Snowboarding, a lifestyle
Snow boarding is one of the newest sports, and one of the fastest growing. In the roughly 30 years of its existence it has become an Olympic sport, and in some areas, has become the majority snow sport. If has shed its underground, rebellious youth image and become a sport for all ages. However, it retains a sense of ‘cool’, of association with danger, and of being part of a ‘lifestyle’ rather than a weekend or holiday activity. Within the culture vocabulary of snowboarding is the theme of “soul riding”, associated with the freeriding, rather than the racing or freestyle (trick riding) elements of snowboarding.The ‘soul rider’ is the somewhat iconic, aspirational, figure – the completely competent snowboarder, unafraid of the dangers of backcountry snowboarding. Soul riders are not seeking the glamour of video and magazine coverage, but the peace and solitude of riding ‘out of bounds’. The professional soul rider is able to spend their complete life riding the untracked powder far from the crowded city streets or resort trails. Yet, the activity is accessible to the majority of snowboarders, for the level of technique required is within the grasp of the average snowboarder and many resorts include
some untracked areas within their boundaries. Thus, soul riding is both aspirational and achievable. The incipient stages of this new culture came at a time when the economy was low and it was tough times for many retailers. Most ski areas rejected the idea of opening their doors to snowboarders. I remember stories told about the newspaper running a list at the beginning of every season with the mountains that permitted it. The ski industry was vigilant about two things at the time: tight pants and skier safety; snowboarding would not meet either of these criteria. A board with bindings that were permanently attached did not coincide with the day’s standards, or DIN, of ski equipment safety. "DIN" stands for "Deutsche Industrie Norm," which means exactly what it looks like it means: German industry standard. Skateboard fashion, resonating from California called for much looser pants than your typical skier would be able to logically handle, and as skateboard magazines published the first images of snowboarding, the fashion seemed to follow. It is particularly interesting that this concept should emerge within the sport of snowboarding. Snowboarding may be seen as a particularly post-modern sport in a number of ways. Firstly, it is very recent, emerging within the last 30 years. It is a sport of the developed natio
Some topics in this essay:
Industrie Norm,
,
snowboard products,
fastest growing,
sense identity,
soul riding,
ski industry,
snowboard culture,
snowboarding fashion,
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Approximate Word count = 897
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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