The Science of Halfpipe Snowboard
Read this article on CTVOlympics.ca.
Halfpipe snowboard is one of the newer events at the Winter Olympics, first appearing in 2002. It’s a hybrid of skiing, skateboarding and surfing and is one of the great events that has made the transition from the popular X-Games to the Olympics.
In halfpipe, riders compete on a half-cylinder shaped course (similar to skateboarding) built into the snow. The half pipe is approximately 120 metres long and has steeply sloping sides. Riders must travel the length of the pipe, crossing from wall to wall by performing maneuvers or acrobatic tricks. Riders are judged on factors such as air, rotation, and overall impression. The boarders are scored according to the height and the distance of the jump (“air”), the precision and the execution of the movement while in the air (“form”) and the landing of the jump. These scores are added to a rating of difficulty to come up with a final score for each jump.
Halfpipe is a sport that relies heavily on physics and the complex interplay between speed, gravity and balance. Snowboarders build up speed every way they can – trying to pick the best line down the pipe, pumping their legs, and then holding their core stable and strong as they fly up the wall of the half-pipe. They try to crouch down leading into the jump, then stand up as they are moving into and up the wall of the pipe- this adds to their “kinetic energy” – in boarder terms that means more height and more air.
The height of the wall can help the boarders go higher as it leads to more “potential energy” being stored by the athlete before take-off. The new pipe in Whister is the biggest ever – at 22 feet high. So we should see some spectacular tricks, and you can bet that this is an Olympics that will see the athletes pushing the limits higher and harder.
When the boarders fall back into the pipe they gain speed. This is a good thing – the faster they go the more air they get when the pipe throws you up and off the next wall. But speed has an effect on the body when you hit the next wall – this is called G-Force. It makes you feel like you are being crushed into the wall, and the faster the boarders are going the more they have to fight back against this with strong leg, core and back muscles.
Halfpipe snowboarders are incredible athletes. They have to have fantastic flexibility, core strength stability, muscle power, and balance. Not to mention the physical skills needed to pull off the extreme tricks that will win you a medal in Vancouver. Training usually involves 2-3 hour snow training sessions followed by gym training sessions that focus not only on building the abilities needed to perform skills and tricks, but also on building up enough strength to handle the physical pounding that the body can take when you fall. In Vancouver the halfpipe will be bigger, the air will be bigger and so the athletes will need to be stronger than ever.
Canadian halfpipe coach Tom Hutchinson has said: “You need to be in good shape. Crashes happen all the time ... you need to make sure you're bouncing back really quick and the gym is the key for that.'' Check out this video to get an idea of the air these athletes catch, and why it might be a good idea to wear a helmet if you ever give this a try!
Greg D. Wells, Ph.D.
Reader Comments (2)
you had a fantastic video on CTVOlympics sponsored by GE called Superbodies ... would love to see that here!
You can see the videos here:
Check out Superbodies at www.ctvolympics.ca > VIDEO > Search: Superbodies
I can't post them on my site yet.
Thanks for your interest.
Greg