Snowboarding in the Olympics, Josh T
Tuesday, April 20, 2010 at 10:54AM Advanced Essay
April 2010
The Winter Olympics and Snowboarding: A Good or Bad Relationship?
Exordium
The origin of the Olympic Games lies in ancient Greek culture. It started as an ancient track and field competition and has now become the largest world sporting event, with every major international sport represented. As different disciplines were added to the Olympics, it was separated into the Summer Games and the Winter Games, alternating games every two years. Ever since the split, more and more events have been added as time has gone on. In the 1998 Nagano games, a young, controversial sport was added to the Winter Olympic line-up. That sport was snowboarding.
For its entire existence, snowboarding has been the center of much controversy in the snow-sports world, particularly among the alpine ski crowd. In 1998 it was introduced in the Nagano Japan games with two events, the halfpipe and the parallel giant slalom. The addition of the sport to the Olympic games only added fuel to the debate. There were outbursts from both the skiing community and the smaller snowboarding community. Many of the members of the international skiing community were outraged that such a loose, rebellious activity had earned the honor of becoming an Olympic discipline.
The main issue of dispute in the snowboarding camp was the issue of jurisdiction. “Prior to the 1998 Games, many snowboarders became upset when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) gave the jurisdiction of the event to the International Skiing Federation (FIS) instead of the International Snowboarding Federation (ISF).”1 Many of the world’s professional snowboarders cried foul at this apparent misplacement of authority. The general feeling was that the control over the administration and judging of the Olympic and the World Cup Olympic qualifiers should be entrusted to those who knew how the sport works. Most snowboarders felt that the FIS would not do a good job representing the sport. There was and is still controversy even among the snowboarding community about whether or not the Olympics should be boycotted due to the jurisdiction of the FIS. Among those who ardently opposed the control of the FIS in 1998 was the Norwegian freerider Terje Haakonsen. Regarded as the greatest snowboarder in the world at the time of the Nagano Olympics, Haakonsen proudly proclaimed “Snowboarding is not a discipline of skiing”2 and swore off of competing in the Olympics forever.
Despite the struggle over the sport’s involvement in the Games, it has grown increasingly popular with each successive Olympics. To date it has only been included in four Games, the most recent having just ended this season. Now it is one of the most viewed Winter Olympic sports, halfpipe being the most popular event. “In 2010, the sport sits behind only figure skating as the most watched event at the Games.”3 The halfpipe course alone has doubled in height since the Nagano Games. The skill level of the competitors has shot through the roof. In this year’s games “His [Shaun White’s] Double McTwist 1260 was watched by more than 30 million viewers.”4 According to weather.com, “5.5 million people participate in snowboarding.”5 Because of the international appeal of the Olympics, over five times the amount of people that actually participate in snowboarding watched the Olympic men’s halfpipe final in 2010. Snowboarding is nearing the point of worldwide recognition along with skiing. “24% of the snow sports population are snowboarders.”6 With all of the recognition snowboarding is receiving from the Olympics, one cannot help but stop and wonder how well the FIS is representing the sport.
Because the Olympics provides the main picture of snowboarding to the general public, the growth and expansion of the sport is greatly influenced by what aspects are televised to the audience. For most people who are not involved in the snow sports world, the Olympics are their sole source for information on snowboarding. People will be influenced to engage in the sport of snowboarding based on what they see of it. The two main factors that influence this decision are the apparent accessibility and enjoyment. If one sees snowboarding as not accessible for any reason such as difficulty, finances, travel etc., they will be unlikely to participate in the sport. If one sees the sport as not enjoyable, dangerous, physically demanding, they will often be less likely to engage because they have no desire to do so. So the question becomes, is the Olympics really good for snowboarding?
Narratio
The answer is no. The representation of the sport of snowboarding in the Olympics has a negative effect on the general industry of snowboarding.
Divisio
Most of the reasons for this lie in the nature of the events themselves. For the most part, the three events included in the Olympics do not present the picture of true snowboarding. The most popular event, halfpipe, is judged on difficulty and execution of aerial maneuvers, it is not judged on the on-snow riding abilities of the competitors. The least popular event, parallel giant slalom, is a downhill slalom race in which the competitors slalom through gates on an icy course. Parallel GS is a relatively unpopular event and the competitors employ equipment and techniques that are very different from normal snowboarding. The newest event, boardercross, involves competitors racing down a course filled with turns, jumps, drops and rollers. Four people are run side by side. This four-man competition turns the event into a dangerous, wild event where the best man does not necessarily win, due to the high amount of random crashes that do occur, this competition casts the sport in an unattractive and inaccessible light. These factors combined cause the public to see a warped view of snowboarding and not get a true picture of how accessible and enjoyable the sport really is.
Confirmatio
The sport of snowboarding is under the control of the FIS in the venues of the Winter Olympic Games and the World Cup snowboarding events. In the Olympics, snowboarding is represented in three disciplines. Compared to the eight disciplines allotted to the traditional downhill discipline of skiing, snowboarding does not get very much competitive action compared to skiing. Nonetheless, snowboarding has risen quickly in audience popularity and is now among the top Winter Olympic sports. But the three disciplines represented in the Games do not supply a well rounded picture of true snowboarding. Admittedly, no single snowboarding event can demand the epitome of exceptional overall riding from its competitors. That is why specialized events exist, to cover the broad spectrum of a complex sport. But the three events included in the Olympics are for the most part either highly specific as per the particular skills required to be proficient, or they present a picture that is unattractive to spectators and tend to discourage people from getting into the sport.
The events included in the Olympics do not provide an accurate representation of true snowboarding. Consider the halfpipe event. The FIS official definition of the halfpipe is simply, “The Halfpipe is a channel constructed in the snow.”7 The competitors ride from side to side along the halfpipe, catching air and performing tricks all the way to the bottom. While it is undoubtedly true that the riders must have skill in order to compete in the halfpipe, the rider does not necessarily need excellent riding technique as the judging is based solely on the aerial maneuvers and landings. In essence, the rider only has to have enough skill to ride from one side of the halfpipe to the other, lift off and then land correctly. It is does not follow a linear downhill path as typical snowboarding most often does. Instead, the riders follow a back and forth path across the pipe, using the same feature to jump and then land multiple times. A professional halfpipe rider does not have to focus on having exceptional on-snow skills except those necessary for clean landings, and perfect landings do not necessarily correspond to great overall riding skills. Instead, the skill set required to ride halfpipe proficiently are freestyle techniques that are very difficult to obtain by the average snowboarder. As a result, the people influenced by the halfpipe to take up snowboarding are quickly disappointed when they realize they will not be able to emulate their heroes’ impressive arrays of tricks. Case in point, a young snowboard instructor was teaching a snowboard lesson the day after the men’s halfpipe finals of the 2010 Vancouver Games. Three of the group sat down in frustration twenty minutes into the lesson. “Shaun White made it look so easy last night,” they said. The halfpipe event may look attractive to those wanting to get into the sport, but many are discouraged upon actually trying the sport. In addition, halfpipes are quite rarely found in ski areas open to the public. People getting into the sport who want to ride halfpipe are usually disappointed. Halfpipe has become popular among Olympic fans and there is talk of adding the same event for alpine skiing, which is already a prominent World Cup and X Games event. But the popularity encouraged in the spectators is that merely of a spectator, very little emphasis is placed on encouraging participation in the sport. Admittedly, the halfpipe is a very popular event and has no doubt contributed greatly to the awareness of the sport, but it has done little if any good for the industry.
“Two snowboard events were introduced at the Nagano 1998 Winter Games — halfpipe and individual giant slalom. Parallel giant slalom replaced individual giant slalom at the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic Winter Games”8 The discipline of parallel giant slalom, abbreviated PGS, involves two alpine slalom racers racing head to head on icy side by side courses. “A parallel is a competition where two competitors ride simultaneously side by side down two parallel courses. The setting of the courses, the configuration of the terrain and the preparation of the snow are to be as identical as possible.”9 PGS racers use equipment completely different than standard snowboarding gear. The boards they use are long, narrow, stiff and only have a single forward facing shovel. The binding setup places the bindings very close together and angled forward at extremely sharp angles to the lateral axis of the board. The boots used are alpine boots that are nearly the same as downhill ski boots. Not only do the boots resemble ski boots, but the whole gamut of alpine snowboarding resembles skiing, from the race suits they wear to the techniques they use. The event begins with timed qualifying heats to separate the finalists from the field. The finals feature two riders racing head-to-head through slalom gates on nearly identical side-by-side racing courses. In 1998 the event only consisted of racers racing on a similar course but instead of racing head-to-head, they raced alone against the clock. This style of snowboarding is largely dominated by Europeans and is quite unpopular overall compared to the other disciplines. The techniques used by alpine snowboarders resemble skiing more than snowboarding. Because the binding angles are closer to parallel with the length of the board than perpendicular, the alpine turning method employs more side to side foot movement, rather than the toe to heel style of standard freeride and freestyle. Also, due to the very narrow stance, alpine riders usually use their upper body to steer their snowboard more than a regular rider. These factors all make alpine riding an impractical sport for anyone other than a professional athlete. Alpine riding has become more and more unpopular with time and the ratio of alpine riders to average riders is very low. Due to PGS’s lack of publicity and low appeal level, its Olympic exposure is not beneficial to the general industry of snowboarding.
In 2006, a third discipline was added to the Olympic snowboarding lineup. This event bridged the gap between the intense high speeds of PGS and the awe-inspiring big air of the halfpipe. This event was boardercross “The newest Olympic sport of boardercross was introduced in Torino in 2006. Four riders descend simultaneously through the banked turns, rollers and jumps - the first one across the line wins!”10 An Olympic boardercross competition starts in a similar way as PGS in that “timed runs are used to qualify competitors for the finals.”11 The racers compete on a course filled with turns, jumps and drops. The quarterfinals, semifinals and finals are done with four people on the course at once. The element of other riders in such a narrow amount of space creates an environment filled with crash after crash. Boardercross is more of a pure snowboarding sport in the sense that the skills and equipment use by the riders are the most like that of well-rounded snowboarding. While the halfpipe judges focus solely on the aerial maneuvers, a champion boardercross racer must be equally proficient and comfortable in the air as well as on the ground. The typical boardercross course offers a challenging mixture of elements that require a full set of skills to overcome successfully. Boardercross has become very popular among fans of the Olympics, most likely because of the excitement generated by the danger factor. It has become so prominent that after its first year it influenced the inclusion of its two-planked alpine counterpart, skiercross, as an Olympic alpine event. But despite boardercross’s newfound popularity and its contribution to the recognition of snowboarding, it does not have a significant effect of influencing people to join the sport, most likely due to the the pure messiness of this event. Mid-air collisions are a staple of the race and although no overt interference between competitors is tolerated, more than a few elbows are thrown during the race. This makes for a great spectator sport, like football or boxing is for many people, but gives the impression of an unnecessarily risky, adversarial activity that is unappealing to the average person. In short, the event of boardercross covers a broad range of riding skills, but discourages participation in snowboarding.
Confutatio
Some would dispute the claim that the Olympics is bad for snowboarding by asserting that it has helped propel it into the public’s eye. It is undoubtedly true that without the Olympics, snowboarding would be as well known today as it is. But that does not necessarily mean the sport has prospered because of its international exposure. As stated before, it has been encouraged as a spectator sport. It is through the idea of exhibition sports that the Olympics thrives. Without the element of a captive audience, the Olympics would be nothing like what it is today. With the Wall Street Journal reporting, “A lavish opening ceremony in Vancouver reported to have cost nearly $40 million.”12 It is only because of the mass public appeal that the games can afford to be such a big event. It is no secret how snowboarding is highly popular among fans of the Games. This is illustrated in the opening and closing ceremonies. In the opening ceremonies, a video was played of a snowboarder riding through the Canadian mountains, the video ended and the snowboarder suddenly flew through the enormous Olympic rings and landed inside the stadium. The closing ceremonies featured a crowd of people carrying snowboard-shaped props. Just a two examples of how snowboarding has risen in the ranks of the Olympic disciplines.
It is definite that the sport has risen quickly in popularity in the last fifteen years. But do the Olympics deserve credit for the prosperity of the sport? Perhaps they do. Although snowboarding is popular with the general public during the Olympics, that time accounts for only a couple of weeks every four years. All of the hype coming from the general public about each sport all but dies away only a few weeks after the closing ceremonies. The same people who were wildly cheering for their country’s representatives give little thought to most of the sports in the four years between each Games. That is exactly the kind of participation the Olympics encourages. The concern is not about athlete participation, there are always athletes willing to compete. The IOC’s main concern is with fostering spectatorship. The website for the Vancouver Olympics states clearly “The Olympic Winter Games could not happen without Olympic sponsors.”13 A simple principle, without the viewers, no sponsors are willing to buy advertising space. Therefore the more the Games focus on wooing the general viewing audience instead of concentrating on providing world-class competition, the more sponsorship money they receive. Coca-cola, Acer, GE, Mcdonalds, Panasonic, Samsung and Visa are all official Olympic sponsors. 3M, General Mills, Coors, Nike, and SleepCountry14 are just a few of the official suppliers of the Games. Without these companies providing financial support, the IOC could not afford to build the extravagant venues or put on multi-million dollar ceremonies. The attention that could be given to promoting healthy sportsmanship is detracted from by the show business focus that sustains the lavish occasion. Nevertheless, the Olympics still are the premier overall sporting competition in the world.
Conclusio
So what efforts can the FIS and the IOC make to ensure both healthy competition and the promotion of snowboarding? Look at what has been done with alpine skiing. It has the most variety of events of any current Winter Olympic sport and is the major artery of life for the Winter Games. Arguably, the Olympics could go on without perhaps curling or the biathalon, but the Olympics would just not be the same without skiing. Snowboarding has the potential to become as great of an Olympic sport as skiing with numerous opportunities for increasing the variety of events. Adding new events would also help the industry of snowboarding because it would widen he public’s perspective on the sport, helping them to realize that snowboarding has something for everyone.
The FIS also has jurisdiction over the World Cup snowboarding events. In addition to the three events included in the Olympics, the World Cup also features big air competitions, slopestyle competitions and various alpine events including giant slalom, slalom, and parallel slalom, which is the smaller cousin of the Olympic alpine event. There have been rumors related to the possible inclusion of new snowboarding events in the Olympics, the latest of which being the possibility of the inclusion of the slopestyle event. Slopestyle, like halfpipe is a freestyle event in which the competitors use a run filled with various features, typically jumps and rails, to perform a wide variety of tricks that are judged based on creativity, difficulty and execution. Slopesyle differs from halpipe in that it is a linear event, the competitors follow a more or less direct line down the slope. Also the inclusion of a variety of styles of jumps and rails requires a wider skill set to be employed during the competition than that of halfpipe. The best thing the Olympics can do for the industry of snowboarding is to work to include new events in order to show that snowboarding is accessible and enjoyable by a much wider group of people.
Works Cited
1. “History of Olympic Snowboarding." ABC-of-Snowboarding . Web. 15 Apr. 2010.
2. "Olympic Guide." Transworld Snowboarding 10 Mar. 2009: 78. Print.
3. Sullivan, James. "Snowboarding grows quickly as an Olympic sport." USA Today 17 Feb. 2010. Web. 15 Apr. 2010.
4. Mauro, Chris. "Shaun White is the gold standard of Olympic champions to Marketeers." GrindTV 3 Mar. 2010. Web. 15 Apr. 2010.
5. “Facts About Snowboarding." Weather.com . Web. 15 Apr. 2010.
6. "Facts About Snowboarding." Weather.com . Web. 15 Apr. 2010.
7. "INTERNATIONAL SNOWBOARD COMPETITION RULES." FIS International Ski Federation Oct. 2008: 94. Web. 15 Apr. 2010.
8. "About the Sport." Vancouver2010 2010. Web. 15 Apr. 2010.
9. "INTERNATIONAL SNOWBOARD COMPETITION RULES." FIC International Ski Federation 2008: 85. Web. 15 Apr. 2010.
10. "Olympic Guide." Transworld Snowboarding 10 Mar. 2009: 80. Print
11. “INTERNATIONAL SNOWBOARD COMPETITION RULES." FIC International Ski Federation 2008: 110. Web. 15 Apr. 2010.
12. Staff, WSJ. "Winter Olympics 2010: Opening Ceremonies Over the Years." The Wall Street Journal Feb. 2010. Web. 15 Apr. 2010.
13. "Sponsors and Partners." Vancouver2010 2010. Web. 15 Apr. 2010.
14. "Vancouver 2010 Sponsors." Vancouver2010 2010. Web. 15 Apr. 2010.
Reader Comments (6)
Josh, I love the topic, but I must disagree with you. Snowboarding is just wrong any way you slice it. If you really knew what skiing does for your soul, you would never snowboard again. :) ~Greta
Interesting essay. However, just because most snowboarders cannot do something does not mean that they should not see it. After all, just because most people cannot do miracles, does that mean that miracles should not have been written into the Bible?
Greta: I DO ski as well and I actually find it quite enjoyable, but snowboarding is just plain fun to do. Nevertheless this essay was not intended to address this debate.
James: I agree completely, but what I was trying to convey was that the disciplines practiced in the Olympics do not reflect the essential nature of the sport.
Josh, I completely understand that this essay was not meant to address the bitter, century long debate between snowboarders and skiiers. I'm glad you have been able to truly enjoy the winter sport (skiing) that deserves supremacy over all other winter sports (particularly snowboarding). ~Greta
Yes, I understand, Josh
Very well put Josh. . . I find your work profoundly supernal. You did a consummative job delivering your point. I find your writing quite enthralling, keep at it!