Boardercross (also Boarder-X or BX - and occasionally referred to as Snowboard Cross) is a snowboard competition in which a group of racers (usually four) start simultaneously atop an inclined course, then attempt to reach finish line at the end of the course first. A snowboard is a thin hourglass shaped board ridden down a sloped section of earth covered in snow

Still widely referred to as boardercross by the snowboarding community, it wasn't until the International Ski Federation (FIS) (the skiers' organisation which controls Olympic ski events) assumed control of Olympic boardercross events that the term snowboard cross materialised. The International Ski Federation/Fédération Internationale de Ski (FIS is the main international organisation of ski sports This was due largely to the language barrier - because when boardercross is translated into the FIS's native French and back again, snowboard cross emerges as a literal translation.

Boardercross courses are typically quite narrow and includes cambered turns, gap jumps, berms, drops, and steep and flat sections designed to challenge the riders' ability to stay in control. Camber angle is the angle made by the Wheel of an automobile specifically it is the angle between the vertical axis of the wheel and the vertical axis of the vehicle when A berm is a level space shelf or raised barrier separating two areas It is not uncommon for racers to collide with each other. Some observers have compared the sport to short track speed skating because of the amount of contact involved. Short track speed skating (also Shorttrack speedskating) is a form of competitive ice Speed skating. The name and the riders' full-face helmets show the sport's influence by motocross. A helmet is a form of Protective gear worn on the head to protect it from injuries a variation of the hat Motocross is a form of Motorcycle sport or All-terrain vehicle racing held on enclosed Off road circuits

Steven Rechtschaffer is widely credited with creating the first official boardercross course at Whistler Blackcomb in 1990, however similar events were being held for at least five years prior to this event - 1985 being the year of the first (now legendary) Mt. Baker Banked Slalom.

In major multi-sport competitions

Boardercross has been an event in every X-Games since their start in 1997. The X Games is an annual event with a focus on extreme action sports It made its Winter Olympics debut in 2006. The Winter Olympic Games are a winter Multi-sport event held every four years The 2006 Winter Olympic Games Snowboarding competition consisted of men's and women's Halfpipe, Parallel Giant Slalom and Snowboard Cross The first Olympic medals for Men's Snowboard Cross were won by:

Medal	Athlete
Gold	Seth Wescott (USA) [1]
Silver	Radoslav Židek (SVK)
Bronze	Paul-Henri Delerue (FRA)

The first Olympic medals for Women's Snowboard Cross were won by:

Medal	Athlete
Gold	Tanja Frieden (SUI) [2]
Silver	Lindsey Jacobellis (USA)
Bronze	Dominique Maltais (CAN)

In video games

The earlier releases in the EA Sports SSX (Super Snow Cross) series of video games were loosely based on boardercross. Seth Wescott (born June 28, 1976 in Durham North Carolina) is an American snowboarder. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Radoslav Židek (born October 15, 1981 in Žilina) is a snowboarder who became the first Slovak to win a Winter Olympics medal Slovakia (long form Slovak Republic; Slovak:, long form, is a Landlocked country in Central Europe with a population of over five million Paul-Henri Delerue of France is a snowboarder who competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin Italy This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Tanja Frieden (born 6 February 1976 in Berne) is a Swiss Snowboarder. Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation Lindsey Jacobellis (born August 19, 1985 in Danbury Connecticut) is an American Snowboarder from Stratton Vermont. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Dominique Maltais (born November 9, 1980 in Charlevoix, Quebec) is a Canadian Snowboarder. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page EA Sports is a brand name used by Electronic Arts since 1993 to distribute games based on Sports Formerly a gimmick inside Electronic Arts sports SSX ( Snowboard Supercross) is the first in a series of Snowboarding video games published by EA Sports BIG. A video game is a Game that involves interaction with a User interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. The games are very much arcade-style video games, not a simulation game, focusing more on unrealistic tricks and larger-than-life courses.

The game Sonic Riders, a Sonic the Hedgehog series racing game in which SEGA characters race on hoverboards, is partly inspired by Snowboard Cross. is a hoverboard-racing video game spin-off produced by Sega and developed by Sonic Team's UGA Division]] for the [[Nintendo GameCube]] [[Sony PlayStation 2]] [[Microsoft Xbox]] and Video Games See also [[List of games featuring Sonic the Hedgehog]] Nearly all games in the series feature a teenage hedgehog named "Sonic the Hedgehog" is a multinational Video game Software and Hardware development company and a former Home computer

See also

• Motocross
• Skiercross
• Monoboard

References

1. ^ Torino 2006 - Snowboard, Men's "Snowboard Cross" Finals
2. ^ Torino 2006 - Snowboard, Women's Snowboard Cross Finals