Snowboarding has been expanding dramatically in popularity, and shoulder injuries are increasing in ski resorts. We estimated the incidences and patterns of snowboarding injuries in the 1995 winter season in Minamiuonuma, and compared them with the skiing injuries at our hospital during the eight skiing seasons (1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995). The antatomical distributions and the types of injuries in snowboarding differed from those in alpine skiing. Comparing skiers' versus

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... owboarder's injuries, snowboarders had more injuries to the upper limbs (47% versus 23%), and fewer injuries to the lower limbs (24% versus 50%). Snowboarders had 1.6 times as many injuries of their left sides as those of their right sides. There were 109 cases of shoulder injuries out of 613 cases of snowboarding injuries, and 245 cases of shoulder injuries out of 1822 cases of skiing injuries. In snowboarding 18% of shoulder injuries occurred in novices (first trial ) and 27% occurred in beginners, and in skiing 5% of shoulder injuries occurred in novices (first trial) and 19% occurred in beginners. The common locations of shoulder injuries were the glenohumeral joints (51% in snowboarding and 53% in skiing), the clavicles (23%, 13%), acromioclavicular joints (6%, 9%) and the proximal end of the humerus (3%, 11%). In the 'MK' ski resort, snowboarders had four times as many injuries as skiers (0.583% versus 0.146%). To prevent injuries in snowboarding, especially beginners should use protective devices for their shoulders.