ALPINE SNOWBOARDING
Snowboarding, a dynamic addition to the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025, will see competitors carve their way down the snow-covered slopes of Whistler Mountain. The Novice Competition will take place on Tuesday, February 11, 2025, and Intermediate/Advanced on Wednesday, February 12, 2025, at the Whistler Alpine Venue. Combining speed, agility, and balance, this sport demands adaptive techniques and sharp focus. Each competitor will tackle the course with their own unique approach, showcasing their courage and determination to conquer new challenges.
Snowboarding at the Games embodies the spirit of adventure and highlights the power of sport to inspire recovery and rehabilitation. With the scenic beauty of Whistler as the backdrop, the competition will be a thrilling testament to resilience and skill.
WHAT ARE THE RULES?
There are two individual events:
- Novice (approximately 190-meter course with 5-10 directional changes).
- Intermediate/Advanced (approximately 260-meter course with 10-20 directional changes).
Competitors will race the glalom style course (this is a cross between slalom and giant slalom)
Results are based on the fastest factored time which allows for various impairments to compete on an even playing field.
Alpine Skiing and Snowboarding will take place on the same day on the same courses! The only differentiation is the equipment used. Medals will be awarded separately for Alpine Skiing and Snowboarding events.
HOW ARE COMPETITORS CATEGORISED?
The categorisation process aims to ensure the best possible competitor experience at the Invictus Games. The Invictus Games is a unique competition which enables all participants to compete fairly across all sports, no matter their impairment type.
Each sport has a different categorisation system as the different injuries, illness and impairments affect competitors in different ways in each sport. Each competitor is allocated a category (e.g. IT1, IJ4) for each sport that they compete in. The categorisation system relies on integrity and honesty, and a collaborative relationship between all competitors, and all team staff.
New for the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 is that within the new Winter Snowsports of Nordic (Cross-Country & Biathlon) and Alpine (Skiing & Snowboarding) time factors will be applied. Time factoring is where a competitor’s raw time (i.e. the time it takes to go from the start to finish line) has a percentage applied to it. The percentage corresponds to the sub-category the competitor’s impairment is categorised as. This is to increase the number of competitive events within the new winter sports whilst still providing the fair playing field. And so, someone may appear to cross the finish line first but not appear first in the official results once the time factor is applied.
HOW DID THE SPORT COME TO BE?
Para snowboard was the latest sport added to the Paralympic Winter Games program, featuring for the first time in Sochi (Russia) in 2014.
WHAT SPORT EQUIPMENT IS USED?
- Helmet
- Snowboards
- Tethers
HOW MANY COMPETITORS ON THE COURSE AT ONE TIME?
For the Novice events, there is one course and so competitors compete one at a time using clear course starts. For the Intermediate/Advanced events, there are two courses setup parallel to each other. This means that two competitors will compete at the same time (their results are still time-factored, they do not compete against each other, but just complete the course at the same time).
HOW LONG IS THE COURSE?
- The novice course is 190m – equivalent to the length of 42 average sized cars.
- The Intermediate course is 260m – equivalent to the length of two and a half FIFA soccer pitches.
INTERESTING FACTS
- Competitors with visual impairments may use the support of a guide to complete the course.
- Snowboarding has a surprisingly ancient history. According to local people, residents of a remote village in Turkey’s Kaçkar Mountains have been riding sideways on flat, rectangular boards for some 400 years to make travelling in deep snow easier. There are also stories of Austrian miners riding similarly, at about the same time.
CEREMONIES
SPORT
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