Source:

02-12-2009 16:55

The Universiade snowboarding events for men and women are: Half Pipe, Snowboard Cross, and Parallel Giant Slalom.

Half Pipe

The half pipe event is held on a in a half-cylinder-shaped course dug deep into the hill, similar to the half pipe used for skateboarding. It is approximately 135-145 m long with a gradient of 16-17%. Athletes must jump up and over the side walls and then land back, riding the walls while performing acrobatics, called aerials and tricks, crossing the half pipe from one side of the wall to the other six-eight times, using the whole length of the pipe. Each athlete chooses a music track to accompany the entire performance. There are five judges, each of whom examines the competitor on one specific aspect of the performance: straight tricks without rotation (standard air); rotation; overall assessment including the evaluation of the height of the tricks; the range; the technical quality of the performance and the falls, if any (overall impression). The 12 women and 12 men who achieve the highest scores in the two qualifying runs go through to the final. The final consists of two runs: the winner and final scores are determined by the best of the two runs.

Snowboard Cross

Competitors must be skilled in acrobatics as well as alpine boarding techniques.

The competition course is designed and built by an expert (cross builder) and is made up of different sections: whoops (moguls), waves, banks, kickers and spines (jumps with 90° angles). A series of blue and red gates and triangular flags marks the course and indicates entrances to obstacles.

The competition starts with time qualification round in which athletes complete the course individually in 2 runs. The athletes with the best times (32 or 16) in one of the two qualification runs are admitted to the finals. The finalists are divided into heats of 4 competitors who start at the same time on the same track with different colored numbers (yellow, black, blue, red).

The first two athletes to cross the finishing line in each heat go on to the next stage of the finals.

Parallel Giant Slalom

The parallel giant slalom is a competition in which two riders race down the same slope on two parallel courses, marked with gates and triangular flags, blue on the left course and red on the right course. The shaping of the courses, the terrain and snow coverage must be as identical as possible. The vertical drop between the start and finish lines must be between 120 and 200 meters. The competition is preceded by 2 qualifying runs. The first 16 go through to the final which takes place over two rounds, alternating the runs (red, blue). The athlete who finishes first after two runs, goes through to the next round. In the first round a "penalty time" (4% of the best qualification time) is added if a competitor fails to complete the course or leaves the track. The second run determines entry into the next round or medal awarded.

 

Editor:Liu Anqi