Extreme Snowboarding

You will hear an expert snowboarder called Josh Daniels talking about the sport of extreme snowboarding. Complete the sentences.

Brad says there are no (1) to warn extreme snowboarders of dangers. Brad advises snowboarders always to follow the (2) when descending. Brad always wears a (3) when he goes into the mountains. According to Brad, you need a lot of (4) to set off down the mountain. Brad particularly enjoys doing several (5) when he is going down a slope. Brad says at first he found it difficult to do a good (6) on steep slopes. Brad says you must never (7) if you feel you’re about to fall. Brad advises against putting your weight on your (8) in a fall. Brad always carries a (9) in case he is in difficulty following a fall. In the future, Brad would most like to try (10) snowboarding.  Loading...

You will hear an expert snowboarder called Josh Daniels talking about the sport of extreme snowboarding four questions 1 to 10 complete the sentences with a word or short phrase you would hear the recording twice you now have 45 seconds to look at the text

When you go extreme snowboarding you head for the highest peaks and the steepest slopes taking little more than a map and some basic survival equipment with you. Unlike in ski resorts you won’t see any signs telling you, there are rocks or trees around so it’s up to you and your guide to make sure your route is as safe as possible. OF course, you should never attempt to go down a slope on your own it’s essential to be accompanied by a guide who must go first every time as there may be no clear route down through the rocks and other dangers.

They’ll also show you the way up to your starting point which may involve a long difficult climb and may wear a backpack containing supplies. I know some snowboarders like to take a helicopter up to the top and that’s quick and easy though expensive. But I always prefer to go on foot with a helmet on. Of course, when you finally get up there the view is always completely different from the way, it looked from below. People say to me it must take a lot of courage to start going down such a steep slope but if you’ve reached that point then you must be a pretty experienced snowboarder and what’s really required is a tremendous amount of confidence.

You never know exactly which way you’re gonna go or what you’re going to encounter on your way down and you often find yourself having to make split-second decisions but that’s part of the fun. There’s nothing quite as exciting as suddenly having to perform a series of jumps as you descend and then managing to stay on your feet afterwards. The ability to do that is obviously something that takes those new to extreme snowboarding quite some time to learn and whereas doing a reasonably good takeoff seems to come fairly naturally to most of us landing is a more complex skill to acquire. As I found in my early days out on the mountainside falling correctly is also something you need to practice. Initially at lower and on gentle slopes and later in conditions more similar to those you’ll encounter on the mountain.

Rule 1 when you lose your balance is not to panic or else you’ll get tense and be far more likely to injure yourself. And if you’re relaxed and just let yourself go with the fall often the best thing to do is roll out of the fall. But it’s natural to try to use your arms to try to slow yourself down. And if you do so remember that elbows, if you fall on them, are much stronger and less likely to be injured than wrists following a high-speed fall. You might find yourself covered by some of the white stuff that has fallen with you there. Maybe just a few feet of it and you can usually pull yourself up to the surface but if you can’t you’re in big trouble and that’s why I’d never go down a slope without a small device fastened to my body that sends out a signal to the rescue services if I get buried. I know some safety experts recommend also taking a medical kit but somehow I think that if I were buried under ice my priority would be to get out or get rescued. I’m always looking for new challenges. Competition snowboarding was something I looked at but there were just too many guys showing off. Teaching snowboarding is certainly something I might do one day. But what I really dream about is parachute snowboarding going straight down a mountain flying off a cliff and then floating down to the valley below now that’s what I call extreme.

Here are the keywords and phrases covered in this activity

• accompanied
• competition
• complex skill
• descend
• encounter
• expert snowboarder
• extreme snowboarding
• high-speed fall
• mountainside
• pretty experienced
• priority
• ski resorts
• steepest slopes
• survival equipment