🏛️Official — FIS
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Winter Sports
1 players
outdoor
snowboard, helmet, goggles
10 essential rules
Snowboarding debuted as an Olympic sport at the 1998 Nagano Winter Games with Giant Slalom and Halfpipe events. Governed by FIS (International Ski and Snowboard Federation) under ICR Book VI — Snowboard, the sport has expanded steadily in the Olympic programme. Snowboard Cross was added in 2006 (...
Halfpipe / Slopestyle / Big Air: No minimum board length. Athletes choose boards suited to their height, weight, and riding style. Typical lengths range from 148–162 cm. Boards are twin-tipped (symmetrical nose and tail) for switch riding.; Snowboard Cross: No minimum length. Boards are direction...
Freestyle events (Halfpipe, Slopestyle, Big Air): Soft-boot highback bindings with strap-in or rear-entry systems. The binding must securely retain the boot and allow quick release in emergencies.; SBX: Soft-boot bindings similar to freestyle but often with stiffer highbacks for responsiveness.; ...
Helmet: Crash helmets are compulsory for all FIS snowboard events and must be worn according to the manufacturer's recommendations (ICR 2012.6). Must conform to EN 1077 or equivalent. Full-face helmets permitted in SBX and PGS.; Back / impact protector: Mandatory for Halfpipe and Slopestyle at Wo...
Size: Level A competitions (OWG, WSC, WJC, WC, YOG) use a 22 ft / 6.7 m pipe; Level B uses 18 ft and Level C 15 ft (ICR 3102.2.1).; Length: A 22 ft pipe must have at least 160 m of rideable length, 170 m recommended (ICR 3102.2.1).; Width: At least 19.0 m from coping to coping on a 22 ft pipe, wi...
Vertical drop: At least 150 m at Level A, 80 m at Level B and 50 m at Level C, with an average gradient of 10° or steeper (ICR 3102.3.1).; Width: 30 m slope width (ICR 3102.3.1).; Features: The course must have at least two different feature types (table top jumps, fun boxes, quarter pipes, waves...
Kicker: At least 2.0 m high, with a take-off angle of at least 25° and a width of at least 5.0 m (ICR 3102.4.1).; Landing: Take-off to landing of at least 15 m at Level A and B (10 m otherwise), a landing gradient of at least 28°, and a landing at least 20 m wide and 20 m long (ICR 3102.4.1).; In...
Length: 800–1,300 m at Level A, at least 600 m at Level B and at least 450 m at Level C (ICR 5102.1.1).; Vertical drop: 100–250 m at Level A (ICR 5102.1.1).; Average course angle: 7°–11° (about 12–20%) at Level A (ICR 5102.1.1).
Course: 400–700 m long with 100–200 m of vertical drop and an average angle of 16° (+/- 2°) (ICR 6102.2).; Gates: About 22–26 gates are recommended, set 20–25 m apart turning pole to turning pole (22–24 m recommended). The two courses are set 9–12 m apart (ICR 6102.2, 6104.3.2, 6104.3.3).; Course...
Halfpipe / Slopestyle / Big Air: Individual runs in heats. The standard World Cup and major-event final has 10–12 men and 6–12 women (ICR 3501.2).; Snowboard Cross: Knockout heats of 4 or 6 riders (ICR 5502.1). Qualification can be timed runs, seeding runs, qualification heat rounds, 3-heats qual...
Halfpipe / Slopestyle / Big Air: At World Cups there are at least 6 scoring judges plus a Head Judge (ICR 3311.7.2), and 6–9 scoring judges plus a Head Judge at the Olympics and World Championships (ICR 3311.7.1). Each judge scores 0–100 without decimals (ICR 3403). With 6 or more scoring judges ...
Clear the landing zone immediately after riding a feature
After landing a jump, rail, or halfpipe run, the rider must move out of the landing and run-out zone without delay. Pausing to celebrate, catch breath, or let a filmer catch up while the next rider is already in the air is considered a dangerous breach of protocol. This norm holds even when no verbal go-signal was given.
FIS event officials and team coaches enforce this actively during training blocks.
Never snake a terrain park feature
Dropping in on a jump, rail, or halfpipe while another rider is still setting up at the top or finishing their run is the cardinal sin of park culture. Each feature operates as an informal queue; the rider who called the drop goes next. Snaking is met with sharp verbal correction from peers and, in organized sessions, intervention from coaches or park staff.
Enforced rigorously at FIS training camps and World Cup practice sessions; coaches will pull riders who repeatedly violate this.
Scope a feature before you send it
Before riding any unfamiliar park feature, backcountry kicker, or natural cliff, riders are expected to first walk or hike by it to assess the takeoff angle, landing zone, and run-out. Hitting a feature blind — especially a large jump — is seen as reckless and disrespectful to others who may be in the landing area.
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Applaud competitors' runs regardless of outcome — including after crashes
At FIS halfpipe, slopestyle, and big air events, the culture strongly expects competing riders to clap and show visible respect after all runs, especially after crashes. Walking past a fallen competitor in silence or failing to acknowledge a rival's standout performance is considered a notable breach of the sport's sportsmanship culture, which is widely viewed as more collaborative than adversarial.
Most visible in halfpipe finals where non-riding competitors gather at the pipe's base and cheer collectively — a distinctive feature of snowboard competition culture compared to many other Olympic disciplines.
Don't drop into a line someone else has set up for (backcountry and off-piste)
If a rider has hiked to the top of a backcountry line or off-piste run and is visibly preparing to drop, cutting in front of them to take the line — especially the first set of fresh tracks — is a serious violation of mountain respect. The convention is to wait, yield, and ask. In avalanche terrain this also carries real safety implications.
Applies equally in competition venue side-country during training days.
Call the drop before committing to a feature in group sessions
In any shared park or halfpipe session, riders waiting at the top are expected to verbally signal — 'dropping', 'going', 'in' — before committing to their run. In halfpipe, calling which wall you intend to hit prevents collisions when multiple riders are active in the pipe simultaneously.
Standard practice in FIS halfpipe and slopestyle team training sessions.