Contrary to popular belief, snowboarding dates clear back to the 1960s. The concept was the same as now, but the first designs were much cruder than now. There are two types of board out there today ~ alpine/carving and freestyle/freeride. Each is fun but very different from the other.

Competitive snowboarding got started in the mid-1980s. In just the last 20 years, this sport has made a major impact, and is the fastest growing sport in the United States.There are so many participating, that the numbers are more sthan 7.2 million people.

Making snowboarding an Olympic event was bandied about for years, with not much success. Downhill skiers found snowboarders to be a menace on the slopes, and the Olympic committee thought of it only as glorified skateboarding.They didn~t think it was a worthy candidate for Olympic competition. Finally, after years of talking about it, snowboarding debuted in Nagano, Japan in the winter Olympics. Some fans were happy, but a great many stilldidn~t think it belonged there.

You may be snowboarding down the slope side-by-side with a skier, but you are both employing different techniques and of course using different equipment. When a skier switches to the snowboard, he or she is moving differently and employing other muscles, making it a whole different trip.

Not all ski resorts offer snowboarding; there are four major ones in the US who ban the sport. Still, most of them promote it, realizing that as an Olympic sport, it must be valid. The next time you take a ski trip, consider taking some boarding lessons and find out for yourself what it~s like.

Valerie Neige is a snowboarding fanatic and owner of Snowboarding-Art Of Snowboarding, a top Internet site for everything about snowboarding. For more details, please visit:www.artofsnowboarding.com

As more people took up the sport, they soon realized thatit actually required skill and finesse. By 2002 respect was great enough that snowboarding was a popular event in Salt Lake City. The two events, the giant slalom and the halfpipe debuted at these games.

Jake Burton Carpenter was one of snowboarding~s greatest fans. He was an expert himself, and started a snowboard manufacturing company over 30 years ago. Burton Snowboards is still the major snowboard maker, and they also make clothing and accessories.