Snowboarding - Park City Mountain Resort Snowboarding was developed in the United States in the 1960s as people across the country began to seek out new wintertime activities. Competition and national and international federation influence began in the 1980s. The United States held its first national championships in 1982 and hosted the first World Championships in 1983. In 1987, a four-stop World Cup tour was established, with two stops in the United States and two in Europe. The International Snowboarding Federation (ISF) was formed in 1990 to govern international competition and the International Ski Federation (FIS) followed suit in 1994, making snowboarding an officially sanctioned discipline eligible for the Olympics. The FIS pushed for snowboarding's inclusion in the 1998 Games and remains the international federation for the sport. Men's and women's snowboarding made their Olympic debuts at the Nagano Games in 1998 with alpine and freestyle competitions. One of the most popular sports in Nagano, snowboarding returns to Salt Lake City with two men's and two women's events. The alpine event has been changed from the traditional giant slalom to a parallel giant slalom featuring head-to-head competition and an exciting elimination format. The halfpipe returns as the freestyle event. Back to top