Snow boating

2 Snow Kayakers at Monarch Ski Area, Colorado

Snowkayaking or snowboating is a winter sport practised by experienced kayakers. In contrast to the summer sport, the medium of descent does not consist of rivers, but of snow, typically in the backcountry but occasionally at resorts and ski areas.[1] Races are held in a modus known from the snowboard sport and is called boatercross where four kayakers race against each other. The first two of each race will step forward in the next round.

This sport has been officially around since the year 2002 where the first race was held in Lienz/Austria by a local group of kayakers.[2] In the year 2007 a so-called 'world championship' was held in Lienz/Austria were Peter Draxl from Austria was the first champion.[3] Rene Feuerstein (Austria) followed him in the year 2008 as the second world champion.

Powder and backcountry snow kayaking have increased in popularity in the last few years and many videos can be found reflecting the increase in the sports popularity. Typically either playboats or creekboats can be used depending on the style of snowboating to be done. Although PFD's are not worn, drysuits, helmets, and paddles are typically all used.

References

  1. "Tis the Season for Snow Kayaking". Canoe & Kayak Magazine. 2013-12-23. Retrieved 2014-03-17.
  2. "Snow kayak racing in Lithuania". MSN New Zealand (Druskininkai, Lithuania). 2014-03-05. Retrieved 2014-03-17.
  3. announcement for the second world championships

External links


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, November 02, 2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.