The purpose of this project was to explore the different possible shapes of a snowboard’s cutting edge. The focus of this will be how these edges affect the snowboard during turning, or “carving.” The Magne-traction is a new snowboard that uses a new edge design that claims to provide greater traction, especially during hard or icy conditions. This project attempts to reverse engineering the Magne-traction and a traditional snowboard in SolidWorks to create CAD models of each design. This project explores the physics and theory behind these different designs by testing them in static and flow simulations using the finite element analysis tools in SolidWorks. These CAD models were used to create physical models using a waterjet machine; the models were created from 6061T aluminum sheet metal. A test fixture was created and trials were conducted to test the snowboard to find the location and magnitude of the forces acting along the edge of the board.

A biomechanical analysis of snowboard jump landings is yet to be published. The purpose of this work was to develop a protocol to allow the collection of meaningful data in a real snowboarding environment. A video calibration technique was developed to provide superior measurement accuracy over a standard central cube calibration. The accuracy of a snowboard mounted force plate was assessed under various loading conditions. It was concluded that its performance was satisfactory and comparable to previous designs of a similar nature. Once the test protocol was finalised, data were collected from three experienced snowboarders performing jumps. The loads applied at the lead foot were found to be of high magnitude. Based on previous cadaver research, these high loads coupled with the kinematic data revealed a potential for ankle injury during snowboard landing events.