Boardercross Snowboarding technically requires a track, but what I am going to talk about is what Boardercross riders do when the are practicing for the track. Most don’t run tracks until race day. Some riders may have a short course to practice on or even a pull start set up to practice starts. This is invaluable training for race day. However, the real trick to being a great Boardercross rider comes from being a great all mountain and all terrain rider. Practicing pumping and carrying speed over Freestyle Terrain and Features, carving, line choice, generating speed and dumping speed when it is required.
Bigger and usually a little heavier than Freestyle boards, a BoarderCross Setup is selected for all around speed and durability. They are different in the fact that they are:
Stiffer flex through length of the board.
Have beefier construction to maximize responsiveness and to be durable enough for the track.
Usually have a GS type of side-cut for long powerful fast turns and stability at speed.
Some racers actually still like to ride a hard shell or Alpine Snowboarding set up for BX, but they have to ride a board with a rounded tail. Though some riders find success with this setup, the numbers of alpine board BXers is continuing to decrease.
For Boardercross Snowboarding, rider must be a board skills expert, with a strong pull out of the gate and the desire to race head to head with other wild individuals.
Variable - Most Boardercrossers march to the beat of their own drummer and have unique styles of their own. These individual personalities are more diverse and interesting than you could possibly imagine.
