AusLeisure

Victoria University researchers are trialling a new concept in snowboarder training that could help increase participation in the sport.

Researchers Professor Damian Farrow and PhD student Georgia Giblin are testing boards with a built-in braking system. In the new design, boarders hold a leash with their trailing arm then pull the leash to drop a metal brake into the snow, creating friction and slowing them down.

Professor Farrow explained “snowboarding is typically a very difficult skill to learn, so many beginners spend a week on their backside getting very cold and sore before they can even link turns together, not to mention the possibility of broken bones.

“It’s hoped a design like this can change the way beginners learn to snowboard and make it easier.”

Researchers are now recruiting beginner snowboarders - who’ve tried the sport no more than once before – for a test to compare results from training sessions with normal boards and the newly designed Boarder Kontrol boards.

Boarder Kontrol is a brand of Australian company Streetboardz International, which  develops products to help board-riders improve their skills.

Professor Farrow said these boards were being tested because they represented a new concept in snowboarder training that could help lift participation rates for the sport.

During trials, researchers will track the progress of participants and look at how many times they fall, how fast they go, how long they spend sitting on their backside and how far they travel using GPS technology.

Professor Farrow from Victoria University’s Institute of Sport, Exercise & Active Living is supervising the project with  Giblin running the testing.

Thredbo Alpine Resort is providing lift access, instructors for the lessons and snowboard equipment to all participants free of charge.

For more information or to discuss your eligibility to volunteer for a trial this snow season contact Professor Farrow on 03 9919 5001, E: damian.farrow@vu.edu.au

Click here to visit the Boarder Kontrol website.

23rd July 2014 - GROWING SNOWBOARD INJURIES PROMPT CALL FOR USE OF HELMETS

Support our industry news service
We hope that you value the news that we publish so while you're here can we ask for your support?

As an independent publisher, we need reader support for our industry news gathering so ask that - if you don't already do so - you back us by subscribing to the printed Australasian Leisure Management magazine and/or our online news.