Thor VonRippington Posted October 27, 2007 Report Share Posted October 27, 2007 There was a brief discussion on another thread about skwals and narrow boards being banned long ago from competitions. Not many hard facts were offered and it left me with some questions. What are the current acceptable board specs for racing? Why are the restricted specs in place... is there an advantage to specs outside of the restrictions? Are there other restrictions involved in snowboard racing in general (gear or otherwise)? Any information would be interesting to me... I'm not going to the races... just curious. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinecure Posted October 28, 2007 Report Share Posted October 28, 2007 FIS Rulebook in pdf format. 2090 Competitors Equipment2090.1 Snowboards Only Snowboards can be used in competitions. The boards minimal width is restricted as follows: Gliding surface length................Minimal width up to 135 cm...........................14 cm more than 135 cm................16 cm 2090.2 Bindings The bindings must be fixed diagonally on the long axis of the board. The boots cannot overlap each other. 2090.3 Retention devices, leashes Safety leashes are optional unless required by the organiser or the ski area. 2090.4 Balance and Speed control The competitors are not allowed to wear anything on the hands besides gloves or to use any kind of devices to additionally support their balance, reduce or accelerate their speed, like poles or sticks etc. It is the nature of Snowboard sport that the quality of preparation of the main racing or event track deteriorates toward the inside and outside of the ideal line as an event continues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor VonRippington Posted October 28, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2007 Thanks Sinecure... any insight as to why >135 is 16 or more? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philfell Posted November 7, 2007 Report Share Posted November 7, 2007 Under 135 would generally be a kids board, kids have smaller feet than adults so their boards could be narrower with the same angles and still be considered a snowboard. No one racing at a high level is anywhere close to the limit of being too narrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor VonRippington Posted November 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2007 Two good points... but I still don't understand why > 135 must be over 16 wide as a rule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yyzcanuck Posted November 7, 2007 Report Share Posted November 7, 2007 I imagine that anything less than 16cm wide would not allow the bindings to be at an angle that would be considered 'substantially diagonal' to the long axis. In the eyes of FIS, if your bindings aren't diagonal, you're not snowboarding. And... maybe it's just an arbitrary number pulled out of thin air? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor VonRippington Posted November 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2007 I imagine that anything less than 16cm wide would not allow the bindings to be at an angle that would be considered 'substantially diagonal' to the long axis. In the eyes of FIS, if your bindings aren't diagonal, you're not snowboarding.And... maybe it's just an arbitrary number pulled out of thin air? Alright... I'll buy that... Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tramp Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 FIS has limits only the sizes of equipment or some manufacturers is supposes and some one is not supposes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www.oldsnowboards.com Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 FIS has limits only the sizes of equipment or some manufacturers is supposes and some one is not supposes? ???????????? And he calls for an interpretation from the judges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www.oldsnowboards.com Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 In other words, NO SKWALS !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tramp Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 O, no....About is not present, I had in view of another. Skwal concerns to concept of measurement of the equipment than a brand more likely. Look on what brands ride at competitions FIS, and what brands have stood aside and never participate... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zarkod Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 There was a brief discussion on another thread about skwals and narrow boards being banned long ago from competitions. Not many hard facts were offered and it left me with some questions. Can someone tell me where this thread is? I would like to update our skwalzone.org website with this history but I can't find if this is a hoax or not. I the skwal community it is said that they were banned from snowboard races because skwals where just faster, but where is the truth? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadBrad Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 I can remember years ago when racing boards started getting narrower and narrower. It was common to see them 17cm wide back then, and some even narrower. It was about that time that I remember the rule being made regarding minimum width. I don't know, but I suspect that the FIS saw the trend toward skinnier and skinnier boards and wanted to make sure that we didn't end up with 2 bindings mounted on a ski or something like that, so the set the limit to about the same as the current skinny boards. Now the trend has gone back to wider boards with less steep binding angles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor VonRippington Posted December 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 Can someone tell me where this thread is? I would like to update our skwalzone.org website with this history but I can't find if this is a hoax or not. I the skwal community it is said that they were banned from snowboard races because skwals where just faster, but where is the truth? http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/showthread.php?t=17086&page=1&highlight=virus+skwal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.