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Snowboarding in Turkey
Faculty of Engineering, Eastern Mediterranean University 1
SNOWBOARDING IN TURKEY
TERM PROJECT
Submitted To
Hatice Güneyyeli
at
Eastern Mediterranean University
by
Tamer TUNALI
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the course
ENGL201 Technical Report Writing
General Education Department
Modern Languages Division
Gazimağusa, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
14 June, 2010
Snowboarding in Turkey
Faculty of Engineering, Eastern Mediterranean University 2
ABSTRACT
This report is about snowboarding, which may be considered one of the most
popular winter sports in all around the world. The purpose of this report is to inform
people about snowboarding and its features. The report initially presents definition and
history of snowboarding; then it shows snowboarding styles and snowboard types, as
well as snowboarding in Olympics and in Turkey. The report recommends that,
everyone, and even those who have a little interest, should learn snowboarding.
Snowboarding in Turkey
Faculty of Engineering, Eastern Mediterranean University 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF FIGURES…………………………………………………………….……iv
INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………...…….1
DEFINITION AND HISTORY OF SNOWBOARDING……….…………............2
Overview: What is Snowboarding?...............…………………………….…...….2
Origin of Snowboarding ……………………………………...…………........…..2
Popularity of Snowboarding…….…..……………………………………………4
SNOWBOARDING STYLES, TYPES AND EQUIPMENTS …………....………6
Snowboarding Styles …………………………………...………………...……….6
Freeriding or All Mountain Riding ………………………………………………6
Freestyle Riding………………………………………………………..…………7
Freecarve or Alpine Snowboarding………………………………………………7
Snowboard Types……………………………………………………….………….8
Freeride or All Mountain Boards…………………………………………………8
Freestyle Boards…………………………………………………………………..9
Carving, Alpine or Race Boards…………………………...……………………..9
SNOWBOARDING IN OLYMPICS & IN TURKEY……….…………………...10
Snowboarding In Olympics……………………………………………………...10
Snowboarding In Turkey………………………………………………….……..11
Heli-Boarding in Turkey……………………….………………………….……12
CONCLUSION…….………………………………………………………………..13
REFERENCES……….……………………………………………………………..14
Snowboarding in Turkey
Faculty of Engineering, Eastern Mediterranean University 4
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. Snurfer.............................................................................................................2
Figure 2. Old Man Snowboarding..................................................................................3
Figure 3. Freeriding…....................................................................................................6
Figure 4. Freestyle…......................................................................................................7
Figure 5. Freecarving…………………………………………............................…….7
Figure 6 . Sandwiched Construction..............................................................................8
Figure 7. Freeride Snowboard.….………………..........................................................8
Figure 8. Freestyle Snowboard......................................................................................9
Figure 9. Alpine Snowboard..........................................................................................9
Figure 10. Half-Pipe.....................................................................................................10
Figure 11. Snowboarders at the Peak...........................................................................12
Snowboarding in Turkey
Faculty of Engineering, Eastern Mediterranean University 5
INTRODUCTION
Snowboarding is one of the most popular and the fastest growing winter sports
in all around the world. According to Encyclopedia of Wikipedia snowboarding is a
“sport that involves descending a slope that is covered with snow on a snowboard
attached to a rider's feet”. Snowboarders from every age are riding all over the
mountains, performing unbelievable tricks. It is not just performed on the mountains,
but also in parks or on rails like a skateboard. For example, companies search for
better boards, turn the wooden piece of board into today’s snowboard with a lot of
different technologies. Snowboarding is still developing with new tricks and new
technologies.
This report will be about snowboarding. The primary aim of this report is to
inform about the history of snowboarding, styles of riding, equipments and
snowboarding in competitions such as Olympics. This report will show the differences
between riding styles and what types of boards used for each style of riding and its
brief specifications. The intended readers of the report are those who are interested in
snowboarding, and thinking about to start snowboarding.
The three parts of this report present (1) definition and history of
snowboarding, (2) snowboarding styles and equipments, and (3) snowboarding
competitions in the world and snowboarding in Turkey. The first part will give
information about snowboarding and its origin. The second part will show
snowboarding styles and equipment types. The final part will focus on snowboarding
in Olympics like half-pipe competitions, and snowboarding in Turkey such as
developing ski centers with snowparks and best places to get started.
Snowboarding in Turkey
Faculty of Engineering, Eastern Mediterranean University 6
DEFINITION AND HISTORY OF SNOWBOARDING
Overview: What is Snowboarding?
According to Encyclopedia of Britannica, snowboarding is a “winter sport
evolved from skateboarding and surfing… Developed in the 1960’s, snowboarding
was believed to have originated in the United States, where several inventors exploded
the idea of surfing on the snow”. In simple words, snowboarding is riding a board on
the snow with your feet strapped on it, but it is much more than just going down the
hill; it is a sport which offers freedom of self expression and a truly unique feeling.
Origin of Snowboarding
There is nothing
certain about who created this
sport first, but the first
commercial object as a
snowboard was invented by
Sherman Poppen in 1965 and
it was called “The Snurfer”, a
combination of snow surfer.
Figure 1. Snurfer.
Note. Sports hall of fame.
(2004). Retrieved on May 16,
2010 from the World Wide
Web:http://www.mashf.com/
2001_inductees.htm
Snowboarding in Turkey
Faculty of Engineering, Eastern Mediterranean University 7
The Snurfer was like a long skateboard deck with a rope attached at the tip of it
which offered some control to the rider. It had no bindings to strap the feet on it.
Snowboarding started to become popular in the 70’s and 80’s by snowboarding
pioneers such as Shawn Farmer, Tom Sims and Jake Burton who started to create their
own companies and came up with new board designs, materials etc. There have been
definitely a lot of creativity and development, as well as failure during the evolution of
snowboard. One of the greatest developments came from Jake Burton. He started to
make snowboards from fibre-glass in 1979 and he added bindings for better control.
Another major development was adding steel edges in 1980 which allowed boarders to
ride on hard snow and ice. All these developments turned the snurfer into the
snowboard that we all know today. Snowboarding is still developing with new
technologies and ideas.
However, there is an interesting fact
about the oldest snowboard and snowboarder
ever known. Inhabitants of Petran (a village in
Rize) have been riding something called
“Üzme” for over more than 150 years. So,
Petran is the first place ever known people
started standing sideways on boards and
gliding down the hills. Üzme is a lot like the
Snurfer but it is much older. The only
difference from the Snurfer is that a wooden
stick made from hazel is used to give more
control to board. About 90 percent of this
Figure 2. Old man snowboading.
Note. Ritzer, B. (2008). Retrieved on May
22, 2010 from the World Wide Web:
http://blog.jonessnowboards.com/2008/09/
the-origin-of-snowboarding-discovered/
Snowboarding in Turkey
Faculty of Engineering, Eastern Mediterranean University 8
small town’s people ride and none of them have ever skied before. The equipment has
stayed true to its origins up to today. Professional gold medalist Swiss snowboarder
Ueli Kestenholz came to this place in 2005 and he was amazed about what he saw. A
few years later, another professional rider Jeremy Jones visited this town. They both
agreed that this is the real origin of snowboarding. Jones (2008) describes that:
We met up with the oldest rider in the village, Selim. Seventy
years old, and started riding in 1946. He has been riding almost
daily for 62 years and it shows. Gimpl and I dropped in next to him
and he took off effortlessly, standing tall and proud as we did all
we could to hold on. The sport was started out of necessity to get
around the village in deep snow. The boards are so perfect for the
terrain and snow conditions that the equipment had hardly changed
in 150 years.
After their discovery, their fans and some other people started to believe that the real
origin of snowboarding is Turkey. In 2008, Redbull sponsored a competition in this
small town between snowboarders with new equipments, and inhabitants of Petran
with their 150 years old boards. Even though it’s unbelievable, old boarders won in
the deep snow.
Popularity of Snowboarding
When snowboarding first became popular, people didn’t know what it was as
there were no instructors, no lessons or any books. It was an unknown sport and in 25
years, it is spreaded in all around the world. Alaska snowboarding pioneer Farmer
(2005) states that back in 70’s and 80’s snowboarding was free and wild, wherever
Snowboarding in Turkey
Faculty of Engineering, Eastern Mediterranean University 9
you go on the mountains you knew that no one else ever ridden there before. It was
about discovering and having fun.
It wasn’t all perfect for the boarders. At the beginning years of snowboarding,
snowboarders were restricted from ski resorts. They had a lot of problems with the ski
industry, ski resorts and skiers in general. For ski resorts, snowboarding was
something temporary unlike skiing. Snowboarders were just young people with a lot
of energy back in 80’s, trying skateboard maneuvers on their snowboard and crashing
all the time. Skiers saw this new thing and they didn’t understand what it was, so they
rejected and tried to ban it. Also it was starting to be a competition for ski industry
which wasn’t something they wanted. After the construction of big ski resorts in the
80’s, they began to welcome snowboarders for their profit. CEO of Aspen Skiing Co.
Pat O’Donnell (2005) states “there was a prejudice from skiers toward
snowboarders… Even though I’m a little bit of a geezer, I’ve been snowboarding
myself full-time for six years. I’ve never been back on skis”. There are a lot of people
like Donnell who never returned back on skis after trying snowboard. And today
snowboarders are almost as much as skiers in most of the world.
Snowboarding in Turkey
Faculty of Engineering, Eastern Mediterranean University 10
SNOWBOARDING STYLES, TYPES AND EQUIPMENTS
Snowboarding Styles
After learning how to ride a snowboard properly, it is important to choose a
riding style because it will determine the snowboard equipment the rider has to use
and also where the rider will be riding such as at the slopes, off-piste on untouched
snow, in the park on rails, etc. Each style has its own competitions. There are three
main riding styles as follows:
Freeriding or All Mountain Riding
According to ABC-of-Snowboarding
freeriding is about “mastering an all-around style
that will allow you to ride, carve and jump on any
terrain On Piste and Off Piste”. Freeriding is not
the best style for making big jumps and to be on
air, it is good for the riders spending most of their
times on the ground rather than in the air but also
for those who want to make jumps and be a
freestyler from time to time. It is the most popular
style in the world and most suitable for beginners.
Figure 3. Freeriding.
Note. Tomoarigato. Retrieved on May
14, 2010 from the World Wide Web:
http://tomoarigato.com/HowToChoose
Snowboard.com/page2.html
Snowboarding in Turkey
Faculty of Engineering, Eastern Mediterranean University 11
Freestyle Riding
ABC-of-Snowboarding notes that this
style of riding, “adrenaline rushes and is
considered by many the most spectacular and
wild style of snowboarding. It involves doing
tricks both on and off the air in snowboard
parks”. On the ground most of the tricks are
performed using rails, boxes, tables and so on. It
is not the best category for riding off-piste but there are no limits for freestyle, so it
involves also doing tricks off-piste. Freestyle competitions are more popular than
others because there is more risk and also adrenaline.
Freecarve or Alpine Snowboarding
According to ABC-of-Snowboarding
freecarve or alpine snowboarding focuses on
“speed and is concerned with the ultimate
carving turn. It is about expanding the full
length of the mountain, and making impressive,
high speed slalom turns as you go downhill”.
Because of the high speed, the turns get very
powerful and it requires a lot of strength and
energy. This is not a good category for beginners and those who just want to enjoy the
mountain by making slow turns and do a couple of tricks.
Figure 4. Freestyle.
Note. Ehow. Retrieved on May 14, 2010
from the World Wide Web: http://www.
ehow.com/videos-on_8664_snowboard-
tricks-jumps.html
Figure 5. Freecarving.
Note. Jelling, J. Retrieved on May 14,
2010 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.doityourself.com/stry/
alpinesnowboarding
Snowboarding in Turkey
Faculty of Engineering, Eastern Mediterranean University 12
Snowboard Types
There are different boards in the market and
each board shows differences for any skill level, snow
type and riding style. According to Encyclopedia of
Wikipedia, snowboards are “generally constructed of
a hardwood core which is sandwiched between
multiple layers or fiberglass”. By developing
technologies, lighter and stronger materials are used
like Carbon Fibre, which has a low weight than steel
but stronger. There are also differences between the
materials used in boards for each riding style. For example, manufacturers use more
flexible materials when producing freestyle boards because flex helps to control the
board easier which is something required to do tricks. There are three main types of
boards for three riding style:
Freeride or All Mountain Boards
These boards are the most popular
because they have a wide range of area to use
but they are not the best in any specific category
like park or pipe riding. They have a directional
shape which means it’s for riding primarily in
one direction. They have sharp steel edges to use on every surface, even on ice. Their
flex is not too much or stiff either. More flex help for more easy turns and less flex
Figure 6. Sandwiched
Construction.
Note. ABC-of-Snowboarding.
Retrieved on May 14, 2010
from the World Wide Web:
http://www.abc-of-
snowboarding.com
Figure 7. Freeride Snowboard.
Note. Burton Custom. Retrieved on May
12, 2010 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.burton.com
Snowboarding in Turkey
Faculty of Engineering, Eastern Mediterranean University 13
makes is stable at high speeds. Freeride boards are in the middle. This is a Burton
Custom in Figure 7, one of the most selling freeride boards of all the time.
Freestyle Boards
These boards are wider, shorter, lighter and
more flexible than any other boards so they are
easier to maneuver and perform tricks but they are
not stable at high speeds because they are short and
flexible unlike long and stiff freecarve boards for
high speeds. Most of them are in twin shape which makes riding switch, also called
fakie, easier.
Carving, Alpine or Race Boards
These type of boards are narrower than
any other type of boards. They are also long and
stiff and designed for high speeds. They are best
for making quick turns. They have very good
steel edges for stability so it grabs the surface
perfect on high speeds. They are constructed for riding only on one direction and they
are not for performing tricks. They look like a wider ski and preferred by advanced
riders who like high speeds.
Figure 8. Freestyle Snowboard.
Note. Burton Dominant. Retrieved
on May 10, 2010 from the World
Wide Web: http://www.burton.com
Figure 9. Alpine Snowboard.
Note. Goltes. Retrieved on May 10, 2010
from the World Wide Web:
http://www.abc-of-snowboarding.com
Snowboarding in Turkey
Faculty of Engineering, Eastern Mediterranean University 14
SNOWBOARDING IN OLYMPICS & IN TURKEY
Snowboarding In Olympics
Snowboarding has become so popular around the world in the 90’s so the
International Olympic Committee decided to make it an Olympic sport in 1994.
Snowboarding first appeared in the Olympics at Nagano, Japan in 1998. Two events
made in that year, the giant slalom which is similar to ski event and a half-pipe
freestyle event in which
competitors perform tricks
while going from one side of a
semi-circular pile of snow to
the other. In 2002 the giant
slalom turned into parallel
giant slalom which is an event
that involves head-to-head
racing. A third event added in
2006 and it was called snowboard cross which the competitors race with each other
down a course with jumps and other obstacles. At the 2010 Winter Olympics in
Vancouver, Shaun White won his second gold in the half-pipe. White recorded a score
high enough to secure the gold medal without a second run. He performed his second
run as a victory lap and he finished his run with a trick called “Double McTwist 1260”
which he named “The Tomahawk”. Only two snowboarders in the world performed
this trick for now and the other one is “Podladtchikov” from Russia.
Figure 10. Half Pipe.
Note. BBC Sport. (2006). Retrieved on May 14, 2010 from
the World Wide Web: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/
other_sports/winter_sports/4542266.stm
Snowboarding in Turkey
Faculty of Engineering, Eastern Mediterranean University 15
Snowboarding In Turkey
Snowboarding in Turkey have started getting popular at the end of 90’s and
nowadays, ski centers like the one in Uludağ are full of snowboarders. It seems that
every year more young people are starting this sport and attending to winter festivals
such as Snowfest and Whitefest, which are getting more popular among the university
students. Places to snowboard in Turkey are Uludağ (Bursa), Kartalkaya (Bolu),
Sarıkamış (Kars), Palandöken (Erzurum), Erciyes (Kayseri), Kartepe (İzmit), Davraz
(Isparta), Bozdağ (İzmir) and Ilgaz (Kastamonu).
Uludağ is one of the first ski centers in Turkey. It offers the most alternative
with the number of pistes and ski resorts and it is preferred by most of the skiers and
boarders. The total length of 20 pistes in Uludağ is about 25km’s. Kartalkaya has two
ski resorts and Dorukkaya Hotel opened the biggest snowpark in Turkey in 2009
which made this place one of the most popular snowboarding areas in Turkey. While
Kartalkaya offers great freestyle riding opportunities, Sarıkamış has the best quality of
snow in Turkey which is in perfect crystal shape and it’s the best place to ride off-piste
in deep snow without the risk of avalanches. Erciyes is also great with its smooth and
non-perpendicular pistes for new beginners. Thus, Palandöken in Erzurum has the
most upright and difficult slopes. Although there are many places to snowboard,
snowboarding still needs to be developed in Turkey. Unfortunately, there is no half-
pipe in Turkey for today but with the help of a couple of sponsors, snowboarders may
be able to use half-pipes in the near future.
Snowboarding in Turkey
Faculty of Engineering, Eastern Mediterranean University 16
Heli-Boarding in Turkey
There is also opportunity to heli-
board in Turkey. According to Wikipedia
Heli-board or heli-skiing is “off-trail,
downhill skiing that is accessed by a
helicopter, not a ski lift. Heliskiing is
essentially about skiing in a natural –
albeit highly selected – environment
without the effort or gear compromise
required for hiking into these areas as in ski touring or ski mountaineering”.
Professional riders all over the world come to Turkey to taste the feeling of freedom
when riding down from the peak of the Kaçkar Mountains which is located in the
north-east of Turkey, on the shores of the Black Sea. Heli-Boarding is only for
professionals and it has serious risks like avalanches and getting lost in the deep snow.
Alaska snowboarding pioneer Farmer (2005) states “unless you are fully prepared to
be in a situation of life or death, you shouldn’t be up here”, which shows the
seriousness of this sport. To prevent these risks, the heli-boarding companies are
providing gears like a GPS (Global Positioning System) device to riders and following
them with a Helicopter.
Figure 11. Snowboarders at the peak.
Note. Heliskiing. (2008). Retrieved on May
26, 2010 from the World Wide Web: http://
www.heliskiingreview.com/heliskiingreview/i
mages/operators/56Nu9066/32RO9064_Helib
oarding%20Alaska%20Drop%20Off.jpg
Snowboarding in Turkey
Faculty of Engineering, Eastern Mediterranean University 17
CONCLUSION
In this report, I have presented history of snowboarding, snowboarding styles
and types, as well as snowboarding in Olympics and Turkey. Afterwards, I have
informed about an interesting fact about the origin of snowboarding that is the oldest
snowboard ever known is in Turkey, named as “Üzme”. In addition, I focused on three
styles of snowboarding which are freeride, freestyle and freecarve and the most
popular style is freeride because it involves riding any kind of terrain. I have also
explained the three types of boards for each style and snowboarding in Turkey with
great places to ride. In my opinion, nowadays snowboarding is becoming one of the
most popular winter sports with different styles and unlimited tricks to learn; therefore
it is important to keep it popular especially in Turkey, as snowboarding in Turkey can
be more popular by building half-pipes and snow parks in major ski areas like Uludağ
and this way, snowboarders in Turkey can improve themselves to compete with other
competitors from different countries. This will also attract more tourists to the
unknown beautiful mountain resorts like the one in Sarıkamış. In a final manner,
snowboarding is a great sport with a lot of attraction and I think everyone, and even
those who have a little interest, should learn snowboarding.
Snowboarding in Turkey
Faculty of Engineering, Eastern Mediterranean University 18
REFERENCES
ABC of Snowboarding. (2003). Snowboarding basics & background information.
Retrieved April 15, 2010 from the World Wide Web: http://www.abc-of-
snowboarding.com/info/snowboarding-basics.asp
Curly, K. (Producer), & Harrison, K (Director). (2005). First Descent.
Heliskiing. Online Encyclopedia of Wikipedia . Retrieved May 16, 2010 from the
World Wide Web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliskiing
Jones, J. (2008, September 13). The origin of snowboarding discovered. Retrieved
May 02, 2010 from the World Wide Web: http://blog.jonessnowboards.com/
2008/09/the-origin-of-snowboarding-discovered/
Shaun White. Online Encyclopedia of Wikipedia. Retrieved April 10, 2010 from the
World Wide Web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaun_White
Snowboard TR. (2009, October 26). Snowboarding in Turkey. Retrieved May 05,
2010 from the World Wide Web: http://www.snowboard.gen.tr/index5.htm
Snowboard Types. Online Encyclopedia of Wikipedia. Retrieved April 10, 2010 from
the World Wide Web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowboard
Snowboarding. Online Encyclopedia of Britannica. Retrieved May 02, 2010 from the
World Wide Web: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/550613/
snowboarding
Snowboarding. Online Encyclopedia of Wikipedia. Retrieved April 10, 2010 from the
World Wide Web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowboarding
Snowboarding at the Winter Olympics. Online Encyclopedia of Wikipedia.
Retrieved May 16, 2010 from the World Wide Web: http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Snowboarding_ at_the_Winter_Olympics