Snowboarding

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Snowboarding is a sport that involves descending a slope that is covered with snow on a snowboard attached to a rider's feet using a special boot set onto mounted binding. The development of snowboarding was inspired by skateboarding, surfing and skiing. It was developed in the U.S.A. in the 1960s and the 1970s and became a Winter Olympic Sport in 1998. 

History

Modern snowboarding began in 1965 when Sherman Poppen, an engineer in Muskegon, Michigan, invented a toy for his daughter by fastening two skis together and attaching a rope to one end so she would have some control as she stood on the board and glided downhill. Dubbed the “snurfer” (combining snow and surfer), the toy proved so popular among his daughter’s friends that Poppen licensed the idea to a manufacturer that sold about a million snurfers over the next decade. In the early 1970s, Poppen organized snurfing competitions at a Michigan ski resort that attracted enthusiasts from all over the country. One of those early pioneers was Tom Sims, a devotee of skateboarding (a sport born in the 1950s when kids attached roller skate wheels to small boards that they steered by shifting their weight). As an eighth grader in Haddonfield, New Jersey, in the 1960s, Sims crafted a snowboard in his school shop class by gluing carpet to the top of a piece of wood and attaching aluminum sheeting to the bottom. He produced commercial snowboards in the mid 70's. During this same time, Dimitrije Milovich—an American surfing enthusiast who had also enjoyed sliding down snowy hills on cafeteria trays during his college years in upstate New York—constructed a snowboard called “Winterstick,” inspired by the design and feel of a surfboard. Articles about his invention in such mainstream magazines as Newsweek helped publicize the young sport. Also during this same period, in 1977, Jake Burton Carpenter, a Vermont native who had enjoyed snurfing since the age of 14, impressed the crowd at a Michigan snurfing competition with bindings he had designed to secure his feet to the board. That same year, he founded Burton Snowboards in Londonderry, Vermont. In the spring of 1976 Welsh skateboarders Jon Roberts and Pete Matthews developed a Plywood deck with foot bindings for use on the Dry Ski Slope at the school camp, Ogmore-by-Sea, Wales. UK. Further development of the board was limited as Matthews suffered serious injury while boarding at Ogmore and access for the boarders was declined following the incident. The 'deck' was much shorter than current snow boards. Bevelled edges and a convex, polyurethane varnished bottom to the board, allowed quick downhill movement, but limited turning ability.

In 1979 the first ever World Snurfing Championship was held at Pando Winter Sports Park near Grand Rapids, Michigan. Jake Burton Carpenter, came from Vermont to compete with a snowboard of his own design. There were many protests from the competitors about Jake entering with a non-snurfer board. Paul Graves, the top snurfer at the time, and others, advocated that Jake be allowed to race. A “modified” division was created and won by Jake as the sole entrant. That race was considered the first competition for snowboards and is the start of what has now become competitive snowboarding.

During the 1970s and 1980s as snowboarding became more popular, pioneers such as Dimitrije Milovich, Jake Burton Carpenter (founder of Burton Snowboards from Londonderry, Vermont), Tom Sims (founder of Sims Snowboards), Chuck Barfoot (founder of Barfoot Snowboards) and Mike Olson (founder of Gnu Snowboards) came up with new designs for boards and mechanisms that slowly developed into the snowboards and other related equipment that we know today.

In 1982 the first National Snowboard race was held near Woodstock, Vermont, at Suicide Six.

In 1983 the first World Championship halfpipe competition was held at Soda Springs, California. Tom Sims, founder of Sims Snowboards, organized the event with the help of Mike Chantry, a snowboard instructor at Soda Springs.

Snowboarding's growing popularity is reflected in its recognition as an official sport: in 1985, the first World Cup was held in Zürs, Austria. The International Snowboard Association (ISA) was founded in 1994 to provide universal contest regulations. In addition, the United States of America Snowboard Association (USASA) provides instructing guidelines and runs snowboard competitions in the U.S. Today, high-profile snowboarding events like the Olympic Games, Winter X-Games, US Open, and other events are broadcast worldwide. Many alpine resorts have terrain parks.

Initially, ski areas adopted the sport at a much slower pace than the winter sports public. Indeed, for many years, there was animosity between skiers and snowboarders, which led to an ongoing skier vs snowboarder feud.Early snowboards were banned from the slopes by park officials. For several years snowboarders would have to take a small skills assessment prior to being allowed to ride the chairlifts. It was thought that an unskilled snowboarder would wipe the snow off of the mountain. In 1985, only seven percent of U.S. ski areas allowed snowboarding, with a similar proportion in Europe. As equipment and skills improved, gradually snowboarding became more accepted. In 1990, most major ski areas had separate slopes for snowboarders. Now, approximately 97% of all ski areas in North America and Europe allow snowboarding, and more than half have jumps, rails and half pipes.

An excellent year for snowboarding was 2004 with 6.6 million participants. An industry spokesman said that "twelve year-olds are out-riding adults." The same article said that most snowboarders are 18–24 years old and that females constitute 25% of participants. Now, entering the second decade of the 2000s,snowboarding continues to increase in popularity among all demographic regimes regardless of age, sex, or ability levels.

Styles

Since snowboarding's inception as an established winter sport, it has developed various styles, each with its own specialized equipment and technique. The most common styles today are: free-ride, freestyle, and free-carve/race. These styles are used for both recreational and professional snowboarding. While each style is unique, there is overlap between them. See also List of snowboard tricks.

Films

Snowboarding films have become a main part of progression in the sport. Each season, many films are released, usually in Autumn. These are made by many snowboard specific video production companies as well as manufacturing companies that use these films as a form of advertisement. Snowboarding videos usually contain video footage of professional riders sponsored by companies. An example of commercial use of snowboarding films would be The White Album, a film by snowboarding legend and filmmaker Dave Seoane about Shaun White, that includes cameos by Tony Hawk and was sponsored by PlayStation, Mountain Dew and Burton Snowboards. Snowboarding films are also used as documentation of snowboarding and showcasing of current trends and styles of the sport.

TOPICS

[6]p.93
"The only sensible way to shop nowadays is in big stores"

   The majority of us live in big cities with advanced infrastructure. Nowadays there are a lot of big stores and shopping centres. Of course, nobody will argue about their functionality. You can combine a wide range of goods marketed under one roof, which can be bought without travelling throughout the city. In one section you can buy a GPS Navigator, in other a bicycle and in third some goods for your baby. The assortment in big stores is very various. It's very comfortable to buy all the products for the whole week in one place. Another advantage is sales and actions  in big stores. You can buy expensive or cheap goods depending on your luxuriance.
   But little shops are also very useful. If you want to buy just a bottle of water or some bread, of course, you don't want to go to the supermarket.
   So, the conclusion is simple! Different kinds of shops are necessary and you can choose which one you prefer!


 p.95
1) I live in a flat. And I like it. It's not very big but light and comfortable. The only thing which I don't like it is that the neighbors sometimes can be very noisy.
2) To improve my room? The walls in my room are white, and maybe I would like to change their color on blue or yellow.
3) I never thought about the most beautiful bedroom. But I'll try to imagine. It's not very big, light room with big windows. The bed is big and comfortable. Also there is a big wardrobe with a mirror. The room is decorated with some interesting ancient things. And there is a lot of flowers in the room. The floor is wooden and the walls are yellow or rose. That's all about the bedroom!:-)
 4) The poorest-looking house which I remember is the house situated in the village. I wasn't inside of it. But the outlook was terrible. The walls were ragged, the windows skewed and the roof was holey.


5)  - Hello!
     - Hello! I need some help...
     - Yes! I'm listening you.
     - You know, I need a sofa for my new flat.
     -Okay! Do you need a big or a little one?
     -  I need a big one for the hall.
     - Please, look at this one! Do you like it?
     - It's nice, but I need something else.
     - And what about that one?
     - Oh! It's perfect, but I don't like the color.
     - You can choose the color.
     - Great! Do you have a red one?
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6) Everything is packed on the boxes. Be very careful with white one! And the computer is in the cabinet, please be careful with it! The refrigerator and  a microwave are at the kitchen, so put them at the kitchen in new flat. Put the bed at the middle of the bedroom and don't forget about the TV, put it against the sofa at the hall. And please, put the washing machine at the bathroom. That's all. Be careful! Thanks!




7) Hello everybody! Welcome to Kamyanets-Podilsky! Our city is very old and as you can see it's very beautiful. The city is one of the seven miracles  of Ukraine. There is a lot of historical monuments? museums and significant places in our city. But the pearl of the city is the fortress! It was founded at about 11-12 century. And it was rebuild few times. It has 14 towers, an old bridge and a museum. In the fortress there is the exhibition of the ethnography and of the metal arm. Also at the territory of the fortress you can see an old well. In the subterranean of the fortress you can see the exhibition of the protection the city from the turkmen.
Our city is very enigmatical and exciting. If you saw it     once you'd like to visit it again and again!

The house of my dream

   Many people dream.  Dream to visit  the  unknown countries, dream to fly by balloon or to cross ocean on a sailing vessel.
   Today the majority of people live in flats of multi-story houses. The person is a public essence and sometimes we want to retire from this society. But even in the flat we not always can allow the loneliness.
   The house of my dream is located about few kilometres from the city in a very beautiful place near the river or lake. I dream about place like this because I prefere fresh air and unpolluted water. The house of my dream is not very big, comfortable, well planned, with big windows. I don't need many rooms but they must be light and comfortable. In the hall there are many portraits of family members and a lot of flowers. The bedrooms must be very comfortable and elegant with huge beds and many interesting things. Every bedroom has bathroom and toilet which are spacious and modern.
   The accent of the house is living room with the fireplace. Also there is a little gym and relaxing sauna. In the house of my dream there is a big kitchen with all modern equipment.
   That's all about the house of my dream. I hope that one day my dream will come true. It would be great to live in the house of my dream.