The History of Snowboarding

The History of Snowboarding

One snowy Christmas day in Muskegon, Michigan, a young girl by the name of Wendy Poppen tried to stand up on her sled while sliding down the hill. Seeing this, her father Sherman ran into the garage and bolted a pair of skies together with wood to ""act as foot stops"" (Crane). While watching Wendy use the contraption, some of the local kids ran up to Sherman and asked him to build one for each of them. Little did he know that he had given birth to the “fastest growing winter sport” (Prosl) known as snowboarding. The history, simplicity, and rate of growth of snowboarding took the sport from being completely banned from ski resorts, to being accepted worldwide with its Olympic debut in 1998.

It’s hard to believe that back in the early 1980’s people “perceived [snowboarders] as daredevil adolescents who posed a threat to skiers” (Shipley). Though the sport was banned from almost every resort, it grew to be so popular that the resorts could no longer ignore the moneymaking possibilities. Resorts realized that the average young person was abandoning the sport of skiing, and learning the new trend of snowboarding. Not only that, but the younger generation who was taking up a new winter sport would choose snowboarding over skiing. These days, resorts spend thousands of dollars to attract snowboarders to their resorts with claims of the biggest halfpipe or the best board park. But how did this sport explode onto the scene? To answer this question, a brief history is in order.

On that snowy Christmas day in 1965, Sherman Poppen had created the first snowboard. His wife named this contraption a Snurfer because it was a cross between

surf and snow. Snurfers were typically made of wood, and had a piec...

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...arder and every skier in the world. There may be a time when skiers and snowboarders will ride the slopes together in peace, but probably not anytime soon.

Its amazing how a sport can be taken from being called “the next big failure” to being a Winter Olympic sport in the span of just a decade. The journey to make snowboarding considered a ligament sport was long and hard, but with pioneers such as Sherman Poppen, Tom Sims, and Jake Burton it was well accomplished. Snowboarding made its Winter Olympic debut with the giant slalom, and the halfpipe event in 1998. Todd Richards spoke for snowboarders around the world when he said, “"We have been on this crazy quest for legitimacy for so long. The Olympics are going to bring a legitimacy into this sport like no one can comprehend.”” (Shipley) Finally, snowboarders everywhere have gotten the legitimacy they deserve.