RBC Riders

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RBC Riders Competition at Nite Hawk- Register ON SITE Saturday March 6 between 8:30-10am.

Ready? Set? Go! RBC Riders Promises Another Exciting Year for Young Snowboarders

Canada~Snowboard's RBC Riders program will be kicking it up a notch this upcoming winter, providing opportunities for the champions of tomorrow to get introduced to the sport of snowboarding in a fun and practical way. The development program will include snowboardcross events, and for the first time ever, Slopestyle.

The RBC Riders, a stage of the Long Term Athlete Development model, is a fun, secure, multi-skilled way to start a career in snowboarding.

As the Canadian Snowboard Team is coming off its most successful season ever with 26 international medals, the participation level amongst young snowboarders has risen to a new level in Canada. Canada~Snowboard is looking to capitalize on the momentum, working in close collaboration with its provincial snowboard associations to lead the next generation of riders from the park to the podium.

“This is such a great program for young snowboarders to learn how to ride, to understand the basics of riding and have fun while doing it. There are so many opportunities for young riders to grow within the sport, and hopefully down the road make it to the top of the Olympic podium,” said Maëlle Ricker, Olympian and 2008 World Cup Champion in women's snowboardcross.

The RBC Riders program has seen increasing number since its start five years ago. Last season, the program saw 657 participants taking part in the 35 events nationwide. The goal this season is to have at least 1000 young riders participate in the projected 45 events held across our country.

RBC Riders is Canada~Snowboard's skill development program. It is a fun competition program for participants from 0-3 years of riding age. The program is based on the Learn to Ride stage of the snowboard Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) Model.

RBC Riders was initially developed five seasons ago to fill a gap in the availability of grassroots competitive snowboarding events. It has grown to be the national event series for young riders, combining the basics of snowboarding with fun-filled competition.

RBC Riders introduce riders to competitive snowboarding through either a Slopestyle or Snowboardcross event. For more information, please download the RBC Riders Handbook (.pdf, 214KB)

Slope Style is a series of jumps, rails and features down a slope. Snowboardcross is a timed event over a course with a variety of features, such as turns, berms (or banked areas), jumps, and rollers.

At the high performance level, SBX events have four riders on the course at the same time. The RBC Riders event uses a slingshot format (one rider on the course at a time), and the features on the course are designed to facilitate the development of the ABC fundamental snowboard skills: Agility, Balance, and Coordination of jumping and turning.