snowboard History

In snowboarding, there are two fundamental distinctions based on the type of equipment used: soft and hard.

Soft: This style uses flexible equipment, such as soft and deformable boots, flexible and bidirectional boards, and permissive and generally elastic bindings. Within this category, there are two main specialties:

• Freestyle: The most spectacular discipline focused on performing tricks and maneuvers using artificial structures like jumps, rails, and platforms in snowparks. It shares many similarities with skateboarding, including structures like half-pipes and rails. Most competitions are dedicated to this style.
• Freeride: The deepest and purest discipline, involving descending slopes in fresh snow while freely choosing one's line. Freeriding can occur through mountaineering or off-piste routes serviced by ski lifts, and it carries risks associated with snow conditions and avalanche danger.

Hard: This style involves the use of rigid equipment. It is the master discipline of snowboarding in terms of technique and board control on groomed snow and ski slopes. Practiced with stiff boots similar to those used in alpine skiing and directional boards stiffer than those used for other styles, its competitive expression is slalom.

Craig Kelly (April 1, 1966 – Revelstoke, January 20, 2003) was an American snowboarder.

He was nicknamed The Godfather of Freeriding and Terje Håkonsen described him as the greatest snowboarder of all time. Over his 15-year professional career, he won four world championships and three U.S. championships.

He tragically passed away near Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada, on January 20, 2003, in an avalanche that claimed the lives of six others besides him, out of a group of eight well-equipped and prepared individuals who were caught in a high avalanche risk area as per the day's bulletin.

He is said to have invented the concept of 'STYLE' in snowboarding. A true revolution for the time.

Considered one of the most influential and significant riders in the global scene, Håkonsen is a versatile athlete who has left his mark in both freestyle and freeride throughout his career.

At just 15 years old (1989), he joined the Burton Team, where he later collaborated on the innovative "Alumafly" material, used today in the construction of modern freeride-specific boards. In 1990, he secured sponsorship from Oakley, followed by Volcom in 1992.

During the 1990s, he dominated the international freestyle scene, achieving personal successes and introducing the spectacular inverted maneuver known as "The Haakon Flip." His legendary status was cemented in 1996 with the release of the film "Subject Haakonsen." In 1998, despite snowboarding's debut at the Nagano Winter Olympics, Håkonsen and other riders boycotted the event due to disagreements over FIS interference in the sport.

In 1999, Håkonsen co-founded the Arctic Challenge with Daniel Franck, a highly regarded event in the international snowboarding community held annually in Norway.

he was the first winner of the Snowboard Olympic Games in history, they were in Nagano in 1998 the only olinpic discipline then was half pipe