Snowboarding is the relatively new sport which can be visually compared to skateboarding and surfing except done on snow. The rider stands on the board with his/her left or right foot forward, facing one side of the board. The feet are attached to the board via high-back, step-in or plate bindings which are non-releasable. Although there is at least one manufacturer of releasable bindings, they are not widely used. The sport is distinct from monoskiing. In monoskiing both feet are side by side on a single ski and the skier faces forward.
Some sports which have overlap in skills to snowboarding include: skurfing, skateboarding, surfing, water skiing and certainly snow skiing. In the following sections many comparisons are made to skiing because of its widespread familiarity. If unfamiliar with snowboarding terminology the reader should first refer to the What Is All This Weird Talk? section.