Jake Burton: Burton Snowboards
When you think of snowboarding, more often than not, Burton is the first brand that comes to mind. The most popular brand in the world was made that way by one man: Jake Burton. His vision to make what was once thought of as a passing fad into the most popular extreme sport in the world was really incredible. The odds he overcame, from ski resorts not allowing snowboarders to cancer, are a real testament to his dedication and passion to pushing this sport, and lifestyle, to what it is today. In this paper I will discuss how he turned a wooden plank into an almost $1 billion a year company.
A lot of people, especially people just getting into snowboarding, think that Jake Burton invented snowboarding. He did not. He just made snowboarding what it is today by innovating the Snurfer into what is now the modern snowboard. The most popular argument as to who and where snowboarding was invented is based in Muskegon, MI. Sherman Poppen, a businessman, was called upon his pregnant wife on Christmas in 1965 to get the kids out of the house. Not being able to find a sled for his 2 girls to use, he took two downhill skis and bound them together, hoping that they would use it as a sled. Instead, he found the two girls standing up and sliding down the sand dune behind their house. Within a year he had patented the toy and was picked up by Brunswick Corp. Over the next several years, Snurfing became really popular and many competitions popped up, including the Snurfing Championships at Blockhouse Hill behind Muskegon County Community College. In 1979, a young enthusiast came to town with a non-regulation board. This person was Jake Burton. The board is called the Burton Backhill. His board was a...
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Polaris Industries Incorporated is the largest manufacturer of snowmobiles in the world today. Polaris snowmobiles were first introduced in 1954. In 1964, Polaris almost went bankrupt with the failure of the comet, its first front-engine sled. One highlight of the 1980s was the introduction of the Polaris Indy line of snowmobiles. Polaris quickly established a track record for advanced engineering. Other companies that compete with the snowmobile production of Polaris is Arctic Cat, which was formed by a snowmobile pioneer in 1960, named Edgar Hetteen. Arctic Cats were most known for their lightweight and quick speed and that made racers all around want to ride them. Ski-Doo is another competitor in the snowmobile game. The first Ski-Doo snowmobile was released in 1959. J.A. Bombardier was the first person to mass-produce snowmobiles. On August 29, 1973 the one-millionth Ski-Doo snowmobile came off the rack and was introduced to the world as a milestone.
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During the 1950’s when skateboarding first got it’s legs it was a very popular activity to take part in during vacations to ocean side tourist attractions, or as an activity after surfing. Yet, by 1965, skateboarding had diminished in popularity completely, therefore almost every skateboard manufacturer went out of business. . During this time the only people who even wanted to skateboard were surfers who needed something to ride to practice their surfing while the waves were flat. Due to the fact that there were no skateboards being made or sold, those who wanted to skate had to take it upon them-selves to manufacture their own boards. Using any kind of scrap they could find to build a usable board out of, such as metal scrap pieces or old planks. These determined surfers had to unscrew the trucks and wheels off of roller skates and attach them to the bottom of their boards. And because these kids were from very poor families for the most part, and next to non had jobs of their own, they had to resort to taking the trucks and wheels off the roller skates secretly in the stores. Although.., the clay wheels th...
Snowboarding started as one single brand, Burton. Jake Burton, literally the inventor of snowboarding, was the first to set the bar for what he thought the sport was. He was born in New York, NY on April 29, 1954. He began making boards with wood working machines he had’nt a clue how to use, selling the boards out of his car. Because of his entrepreneurship, Jake Burton sacrifices his career as a stockbroker to pursuit a dream, resulting in the worlds first major snowboarding brand now worth hundreds of millions of dollars (Gale, 2007). In Americas history, the sacrifices made by entrepreneurs has led to some of the largest businesses in the world.
Imagine being on the top of the world, on a bitter cold mountain, over top of an enormous crowd. Below where you stand, the lustrous lights are shining on a massive jump, that seems larger than the mountain itself, created for the professional snowboard competition. This gargantuan jump will decide whether you win or lose the competition. Becoming a professional snowboarder has been a dream to me ever since I first was beginning to snowboard. Being on top of the enormous slope and strapping into my bindings instantly made me relaxed and put a grin larger than the slope itself on my face. Everytime I glide down the face of the mountain I become focused and dialed in on my riding. When becoming a professional snowboarder as an occupation, I would
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The history of sports in America is overflowing with events that transcend the field of pla...