Sports

Snowboarding

Calyn Irwin grips her snowboard as she flies up over the edge of the halfpipe.

Calyn Irwin of Canada competes in the snowboard ladies' halfpipe qualification at PyeongChang 2018. (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

What's it all about?

Ever been out at the skate park and thought it would be so much cooler if your feet were stuck to the board and the whole place looked like the castle out of Frozen? Then you've probably been daydreaming about trying out snowboarding.

How it's playedCarousel with 7 slides.

The sport: It may not be quite as fast as skiing, but it's coolness factor is through the roof. As soon as you have a sport that gets points for tricks, you know it's awesome.

The events: There are 11 men's and women's events in parallel giant slalom, snowboard cross, halfpipe, slopestyle, big air and mixed team snowboard cross which will make its debut this year. (See pictures below.)

The equipment: A big board strapped to both your feet, strong boots, cool snow gear and of course the safety equipment. You gotta have some rad ski goggles and helmet!

The strategy: This is snowboarding, so falling just comes with the territory. Stay cool, stay in the zone, do your tricks, run your run and then just chill.

The points: The snowboard cross, parallel giant slalom and mixed team snowboard cross are all races judged on time. The big air, slopestyle and halfpipe events are all judged on the tricks. (See pictures below)

The athletes: When snowboarding accidents happen, they're usually to the wrists, ankles and knees. So athletes need to make sure they strengthen these body parts that are used a lot in the sport.

Did you know? The first snowboard was called a snurfer because it combined snow and surfing.

Things to watch for

Norway's Marcus Kleveland competes in the men's snowboard slopestyle at PyeongChang 2018. (Loic Venance/Getty Images)

Slopestyle

Think of street skateboarding, but with snow and ice thrown into the mix.
Riders go down a course that has obstacles like jumps, rails, boxes and hips.
Judges score them on things like difficulty, style, execution of their tricks, the risk of the routine and how they used the course.

Michela Moioli of Italy takes 1st place in the snowboarding women's snowboard cross at PyeongChang 2018. (Laurent Salino/Getty Images)

Snowboard cross

Snowboard cross is an exciting run down the hill with packs of riders competing against each other.
They ride over berms, rollers, jumps and other obstacles in the terrain.
New this year is the mixed team event where teams of two race one at a time in packs, for combined time scores.

Ben Ferguson of the US competes in the snowboard men's halfpipe event at PyeongChang 2018. (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Halfpipe

Snowboard halfpipe is just like skateboard halfpipe, just with lots of ice and snow.
The routine they perform includes flips, spins and airs.
Riders get judged on difficulty level, the variety of moves, style, execution, how clean the landings are, their form in the air and how high they go above the walls.

Action packed facts carousel. Use the next button to navigate through the slides.

The snowboard was invented on Christmas day in 1965 in Michigan, Detroit.
The modern snowboard prototype was two skis bolted together. Later, a rope was attached to the front for steering.
You couldn't snowboard at ski resorts until the '80s because it was considered dangerous and just a fad.
Snowboarding is everywhere! People have actually snowboarded in Antarctica.