Sherman Poppen invented snowboarding in the 1960s, after he decided to strap two skis together. It has flourished into an extremely popular winter sport. In 1998, snowboarding was officially accepted into the Olympics.

A range of different muscles are used when snowboarding. You use your quadriceps and hamstrings to get the board moving, and your calves, hamstrings and quadriceps to make turns and guide the board. The number of calories you burn during one hour of downhill boarding depends on a lot of factors. Snow quality, slope gradient, your weight and the speed you reach all influence the total number of calories burned.

When snowboarding, you can burn an average of about 350 to 700 calories per hour. It goes without saying that this time does not include waiting in line or sitting in the lift to go uphill. On average, you will be travelling downhill for half of the time you spend snowboarding. The rest is waiting and/or sitting time.