control & the ability to hold an edge in harder-packed snow. One area where this can be quite detrimental is in a half-pipe, where well-sharpened edges are often crucially important for cutting through the hard, sometimes icy, walls. Laminate: The snowboard's core is also sandwiched on the top and bottom by at least two layers of fiberglass. The fiberglass adds stiffness and torsional strength to the board. The fiberglass laminate may be either biaxial (fibers running the length of the board and more fibers 90 degrees perpendicular to it), triax (fibers running the length of the board with 45 degree fibers running across it), or quadax (a hybrid of the biax and triax). Some snowboards also add carbon and aramid (also known as Twaron or Kevlar) stringers for additional elasticity and strength. Camber: Camber refers to the bend of the board from tip to tail. Traditionally boards have a raised camber, meaning that if one were to lay it flat the board comes off the ground between the spots where one's feet would be (contact points). In 2007 companies began to manufacture a number of new camber designs. All fall into these four main categories. Regular: As described above the board flexes up when laid down flat. This is the original design and still the most widely used board form as it is the oldest. Reverse: The exact opposite of regular. The board is bent upwards starting at the middle, so that when laid flat the nose and tail are significantly off the ground. This design is ideal for park and freestyle as it allows a much smoother 360-degree rotation on both snow and rails. When standing on the board it is flexed down at the contact points by your weight, but can easily be lifted by shifting your weight off either foot. Sims first released this design in 1985, however, it was popularized recently by companies such as Lib-Tech and K2 Snowboarding. De-cambered: The idea is similar to "Reversed" but the lift doesn't start until after the contact points, making the board flat between your feet. This design works well in powder due to its naturally raised tips and its use of the entire edge when turning. The Kinked design also fares well in parks as it has the turning and spin benefits of the "Reverse" camber design. This design is the newest out of the four in terms