1. Catch a Wave
Board sports began with the birth of surfing. Descriptions of surfing in Hawaii date back to 1779. The water forms a natural environment for board sports. Water cushions falls, presents the challenge of waves and allows people to do the sport in sunny and warm locations. Besides surfing, windsurfing (also called sailboarding), bodyboarding, wakeboarding and knee boarding take place on the water. Some board sports, like windsurfing, use a sail, while others, like knee boarding, incorporate a tow rope and boat.
2. Ollie on the Quarterpipe
Skateboarding brings board sports to land. Most board sports done on land use a board with wheels. Skateboarders gain momentum and perform tricks like ollies, frontside grinds, pivots and 360-degree flips on the sloped surface of a quarterpipe. Skateparks incorporate quarterpipes with other challenges to provide a place for kids to skateboard safely. Mountain boarding, an extreme sport, takes skateboarding off-road. Other board sports on land include rope boarding, free boarding and long boarding.
3. Get Big Air in the Snow
Snow is the third venue for board sports. Snowboarding crosses surfing with skateboarding and adds the challenge of mountain terrain, powder and ice. The three divisions of snowboarding are alpine, freestyle and boardercross. In aerial tricks like the ollie, the snowboarder uses the snowboard as a spring to get air. The higher the elevation, the more tricks a snowboarder can complete. Two other board sports, snow skating and snow kiting, use snow as a venue.
4. Ride a Sand Dune
Do you get tired of waiting for the snow to snowboard? In sandboarding, you use the same techniques and board as snowboarding, but you do it on sand dunes. Dune buggies provide quick access to the top of the dune and work best if a friend drives back and forth chauffeuring boarders. Sandboards require different waxes to protect the board depending on the type of sand and climate of the dunes. Some boarders use bindings to secure the board, while others up the level of risk and forgo the bindings.
5. Surf the Sky
The final venue for board sports is the air. While skysurfing involves a board, the skills needed to skysurf relate more closely to skydiving skills rather than surfing or snowboarding skills. Skysurfing requires a two-person team, which includes a skysurfer and a camera flyer. The camera flyer records the performance and may assist the skysurfer in tricks. The tricks performed resemble ballet or gymnastic routines as the skysurfer flips, twists and spins during free fall.
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