Iserlohn, Germany  - Snowboarders are lured to snow-covered pistes in winter and they no longer have to go without the fun of having a board under their feet in summer.

Mountain boarding is latest sports trend that involves careering down expansive hills and daredevil jumps in summer.

Equipped with air-filled tyres, the boards can be used to master nearly any grassy slope. The sport started in the mid 1980s in the United States and later caught on in Britain and Germany.

Mountain boarding has great similarity with snowboarding, said Winfried Turner, chairman of the All Terrain Board Association in Iserlohn. It is particularly attractive to boarders because it makes they can enjoy downhill runs all year-round. The real thrill lies in the fact that the boards have no brakes. Speed can be decreased only by the need to navigate curves.

Mountain boards are different from skateboards in that they have bindings. Usually this is a type of strap into which the foot can be shoved. This provides hold, but the board can jump free if necessary.

Mountain boarding is especially popular in England, said Florian Leber, owner of the Rock. On mountain board park in Winterberg. But there's also a big mountain boarding scene in Germany. Beginners can take lessons by the hour.

"They get into it quickly," said Leber. "They need more than an hour at least to come down the hillside."

There are two categories of mountain boarding: Freestyle and downhill. Freestyle involves mostly outlandish jumps and tricks from ramps, said Turner, adding, that everything is possible from turns to back flips. The wilder the better. Downhill is designed to let the mountain boarder master longer stretches. The focus is on speed and curves.

There's a third category in the German mountain boarding championships: The boarder cross. This involves two or three boarders on a par course, said Marcel Bender, two-time German Open winner. Boarders are given points in all disciplines and must therefore measure up in all areas.

Bender said the popularity of mountain boarding is growing constantly. Mountain boarders contact each other usually through internet forums, said Turner. They get together for trips into Saarland, the Black Forest or the Bavarian Forest, which are areas of Germany where mountain boarding is possible on ski slopes that in winter are covered with snow.

Many mountain boarders are attracted by the fact that the sport is almost unknown, said Bender. And it gives them a thrill that the boards have no brakes.

"As a mountain boarder you simply go into the next curve and look was awaits you there," he said.

Internet: www. mountainboarder. com (dpa)