There are six snowboard events: men’s and women’s events for halfpipe, parallel giant slalom, which appeared for the first time at The Salt Lake City Games in 2002, and new skiing snowboarding at the Turin Games snowboard cross (SBX). The sport debuted in the 1998 Games at Nagano. The Men’s and Ladies’ parallel giant slalom replaced the two giant slalom events of the debut Games.

Halfpipe

The half pipe event is held on a half-cylindrical tube shaped into the snow. It is approximately 120-130 m long with a gradient of 16-17%. Using speed gained on the slope, snowboarders come up over the rim of the pipe to perform jumps, rotations and other mid-air manoeuvres or tricks. The object is to perform difficult manoeuvres with perfect form. Each athlete chooses a track of music to accompany the entire performance.

There are five judges, each of whom examines the competitor on a specific judging criteria: standard air, rotation, total judging of height and amplitude of manoeuvres, technical merit, incidental falls, overall impression. The 12 women and the 12 men who achieve the highest scores in the two qualifying runs progress to the final.

The final consists of two runs. The gold medal is awarded not to the person who has the best total score of the two runs, but the one who has the best individual run score.

Parallel giant slalom

The parallel giant slalom is a competition in which two riders race down the same slope on two parallel courses, outlined with gates and triangular flags, blue on the left course and red on the right course. The setting of the courses, the terrain and snow coverage must be as identical as possible. The vertical drop between the start and finish lines must be between 120 and 200 metres.

After two qualifying runs, a 16-person head-to-head competition is established in which riders compete in two side-by-side courses. The athlete with the best total time after the two runs goes on to the next round.

Snowboard Cross

This is a challenging route including jumps and obstacles, so named because if combines halfpipe and PGS and makes reference to cross-country. Competitors must be skilled not only in the alpine skills of parallel GS, but also in the acrobatic skills necessary to negotiate the series of banks, jumps, ‘waves’, ‘whoops’ and other obstacles on the course. A series of blue and red gates and triangular flags marks the course and indicate entrances to obstacles.

In the first two runs, the athletes compete individually. The 32 athletes with the best individual or combined times of the two qualification runs advance to the finals, where they compete in heats of four riders. The first two athletes to reach the finishing line in each heat advance to the next stage of the finals. To win the gold medal an athlete must qualify, progress through three rounds and then win the final.

Slopestyle

The Slopestyle event is completely to the Olympic program and will make its first appearance in 2014 in Sochi.

Slopestyle has evolved into a unique format where riders compete to achieve the highest score over a range of obstacles.

There are five judges, each of whom examines the competitor on specific judging criteria based on the difficulty and skill displayed by the competitor. The 12 women and the 12 men who achieve the highest scores in the two qualifying runs progress to the final.

The final consists of two runs. The gold medal is awarded not to the person who has the best total score of the two runs, but the one who has the best individual run score.

Courses are unique to each event and usually include a range of jumps, rails and boxes.

The Course

The course is carved out of the snow and resembles a pipe cut lengthwise. The judges’ stand is located at the lower end of the course where the competitors will probably perform their best manoeuvres. The five judges award points for basic manoeuvres, turns, degrees of difficulty, landing, and technique. The scores are then averaged.

The course is laid out symmetrically to ensure equal opportunity to competitors who use either the regular stance (left foot forward) or the goofy stance (right foot forward). Each gate is comprised of two poles of different lengths and a flag.

Snowboard athletes wear snow jackets and pants, helmets, gloves, goggles and boots. Snowboards vary between the different events. The slalom boards are built for high speed, the halfpipe for flexibility and manoeuvrability. The type of board used by an athlete is also determined by weight.

The material of the board affects the flexibility and twisting rigidity of the board, while the shape and side cut determines how the board will react to movement and steering actions. The base is made from sintered polythelene plastic which glides easily over snow and can absorb wax for faster and smoother riding and turning.