The Future Of Snowboarding

         




               
                     The future of snowboarding? This is a question that has loomed over the heads of the snowboarding world for over a decade. Many speculate the future of snowboarding will end up somewhere between bigger contests and more trick combinations, which is a well developed and proved theory. However, there is one thing many have failed to question when it comes to the future of snowboarding and with today's progressive tricks such as triple corks, quad corks, and triple rodeos, it is almost impossible for me to ignore the bigger picture. That bigger picture is the training and diets of pro snowboarders who have rigorously trained and worked themselves past the limits of the average snowboarder. My question is: Is training the future of snowboarding?

   

    Over the years only one thing has truly changed the progression of snowboarding. Commercialized contests have consumed our television sets and video streaming sights full of mental tricks that many of today's top riders are throwing down. Often times people look at this and see it as an easy sport because of how flawless these riders can look while spinning effortlessly through the air. But like any other athletes, these riders are highly trained professionals with trainers, nutritionists, and great medical insurance. With more money being poured into snowboarding year after year, it almost seems like corporate is influencing how snowboarding is progressing. I have observed this change as numerous kids who claim to snowboard come up to me in school and try to engage in conversation about things i care absolutely nothing about. I could care less about contests, Mark Mcmorris (though he is a flawless rider outside of contests), red bull, or snow conditions. These superficial mindsets have changed the culture of snowboarding indefinitely. I will often see top athletes from high schools attempt snowboarding and end up miserably sliding themselves down what seems to be a steep slippery run that is actually nothing more than a little intermediate blue square on a trail map. The real riders like myself often find ourselves submerged into hazardous conditions along large cliffs, steep tree runs, avalanche treacherous areas outside of ski area boundaries, and hiking back up the terrain park after a short rail line that we just destroyed ourselves on only to try again and again. It takes years of hard work, a fearless mindset, and a few good injuries to get yourself to a level of riding that my friends and i have been able to put ourselves on only after enduring all of the things a snowboarder must endure during their often short lived careers. But even I, one of the above average weekend warriors knows that there is another level of effort put into those crazy double corks, triple corks, and insane rail combinations that you see on TV. To put it simply, some of the most insane things my riding buddy's or myself have ever done do not in any way compare to today's contest scene that hosts open doors to full ride sponsorship's and careers in snowboarding through riding. When i began snowboarding the biggest thing to my friends or i was having fun, and throughout time we got a bit more fearless and began doing things we never though we would do. Whether it be tearing down back diamonds in chest deep pow, hiking out of bounds to hit massive pillows, or dropping 20 foot cliffs in what we thought was intense free riding terrain, nothing compares to the riding of those who train day in and day out to achieve a higher level of riding. For one example, At mount hood this past summer, i was hiking back up the hill to get another run on the 60-70 foot kicker and as i was hiking an amateur slope style skier was running up to the jump switch (riding backwards) where he did a switch double cork 1080 (two inverted spins with three complete rotations) while clearing over 70 feet and stomping his landing. That moment it hit me that these guys were not like the weekend warriors. These highly trained athletes pour blood, sweat, and tears into their riding as if it was their lifeblood. These are the guys are the future of the front lines of televised events such as the US open, X - Games, and Dew tour, all hosted by large companies who fund millions into their riders training and salary.


      You could say that the future of snowboarding is in money and technically you would be right. But even further more, the level of training these riders have under their belt is more intense than the money put into it. The best of the best often times ride year round at resorts such as Timberline, Woodward Copper at Tahoe, Whistler, and Over seas during the winter across the ocean. Shaun White is a perfect example of this type of training. Riding High Cascade snowboard camp at Timberline throughout most of his childhood, Shaun White was able to debut in x games at only 13. Shaun white is not the only example of a young rider who trained year round at summer camps and big resorts. Today, Red Gerard is only 15 and is one of the top youngest athletes to compete with pros in large contests such as X games and the US Open. So with all of this training how much does it truly cost? Well, it's not cheap. Living in ski towns is often far too expensive for the average person and can well add up to over five hundred thousand dollars a year once you have bought a house to live in. Ski resorts are also not cheap, as most large resorts with training grounds cost around $80 per lift ticket and around $900 - $5,000 for a season pass. Most often these young guns or top athletes are payed for by their corporate sponsors such as energy drink companies, board sponsors, and boot sponsors. These companies also spend lots of money to buy out public areas for video shoots that one may dream of even going too. These include ski resorts often sell parts of property to these companies to train their athletes, such as Shaun Whites private red bull half pipe training facility that was built with a foam pit for practicing at squaw valley (Redbull, oct 30, 2009). These facilities also cost money to build with the use of snow cats with half pipe cutters and special tools to create jumps, not to mention the salary of the diggers. All of this together can easily add up to over a million dollars for one facility. Other facilities such as Woodward copper may cost an upwards of two to five million with trampolines, resis, foam pits, terrain parks, dry slopes, insurance, skate parks, and etc. It's easy to see how money can influence the contest scene and how these riders train. Not only with exercise and good diets, but with their riding as well. So, how does this affect the contest scene and the progression of snowboarding? Well, when it comes to the difference between advanced weekend warriors such as myself and the Top pros on television, I'm not hitting eighty foot jumps while spinning my body in five separate directions with only the confidence of my training to focus me on landing and riding away clean to set up my next eighty foot jump, which takes insane amounts of concentration.


                 Many of today's top contest riders who contend in events hosted by burton and the US open are young athletes who train and work hard to grab their spot on the podium which consists of the top three riders with the highest score in their category. Often times like other sports, these top riders train using cutting edge such as Olympic trampolines, resi landings, or foam pits. These riders also have daily workout routines and diets that fit their bodies needs. There is no doubt that training has become more common throughout the last decade and the fact that riders are now able to ensure their muscles will stay tight for faster spins and longer grabs, but the real question is how will similar training evolve over the next decade and how will it shape snowboarding? My theory is that training will take over the snowboarding world as the sport makes it further and further into the mainstream world of sports. Often times i see far many people who have lost touch or never understood the culture of snowboarding. When i was little i remember the culture of snowboarding that attracted me most was the punk rock feeling the video parts of my favorite riders gave off. They didn't follow the rest of the crowd and i enjoyed watching their unique parts. Some of these riders include Nick Visconti, Lucas Magoon, and Joe Sexton. The difference between these riders and top slope style riders such as Mark McMorris, Sage Kotsenburg, and Max Parrot is merely the subject of which they ride and the amount of training put into their riding. While many street riders and park riders have somewhat poor diets and lifestyles, they are able to perform technical rail tricks that slope style riders cannot perform and vice versa. So is it really training that is shaping snowboarding, or is it style? As one Yobeat.com article put it, the progression of snowboarding may simply lie in more combination's and new combinations. As put by the author Mark Sullivan: "For years now, I have been a careful observer on the progression of snowboarding, from the time you could see a picture or a video of a trick and go try it that day, until today – where stringing together tricks with 4+ full spins is the ‘state of the art.’ snowboarding for me, both on the mountain (and in business) has been about progression" (Mark sullivan, 23 February 2016)   Though i agree with Mark Sullivan, I think that these new and stylish combinations can only be achieved through harder and more intense physical and mental training to break past both physical and mental barriers that may hold back a rider from progressing themselves further in the sport.