Editing Snowboard (section)

==Board construction==
[[File:Ready for the slopes.jpg|thumb|Snowboard with step-in bindings and boots]]
The various components of a snowboard are:

*Core: The interior construction of the snowboard. It is typically made of laminated [[fiberglass]] around wood. [[Beech]] and [[Populus|Poplar]] are the most common woods, though other woods are used such as [[bamboo]] and [[birch]]. There have been continued experiments with aluminum, composite honeycomb, foam and resin to change, or substitute, the standard wood core. Desired properties of the core include damping, rebound, strength, flex and reduced weight.
*Base: The bottom of the board that is in contact with the snow surface. It is generally made of a porous, plastic (polyethylene) material, that is saturated with a wax to create a very quick and smooth, hydrophobic surface. [[P-Tex]] is a brand name that has become synonymous with base material. It is important that the base be "slippery", with respect to the snow surface and board interaction. Bases are made to have amorphous areas that are porous to wax. Wax is an important finishing product for all base materials. Not only does it allow the snowboard to have a smoother glide, but it also allows the rider to change the characteristics of the base and adjust the board to the snow conditions. Different base waxes are available for different temperatures. The base, when maintained, will have a designed base structure that not only channels snow, air and water, but leaves it open enough for wax to penetrate deep inside it. This pattern is created with a stonegrind machine at the factory or a local ski shop. If the base is damaged, it is common to have it repaired in order to protect the core from exposure as well as reducing friction.
: [[Extruded]]: The Polyethylene base material is cut from a large sheet, or squeezed out of a machine much like "Play-Doh". A low maintenance base, it is the least expensive and easiest to repair. Extruded bases are smoother and less porous than other bases. They do not saturate with wax well, and tend to slide slower than other bases. But left unwaxed they do not lose much overall performance. Extruded P-Tex is also cheaper than [[sintered]] P-Tex
: [[Sintered]]: Polyethylene base material is ground to powder then reformed with pressure and heat, and cut to shape. A sintered base is very porous and absorbs wax well. Sintered bases slide faster than extruded bases when waxed, but will be slower if unwaxed for a period. They are more expensive, and harder to repair.
: Sintered Hybrid: Sintered bases may have [[graphite]], [[gallium]], [[indium]] or other materials added. These materials are used increase glide, strength, "wax hold" and other desired characteristics.

*Edge: A strip of metal, tuned normally to just less than 90-degrees, that runs the length of either side of the board. This sharp edge is necessary to be able to produce enough friction to ride on ice, and the radius of the edge directly affects the radius of carving turns, and in turn the responsiveness of the board. Kinking, rusting, or general dulling of the edge will significantly hinder the ability for the edge to grip the snow, so it is important that this feature is maintained. However, many riders who spend a fair amount of their time grinding park rails, and especially handrails, will actually use a detuning stone or another method to intentionally dull their edges, either entirely or only in certain areas. This helps to avoid "catching" on any tiny burrs or other obstructions that may exist or be formed on rails, boxes, and other types of grind. Catching on a rail can, more than likely, result in a potentially serious crash, particularly should it occur on a handrail or more advanced rail set-up. In addition, it's relatively common for freestyle riders to "detune" the edges around the board's contact points. This practice can help to reduce the chances of the rider catching an edge in a choppy or rutted-out jump landing or similar situation. It is important to keep in mind that drastic edge detuning can be near-impossible to fully reverse and will significantly impede board control & the ability to hold an edge in harder-packed snow. One area where this can be quite detrimental is in a [[half-pipe]], where well-sharpened edges are often crucially important for cutting through the hard, sometimes icy, walls.
*Laminate: The snowboard's core is also sandwiched on the top and bottom by at least two layers of [[fiberglass]]. The fiberglass adds stiffness and torsional strength to the board. The fiberglass laminate may be either biaxial (fibers running the length of the board and more fibers 90 degrees perpendicular to it), triax (fibers running the length of the board with 45 degree fibers running across it), or quadax (a hybrid of the biax and triax). Some snowboards also add [[carbon]] and [[aramid]] (also known as [[Twaron]] or [[Kevlar]]) stringers for additional elasticity and strength.
*Camber: Camber refers to the bend of the board from tip to tail. Traditionally boards have a raised camber, meaning that if one were to lay it flat the board comes off the ground between the spots where one's feet would be (contact points). In 2007 companies began to manufacture a number of new camber designs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://snowboarding.transworld.net/1000106102/featuresobf/snowboard-camber-explained/ |title=Snowboard Camber Explained |publisher=Transworld.net |access-date=2009-10-21}}</ref> All fall into these four main categories.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bettersnowboarding.com/typesofsnowboards.html |title=Types Of Snowboards |publisher=Bettersnowboarding.com |access-date=2010-02-09}}</ref>
: Regular: As described above the board flexes up when laid down flat. This is the original design and still the most widely used board form as it is the oldest.
: Reverse: The exact opposite of regular. The board is bent upwards starting at the middle, so that when laid flat the nose and tail are significantly off the ground. This design is ideal for park and freestyle as it allows a much smoother 360-degree rotation on both snow and rails. When standing on the board it is flexed down at the contact points by your weight, but can easily be lifted by shifting your weight off either foot. Sims first released this design in 1985, however, it was popularized recently by companies such as Lib-Tech and K2 Snowboarding.
: De-cambered: The idea is similar to "Reversed" but the lift doesn't start until after the contact points, making the board flat between your feet. This design works well in powder due to its naturally raised tips and its use of the entire edge when turning. The Kinked design also fares well in parks as it has the turning and spin benefits of the "Reverse" camber design. This design is the newest out of the four in terms of form.
: Flat: The board is entirely flat from nose to tail. Because there is no curve these are better suited for casual free riding and most big-air features in park (big-air jumps/pipe).

*Production: There are some manufactures that perform the entire process of snowboard construction and they manufacture over 500 per day with at least 30 different models. There is a great amount of manual work that goes into it as opposed to all of it being performed by machines and robots.

===Sustainable manufacturing===
Amongst Climate Change, the winter sports community is a growing environmentalist group, whom depend on snowy winters for the survival of their culture. This movement is, in part, being energized by a nonprofit named "Protect Our Winters" and the legendary rider Jeremy Jones.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://protectourwinters.org/about#sthash.rYWFqqA2.dpbs |title=Protect Our Winters |publisher=protectourwinters.org |access-date=2013-12-03}}</ref> The organization provides education initiatives, support for community based projects, and is active in climate discussions with the government. Alongside this organization, there are many other winter sports companies who see the ensuing calamity and are striving to produce products that are less damaging to the environment. Snowboard manufacturers are adapting to decreasing supplies of petroleum and timber with ingenious designs.

*One company, [[Burton Snowboards]], in 2007 employed an interesting technique in their attempts to decrease the use of the valuable forest. The core, as mentioned above, was made from a thin honeycomb structure of Aluminum and they called the board the "Alumifly". Now, one might debate that the production of Aluminum is toxic process, however, Aluminum is now being praised for its recycling prowess. This extremely abundant element is 100% recyclable (ability to be recycled with no loss of material performance or quality) and requires only 5% of the energy it takes to make Aluminum from ore.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aluminum.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Auto_Truck&Template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=25648 |title=Aluminum Recyclability |publisher=The Aluminum Association |access-date=2013-12-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207110114/http://www.aluminum.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Auto_Truck&Template=%2FCM%2FContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=25648 |archive-date=2013-12-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Considering all of the Aluminum in circulation today, snowboard cores could easily be made from recycled cans.
*[[Niche Snowboards]], based out of Salt Lake City Utah is another snowboard manufacturer that has really been revolutionizing the industry.{{Citation needed|date=January 2014}} Founded with a focus on the relationships between materials, our environment, and ourselves, the company has an incredible line-up of ecologically-minded boards. Their technology includes: recycled materials, sustainably harvested wood cores, "hemphop stringers" (a carbon fiber substitute), Magma Fiber (a fiberglass substitute made from Basalt), Bio-resins (replacing petroleum-based alternatives), and bamboo topsheets.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nichesnowboards.com/tech/ |title=Niche Snowboard Technology |publisher=Nichesnowboards.com |access-date=2013-12-03}}</ref>
*The boards from the company [https://capitasnowboarding.com/pages/the-factory CAPITA] are made with 100% [[clean energy]] (powered by an in-house hydro activated NH3 [[thermal energy]] system without co2 emissions or [[global warming potential]]), 98% locally sourced materials and are hand crafted. They claim their facility (named "the mothership") is the newest, most technologically advanced and ecologically responsible manufacturing facility in the snowboard industry.

When it comes down to it "the least of our worries will be that skiers and snowboarders don't get to go play," says Jeremy Jones.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/winter-is-in-trouble-snow-athletes-fight-for-climate-action-20130411 |title=Snow Athletes Fight for Climate Action |magazine=Rolling Stone Magazine |access-date=2013-12-03}}</ref>