Snowboarding's Giant Slalom: Snowboarding for Serious Competitors

The Slalom is a competition in which a snowboarder races down a mountain course hoping for the best score to win the top award. While the slalom was originally a way for skiers to race, the idea worked equally well for snowboarding, and so it caught fire and is often seen in snowboarding competitions.

1998 was the first year that snowboarding was accepted as an Olympic competition, and in the Olympic winter games that year, it was the half pipe and the slalom in Nagano that brought snow boarding full legitimacy (not that it needed it at that point). Since then, there are now six snowboard events at the Olympics, but the snowboarding giant slalom and parallel giant slalom are still among the most popular.

The difference between the two is this: the giant slalom is a course where one snowboarder at a time takes on the course, and the winner is decided by final time. In the parallel giant slalom, there are two identical courses that are laid out side by side. Two snowboarders carve around gates in the side-by-side courses, and the first one to the finish line wins. The two switch after the first run, and the largest combined margin of victory after two runs is the winner, and that snowboarder makes it to the next race.

The giant slalom has been a part of snowboarding competitions since the beginning in 1982, when the United States held their first national championships. The giant slalom is often also referred to as the alpine slalom, and the excitement of seeing two snowboarders carving their way down the slope.

The giant slalom, whether it is by itself of parallel, gives viewers the thrill of seeing skilled snowboarding pros fly through a course as they display the epitome of control and speed. This event is sure to gain even more fans as it continues.

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