Every year at this time, action sports fans and athletes flock to the yearly Snowboard Jamboree: the platform for the 2013 FIS Snowboard World Cup. This year, the event runs from Jan. 15 to Jan. 27 at Stoneham Mountain Resort in Quebec, Canada.

Six events and 11 competitions will be held across 10 days. The agenda includes all kinds of dry and icy snowboarding disciplines. Think half pipe, slopestyle (various tricks including grabs, grinds, spins, and flips), snowboardcross (a twisting group race) and Big Air (tricks performed after launching off a man-made jump built for the event). Amateur races, fashion shows and parties are also part of the adrenaline-pumped picture.

First held in 1996, the FIS Snowboard World Cup now takes place every other year. The event gives riders points toward achieving Olympic selection.

Conditions are looking good, with snow falling thickly in subzero temperatures on Stoneham. The sport on show at Stoneham has a modern feel, but everything actually dates back to the 20s. Then, boys and men lashed plywood or wooden planks from barrels to their feet with clotheslines and horse reins to steer themselves down hills for the thrill.

The birth of modern snowboarding came in 1965. Then, engineer pioneer Sherman Poppen from Michigan built the “snurfer:” a prototype snowboard that a manufacturer eagerly snapped up and mass-produced, fueling a winter sports craze that looks unlikely to lose momentum.

Cover Photo Credit: LGEPR / Flickr.com