Winter Sports loved by many but not accessible by everybody. That is Skiing and Snowboarding.
People of different generations can have the chance to play this sport as long as snow is accessible to their place. Skiing and Snowboarding are two different sports event though they have one thing in common and that is snow. Both sports have different equipment, and the player’s uses variety of methods in performing the sport. Skiing is a popular winter sport in which a person glides over snow on a pair of long, narrow, flat runners called skis.
There are two main types of skiing: downhill or Alpine skiing; and cross- country, or Nordic skiing. A third form of skiing, which is often considered a separate sport, is ski jumping, in which the skier soars into space from the end of an elevated chute, usually hurtling through the air for 200 to 300 feet before landing. Millions of persons throughout the world ski for recreation and competition. Ski vacations are popular with individuals and families.Some countries have national teams of amateur ski racers who compete in the Winter Olympics and International Ski Federation tournaments. Some racers compete for prize money in professional ski circuits.
Essential equipments of skiing consists of a pair of skis with bindings and safety straps, ski boots, and two ski poles. Skis are usually made with a wood, metal or foamed plastic core, and are strengthened with layers of such materials as fiberglass, metal, plastic, or carbon fibers. Skis can also be made of solid wood or metal.Layers of hard plastic are laminated to the ski surfaces to protect them from scratches. The curved front part of a ski is called the tip or shovel; the rear part is called the tail. Narrow steel strips, called edges, run along the bottom edges of the ski to grip the snow and aid in turning.
Running the length of each ski bottom is a narrow center groove that aids in control and prevents side slipping. Bottom chamber is the arch of a ski that supports the skier’s weight and distributes it along the entire length of the ski.Side camber is a narrowing of the ski toward the middle. Skiers wax the bottoms of their skis to make them slide easily over the snow. Ski boots are heavy and rigid and are designed to quickly transmit the movement of the feet to the skis.
Snowboarding, also a popular sport. It is just like skateboarding, the only difference is there is the presence of snow. A snowboard is being used. In skiing ski poles are used as an aid in turning, balancing, walking, and climbing which are made of wood and metal or either fiberglass while in snowboarding, ski poles are not used.
But the athletes used their own bodies in doing balancing and turning. So it really requires great talent, attitude and drive for snowboarding. Weight of the body of the athlete is used in snowboarding. Snowboards are clinging to the players body but it is located in the both sides of the players. There are different types of snowboards; these are the racing snowboards, swallow tail boards and other are the freestyle boards which can be used for snowboarding expeditions. Snowboarding has different styles and these are the free ride, freestyle and freecarve.
Many people find snowboarding much fun with players own techniques, accompanied with tricks. Although it takes a lot of effort to master, it is worth the effort for it is so much fun. Skiing and snowboarding are both enjoyable sport but skiing is much easy to control not like snowboarding where in you cannot avoid injuries at all, because when you fall there is nothing you can do to stop it. They are the same in terms of snow but they are totally different in terms of techniques and how the players do it.
In skiing, the player looks towards his direction while in snowboarding, the players travels sideways for balancing and also because of the snowboards attached to the sides of the snowboarders. Snowboarding is much dangerous than skiing so a protective gear should always be used when doing the sport. These two sports are both fun and enjoyable but only those who are willing and talented in this field are the ones who can enjoy much the sport. One must also be always ready for any accidents and injuries accompanying the two Winter Sports.
