The History of Snowboards

The snowboard is one of history’s more recent inventions. Its direct precursor, the Snurfer, was invented by Sherman Poppen in 1965. It took off and sold over 750,000 units in the next 15 years. Inspired by the Snurfer, Jake Burton began selling the Burton Board during the 1977 – 1978 winter season on the east coast, while Tom Sims started selling his snowboards on the west coast a year later. Years of competition between Burton and Sims fueled innovations that helped snowboarding become more mainstream. However, the sport has always retained an air of rebelliousness. In fact, snowboarders were banned from ski resorts entirely until the 1984-1985 winter season, when 40 American resorts opened their slopes. Since then, most have followed suit, and snowboarding debuted as an Olympic Sport in 1998. A little less than a decade later, pro snowboarder Shaun White medaled at the 2006 Olympic Games as part of a truly impressive season where he won all twelve of the contests he entered and also earned a spot on the cover of Rolling Stone, further popularizing the sport and contributing to its distinct cool-factor appeal.