Freestyle Snowshoe Boulder Jumping

This instructable will explain the sport of Freestyle Snowshoe Boulder Jumping (FSBJ).

The sport requires only snowshoes, snow and boulders.

We'll cover the origin, activity, judging criteria and safety.

The sport of Freestyle Snowshoe Boulder Jumping originated in the early 00's in the Colorado Rockies, either at Brainard Lake or Bear Lake.

For years the sport has been enjoyed by people of all ages, colors, races, ethnicity and genders.

You need snowshoes.

To actually have fun, you also need:
-Gators, this keeps the snow out of your boots when you fall in deep snow.
-Regular snow gear like pants, gloves, boots.
-Gators, really without gators this sucks.
-You might want to carry a backpack with extra gloves, water, food, a map, and a camera.

Also I think you need a Horny Toad Iceman Fleece long sleeve shirt. It will not only keep you dry, but you'll look taller, skinnier, and more attractive to the opposite sex.

The best Freestyle Snowshoe Boulder Jumping is off the beaten path.

Our two Freestyle Snowshoe Boulder Jumping ladies below are displaying the tools of the trade on the way to the hidden boulders in the woods.

The sport is simple, you find some big boulders, with a good bit of snow at the bottom. Jump off of them.

The best boulders have a good pile of snow on the top to make it even higher and more fun to jump off of.

You need to make sure there is a nice good landing too.

Before we get in to the best kind of FSBJ'ing we need to talk safety.

You need to check out the landing, this is very important.

There can be hidden sticks, boulders, thin snow.

But the best landing is one that has not been jumped on before... You can test snow depth with a stick, pole, etc.

You may think that there is enough snow... so you go jumping.

The snow may be hard as it's late season and compacted, or windblown and icy.

As seen in this pic, it looks like there is enough snow, but it was hard packed and sore knees were had by all the next day.

This boulder is completely covered in snow and the cornice is the only give away.

While fun to jump off of, not the best boulder for FSBJ. You would not achieve high scores.

This is not even a boulder, good for training, but not for any scores in competitive FSBJ.

When no boulders are available training can be done on man made features.

As you see the heel grab was achieved here/ His training will pay off.

As you can see in this pic, training on trees can be done. But be sure to check the tree for safety first.

If your boulder is not very tall, you can make up for it with outward motion. A key element of FSBJ is how far from the boulder you throw yourself out.

In this first pic the FSBJ player is really just sliding off the boulder.

In the second pic, our female FSBJ player is jumping away from the rock. The judges on the ground would award higher points.

Aesthetics are key to awarding points in FSBJ, but also they help with your own satisfaction if you are out training for FSBJ. The boulder here scores high on aesthetics.

This scores no points for aesthetics and it clearly shows the jumper is a wuss.

However it does show that FSBJ is a sport that can be enjoyed during the day as well as the night.

This shows a great boulder, great height, nice snow cornice, and decent distance from the boulder considering how far out the boulder bulges from the top.

Freestyle Snowshoe Boulder Jumping can be a head to head competition.

Don't forget that even though Freestyle Boulder Snowshoe Jumping is a competitive sport, it can be enjoyed as a non competition activity.

A happy Freestyle Boulder Snowshoe Jumper is seen below.