Snowboard slopestyle: How your kids can try it at home

Snowboarding is a fun mix of surfing, skiing, and skateboarding. It’s also one of the events at the upcoming 2026 Olympics in Milano Cortina, Italy.

Of all the types of snowboarders, slopestyle snowboarders put on the most daring displays as they flip upside down, three times in a row, 50 feet in the air, over a 60-foot distance. They are the Cirque du Soleil performers of snowboarding!

How snowboard slopestyle started

In the late 1970s, Jake Burton and Tom Sims added bindings to a Snurfer, a narrow, skateboard-esque children’s toy without wheels. Snowboarding was born. By the mid-’80s, ski areas started allowing winter-surfer-dudes onto their chairlifts and the sport quickly became popular. Competitions were established in Europe and all over North America. Speed addicts raced downhill against the clock (like their ski-racing cousins) while snowboard acrobats were judged in the halfpipe (like their skateboard cousins).

Those that liked both speed and style combined them into one competition called “slopestyle.” The objective? To speed down a slope as fast as possible while using special course obstacles to add stylish jumps and tricks. (Here’s how to get into the sport if your child wants to try!)

How to watch the snowboard slopestyle events

• Men and women go down the same course
• Runs are the length of an average chairlift ride
• Each run has six features—jumps, tabletops, step downs, hips, rails, and boxes—which get progressively bigger as the rider gets close to the finish line. That means the biggest and best jumps happen at the bottom of the course
• The three top scores from five judges are added up for the rider’s score
• Judges consider the difficulty of tricks, the quality of execution, the amplitude of manouevres, the number of clean landings, and, of course, good style!
• The competition starts with 30 athletes. The best 22 scores advance to next round and the top eight advance to the finals. Only the top three get to stand on the podium

Learn about the halfpipe, slalom, and snowboard cross events.

How to DIY snowboarding at home with your child

No snow, no problem! You can turn your home into an indoor slopestyle course, provided you have enough pillows, cushions, blankets, and mattresses to soften the landing of your mini-snowboard acrobats. Boards aren’t used; this is about working on body rotations and proper landings.

• Create a course around the house: up and over the couch, over the ottoman, over the bed, over the other bed, and so on.
• As your kids run the course, get them to mix in some moves when they reach open spaces: cartwheels, spins in the air to the right and left, roll on the ground in both directions.
• Your kids should practice rotating their bodies in the air and on the ground in every direction possible.
• If your course includes jumping, have the kids land at least once facing backwards, with your help if they need it.
• Let them tumble over pillows as much as they want.
• A good landing is quiet. A loud, heavy landing can hurt the knees and ankles.
• Award points for good landings, spins, and rotations.
• It’s a great excuse to jump up and down on springy beds!
• Encourage your kids to always land on their feet and avoid falling if possible.

Take it outside!

If real snow arrives in your area, find a nearby hill (e.g. public park, school yard, or golf course) and create the same type of course up and over snowbanks, snow mounds, and slopes. The key is to roll, spin, jump, and land safely while running around or sliding as fast as possible.

If you have access to really deep snow, have your kids jump from higher and higher into soft snow banks. Keep an eye on them though. It won’t be long before they’ll want to jump from the roof of the house!

Have fun, and if you get the urge to try snowboarding yourself, that’s fine. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.