Originating from the mountains of the US in the 1960s, the exhilarating sport of snowboarding never fails to capture the imagination of its audience, perfectly blending speed, skill and jeopardy which has seen it become one of the Winter Olympics’ most popular sports.
First taking its place on the Olympic schedule in 1998 at Nagano, Japan, snowboarding has provided some iconic moments – Shaun White’s historic third gold medal for one – and will no doubt provide more at Milano-Cortina 2026.
With less than a year to go until the Games, here we answer all your questions on snowboarding at the Olympics.
What are the snowboarding events taking place at Milano-Cortina 2026?
There will be five disciplines on show at Milano-Cortina 2026: Halfpipe, Big Air, Slopestyle, Snowboard Cross and Parallel Giant Slalom.
There will be 11 medal events as there is a male and female category in those five disciplines as well as there being a mixed team category for the snowboard cross.
The first three of those disciplines are technical and are judged with athletes given a score.
The last two are speed events, with there being a timed element and it being a case of the first athlete to cross the finish line wins.
What are the types of arenas used?
The main difference to point out within snowboarding is there are three different environments where events take place: the snowboarding park, the halfpipe and specially designed courses.
The snowboarding park is an area that has various obstacles placed around it that athletes can use to perform tricks. These can include ramps, jumps, rails and boxes.
The half pipe is a semi-cylindrical ‘U-shaped’ slope with vertical walls that are designed for riders to perform tricks and gain air (height) as the ride from side to side.
The snowboard cross takes place on a specially designed bordercross course which features natural and man-made jumps and obstacles.
The parallel giant slalom takes place on a slalom course which has two identical courses with a series of gates athletes are required to pass through.
The disciplines
Halfpipe: When competing on the halfpipe, competitors will snowboard down the pipe, from side to side, using the vertical walls to gain air. When gaining air, that is when the athletes perform tricks and stunts of varying difficulty on which they are judged. Their complete run will subsequently be given a score by the judges with runs involving tricks that are of a higher degree of difficulty and a greater variation scored higher. Each athlete gets four runs, with their scores being added up, both in the qualifying round and then the medal round.
Big air: The big air event sees athletes launch themselves of large jumps to and perform aerial tricks. The main focus of this discipline is height gained, and the difficulty of the tricks performed. Usually, one big jump and trick is the focal piece of the run. The run will be judged and scored, and each competitor gets four runs with the scores added up.
Slopestyle: Slopestyle provides athletes with a lot more scope to be creative compared to the big air event as more tricks are performed. Riders will navigate a course comprising of jumps, rails and other obstacles. The aim is for them to demonstrate creativity, style and technical ability through their tricks. The judges will then score their run, of which they have four, with all four scores being added up.
Snowboard cross: Athletes will ride down the course known as a ‘bordercross’ course with the aim of getting to the bottom as quickly as possible. Riders firstly take part in timed qualifiers which determines the top 16 quickest athletes. From there, races of four riders take place with the top two progressing to the next round until four are left in the final. The final then sees four athletes battle it out with the winner taking gold.
Parallel giant slalom: Similar to snowboard cross, there is a timed qualification to determine the top 16. Riders will ride down the two tracks (the red track and blue track) once with their times for each run added together. The athletes with the 16-best times advance to the knockout stages where two riders will race against one another with the winner advancing to the next round. This carries on until a competitor wins the final race.
How fast can snowboarders go?
In the slalom and snowboard cross events where speed is paramount, athletes can reach speeds of up to 70mph.
Where will snowboarding be held at Milano-Cortina 2026?
The Mottolino Snowpark in Livigno, Valtellina will host the snowboarding at Milano-Cortina 2026.
The venue is located 1816m above sea level and is situated in the Rhaetian Alps close to the border with Switzerland.
Sportsbeat 2025