Mountainboarding

Mountain boarding, also known as dirtboarding, or all-terrain-boarding, is a new board sport, derived from snowboarding. It was originally intended to take the place of snowboarding during warm months while there was no snow available. It was only in the last 8 or 9 years that mountain boarding has developed into a sport in its own right.

Board description

A mountain board is similar to an oversized skateboard. The size of the deck is shorter than the average snowboard, approximately 110 cm in length with four wheels. The wheels consist of small plastic/alloy hubs with tyres of between 7" and 12" diameter. The wheel size varies depending on which type of riding is done. For example, an 8" wheel would be for freestyle riding and jumping. The larger wheel is used by the downhill rider. Like a snowboard (and unlike a skateboard) the feet of the rider are attached to the board deck with bindings, however boots are not required. Most mountain boards are equipped with 'channel trucks' which are similar in appearance to a skateboard truck but are spring-loaded to stiffen up turning. While the 'channel trucks' are certainly superior, skate style trucks are still popular for beginners boards and freestyle.

Riding styles

The two main styles of riding are downhill (either boarderX or freeride) and freestyle. Freeride is done on a variety of terrain, from ski resorts, when the snow has melted away, to downhill mountain bike courses, to woodlands and forests. More and more dedicated centres are being opened around the world specifically for the sport of mountain boarding. Racing tends to be either of slalom, two riders weaving between poles, or boarder cross, a category of racing that is similar to BMX courses, with berms and jumps.

Freestyle riding consists of ramp jumping; performing tricks which can be rotations (180, 360 and more degree turns), inverted tricks (back flips, front flips), board grabs (tail grab and front grab) and one foot variations (or even no foot variations like "supermans and superman fingerflips".

A variation on mountain boarding is kite landboarding. This involves using a power kite to pull the rider on a mountain board and gives them the ability to use the kite to generate enough power to get some lift, normally several feet up in the air and perform tricks.

History

Rick Wilson of San Diego, California invented the first wheels used for mountain/dirtboarding in the early 1990's. Rick's wheels, known as "XT Wheels", were composed of a plastic core with rubber tractor tire style tread. The wheels were typically mounted on standard skateboards. Early dirtboarders customized longboards (about 36") using uncut skateboard decks from Vision Skateboards and configured them with 215 mm Independent trucks and German sealed bearings. Sky Hooks where often used for bindings facilitating increased control with the ability to quickly change stance.

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