WHAT IS MOUNTAINBOARDING?

Mountainboarding, also known as Dirtboarding, Offroad Boarding, Grass Boarding, and All-Terrain Boarding (ATB), is a well established extreme sport derived from snowboarding. A mountainboard is made up of components including a deck, bindings to secure the rider to the deck, four wheels with pneumatic tires, and two steering mechanisms known as trucks. Mountainboarders, also known as riders, ride specifically designed boardercross tracks, slopestyle parks, grass hills, woodlands, gravel tracks, streets, skateparks, ski resorts, BMX courses and mountain bike trails. It is this ability to ride such a variety of terrain that makes mountainboarding different from other board sports.

In the UK Dave and Pete Tatham, Joe Inglis and Jim Aveline, whilst looking for an off-season alternative to surfing and snowboarding, began designing boards that could be ridden down hills. Inglis developed initial prototypes and in 1992 noSno was started. Extensive research and development produced the noSno truck system which enabled the boards to be steered and remain stable at high speeds. NoSno boards utilised snowboard bindings and boots, with large tyres for rough ground, and the option for a hand-operated hydraulic disc brake.

From the early days of invention there has always been a competative element in mountainboarding. Encompassing racing, freestyle and downhill, competitions have been organised in the USA since 1993 and in the UK since 1997. In the same year the ATBA-UK (All Terrain Boarding Association), the national governing body for mountainboarding in the UK was born. As a non-profit making organisation it represented and promoted the sport by putting riders interests first, promoting safety, sanctioning events, providing training, and sourcing funding to put on the ATBA-UK National Series, an annual series of competitions. The competitions did much to promote the sport and in 1998 mountainboarding had an estimated participation of over 1 million athletes worldwide. The components evolved, and the sport continued to grow. MBS developed the open heel binding, the channel truck, the "eggshock" and the reverse V Brake system and sold boards in around 30 countries worldwide. In 1998 Maxtrack started distributing MBS mountainboards in the UK and Europe.

Mountainboarding has four main disciplines:
*Downhill (DH). Timed one-man descents. Usually relatively long courses (1 km+) in the mountains. Sometimes referred to as big mountain.
*Boardercross (BoarderX, BX). Two to four-man racing on a specifically designed track.
*Freestyle (FS)
Slopestyle: Performing tricks on a slopestyle course consisting of multiple jumps, rails and innovative features.
Big Air: Performing tricks including grabs, spins and inverts over jumps.
Skate Park/Jib: Performing smaller and more innovative tricks with focus on self expression and creativity.
*Freeriding (FR) .Non-competitive riding over a range of natural terrain including woodland.

Mountainboarders wear a range of protective equipment while riding:

Helmets - are designed to protect the wearer's head from impact during falls. There are two types; full-face, which provides more protection to the wearer, and open face, which provides greater visibility for the wearer.
Wristguards - are designed to protect the wearer's wrists from impacts. They come in two types, gloves and wrap-arounds, but both include plastic splints which prevent the wearers wrists from bending backwards during a fall and protect the palms aganist cuts and grazes.
Elbow pads - are designed to protect the wearer's elbows from impact during falls. Sometimes forearm guards are incorporated into the elbow pads.
Knee pads - are designed to protect the wearer's knees from impact during falls.
Padded Shorts - are designed to protect the wearer's hips, coccyx, and buttocks from impact during falls.
Body Armour - is designed to protect the wearer's upper body, arms, shoulders and back from impact during falls.