US EditionWhy riding and spinning backward are among snowboarding’s most underappreciated and valuable skills
Mastery of switch riding and four-way spins is vital for winning medals at Milan Cortina, with athletes like Chloe Kim dedicating years to perfecting these complex tricks.
- At the Milan Cortina Games, snowboarders who master switch riding and spinning four ways are expected to claim medals, as this skill is considered one of the sport's holy grails.
- Because switch riding is so demanding, top athletes train relentlessly; Shaun White, three-time Olympic gold medalist, said, `All winter, we rode switch, all day, every day`, highlighting the non-dominant-hand analogy.
- At this year's X Games, Scotty James landed consecutive backside jumps—one forward, one switch—and competitors are pushing back-to-back triples and triple corks in routines.
- U.S. snowboard coach Rick Bower said anyone landing back-to-back triples will probably win, and coaches now prioritize switch elements as essential for competitive runs and judges' scoring priorities.
- Examples from champions show Chloe Kim, U.S. snowboarder, spent four years mastering switch riding before Beijing, while Eileen Gu, freestyle skier and snowboard-adjacent competitor, spins both ways seeking more Olympic medals.
40 Articles
40 Articles
Marin Independent Journal
One of snowboarding’s most valuable skills is also one of its most underappreciated
By EDDIE PELLS, Associated Press National Writer In Shaun White’s early days riding snowboards, the sport was so new that his mom was still getting the hang of things after a lifetime of skiing. Related Articles With history already made, Jessie Diggins opens her final Olympic chapter with momentum Maxim Naumov heads to Olympics, hoping to honor his parents and the others killed in airline crash It…
Why riding and spinning backward are among snowboarding’s most underappreciated and valuable skills
In Shaun White’s early days riding snowboards, the sport was so new that his mom was still getting the hang of things after a lifetime of skiing. Among Cathy White’s rules: If Shaun, his brother and sister wanted mom to accompany them down the mountain, they had to ride “switch” — backward — so she could keep up. That, in part, is how a snowboarding champion was born. “All winter, we rode switch, all day, every day,” said White, the three-time O…
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