History of Snowboarding

Snowboarding is a relatively new sport when compared to other winter sports such as skiing, sledding and ice skating. This sport was first introduced in the primitive form of snurfing. In 1965 Sherman Poppen, a chemical gases engineer in Muskegon, invented "The Snurfer" as a toy for his daughter. He made the Snurfer by bounding two skis together and putting a rope at the nose, so the rider could hold it and keep it more stable.

An Advertisement for the Snurfer. Image taken from http://www.ifyouski.com/graphics/ifyouski/features/snurfer.jpg

Jake Burton took part in those competitions and became really interested in the snurfer. Since Jake Burton did not have the opportunity to go surfing due to lack of a board, snurfing was a great alternative. It was several years later that Burton would create his own version of this phenomenon, after many attempts were made by other individuals. However, when Burton's time came, in 1980, the first real ski technology for snowboards was introduced. The new Burton prototype had a P-tex base and combined more of the ski technology into snowboards. Then, in 1983 Jake Burton went on to hold the first national snowboarding championship using his new design!

Sherman Poppen- Credited with the invention of snowboarding. Image taken from http://snowboarding.kx.cz/historie.htm

Many of his daughters friends wanted Snurfers, and soon Poppen lincensed his new idea to a manufacturer. The Snurfer became very popular and over half a million were sold in 1966, but was only seen as a toy for kids, even though Poppen organized several competitions for the product.

Jake Burton- Founder of Burton Boards. Image taken from http://snowboard.mountainzone.com/interviews/2000/burton/html/photo02.html

In 1985 still only 39, of the approximatly 600 ski areas allowed snowboards. The same year one of the first Snowboarding magazines came out called "Absolutely Radical". Later on the name is changed into "International Snowboarding Magazine". Today snowboarding has evolved into one of the fastest growing sports and is accepted by virtually all ski resorts.