History of Snowboarding
The first official invention of a snowboard took place in 1965 when Sherman Poppen, an engineer from Muskegon, Michigan, connected two skis and added a line to one end to give him some control while his daughter was on the board and sliding downhill. At that time, the invention was referred to as a snurfer and grew popular with other children. Subsequently, Sherman Poppen added a rope to the front of the board for balance and steering.
The concept was then licensed to a manufacturer, Brunswick Corporation, which sold more than 500,000 snurfers in 1966 alone. Two years later, Poppen arranged the inaugural surfing competition at a ski resort in Michigan, drawing competitors from all over the nation. The competition saw the emergence of significant pioneers, including Tom Sims. Tom Sims glued carpet to the top of a piece of wood and attached aluminum sheeting to the bottom to create a snowboard in his shop class at school.
As Poppen’s surfer became increasingly well-known in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Tom Sims, a professional skateboarder, continued to develop the skiboard while working in a skateboard shop in Santa Monica. Sims was contacted by Bob Weber, the creator of the Flying Yellow Banana Skiboard, and together they launched the product. They primarily sold to the skating community to succeed and gain enough traction to create various stores.
Meanwhile, skiboard and surfing enthusiasts were working to modernize and mainstream this new sport. Dimitrije Milovich, a New York-based surfer, determined to make snowboarding a success went on to play a crucial role by inventing another noteworthy prototype. Dimitrije’s snurfer was the easiest to maneuver at that time as it had foot straps in place of ropes and fiberglass rather than wood.
Out of all these versions of the snowboard, Jake Bourton Carpenter’s invention stood out. He grew up surfing, falling in love with the sport, and grew up to create and sell his snowboards. Jake Bourton moved to Vermont and added some specialized designs and innovative systems created by the surfboard to make riding simpler, thereby paving the way for developing new maneuvers and techniques.
When the first World Surfing Championship took place in 1979, Jake Burton traveled from Vermont to use his specially customized snowboard in the game. However, it caused some stir among his opponents, but It was agreed that he should be allowed to race with his model. Jake came out on top; today, that contest is widely recognized as the beginning of the snowboarding competition as we know it today. The success of his designs changed the course of snowboarding for good.
During the following years, snowboarding spread to ski resorts that did not usually allow the sport. In 1982, Vermont hosted the inaugural national snowboarding competition.
In 1983, Sims Snowboards founder organized the first World Championship halfpipe tournament; in 1985, Austria hosted the inaugural snowboarding World Cup. Snowboarding was a significant hit introduced to the Nagano Winter Olympics in 1998. By 2002, 30,000 people traveled to Park City to watch the highly recognized sport.
Snowboarding is a unique sport with an exciting history that builds up to becoming the well-liked international sport it is today. Snowboarding athletes all over the world now practice and compete against each other while none athletes go to skiing resorts to play the game leisurely.
