The History of Snowboarding

Throughout history there is a huge variety of methods and mechanisms people have used to slide down mountains.  So it is very hard to pinpoint who exactly made the first snowboard and when the history of snowboarding really first began.

Snowboarding has only recently become a popular sport with its grass roots originating from surfers and skateboarders who dreamed of surfing on the snow.  The snowboard movement is seen to have began around the 1960's by these surf and skate enthusiasts who began by using home made boards.

The first recognised step in snowboarding was in 1965 when Sherman Poppen created "The Snurfer" as a present for his daughter.  It was the result of binding two ski's together and putting a rope attached to the front for the rider to hold and stay stable.

Initially Shermans daughters friends caught on and wanted a snurfer of there own.  The craze began and over 500,000 boards were sold in 1966.  After organising competitions after his newfound boards popularity Poppen attracted the likes of Dimitrije Milovich and Jake Burton who revolutionised snowboard design to the way we know it today.

These snowboard pioneers come up with revolutionary ways to create snowboards from new materials such as wood and aluminum.  During one competition Burton arrived with bindings on his board and won easily, amazing other riders with the newfound stability and handling on his board from the bindings.

Snowboarding was not readily accepted by the hardened skiers on the slopes.  In fact snowboarders were often not even allowed to ride on the regular ski slopes.  For this reason many pioneer snowboarders were forced to ride off piste backcountry snow.  In the 1980's only 7% of the 600 worldwide ski resorts allowed snowboards at there mountain.

Following its popularity snowboarding was accepted as a official Olympic sport in 1994 and was first competed in in the 1998 Winter Olympics.  Finally snowboarding was recognised as an emerging sport and not just a passing trend.

Today snowboarding is universally accepted and growing exponentially in popularity.  Designers including Burton are revolutionising board design meaning riders can continually discover new tricks and methods to push this sport to the extreme.  Boards are becoming lighter, stronger and more technologically advance than ever before.  The anticipation of the future of snowboarding and board design is truly exciting.

Discover more about the history of snowboarding plus much much more to do with snowboarding in this book.

Find out more in the history of snowboarding paperback