It is hard to say who actually "invented" the first snowboard. People would have always figured out how to slide down a hill on some sled, thus it would be unfair to point out one specific person, who came up with "the first" snowboard.

There were some people, though, who built snowboard like sleds before. One of them was M.J. "Jack" Burchett. He cut out a plank of plywood in 1929 and tried to secure his feet with some clothesline and horse reins. Burchett came up with on of the first "snowboards".

Before the next step for the snowboard was taken, it had to wait over 30 years until 1965. In this year Sherman Poppen, a chemical gases engineer in Muskegon, invented "The Snurfer" (his wife came up with the name) 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. Many of his daughters friends wanted one of those new Snurfers, and soon Poppen licensed his new idea to a manufacturer. The Snurfer was sold over half a million times in 1966, but was only seen as a toy for kids, even though Poppen organized competitions with this new board. Jake Burton took part in those competitions and became really interested in the snurfer. For him it was a cool thing to do, not having the opportunity to go surfing (his parents would not buy him a board).

But Burton was really serious about skiing. After breaking his collarbone in a car accident, he was not able to take part in skiing competitions anymore. While Burton was into riding the Snurfer, Dimitrije Milovich started making snowboards in 1969. After sliding down some hills on a cafeteria plate in College, he comes up with the idea. His boards were based on surfboards combined with the way skis work.

In 1972 Milovich started a new company called "Winterstick". He produced several boards, and even got articles in the "Newsweek", "Playboy" and "Powder" which helped to make snowboarding better known. Even though Milovich left the snowboarding business in 1980, he is still recognized as a very important pioneer of the sport.

In 1977 Jake Burton, who now finished NYU, moved to Londonderry, Vermont to make some money by building different versions of the Snurfer, which he still remembered. His first boards were made of laminated hardwood. Burton shocked all the Snurfer riders by winning a Snurfer competition with his own board, which had the first binding. This first binding made a big difference fro handling the board, and thus made it easier for him to beat the other riders.

After that, in 1979, Poppen stopped producing the Snurfer and went back to his old profession. He was out of the business, and never came back.

Parallel to Burton, Tom Sims produced his first snowboards in 1977. Being obsessed with skateboarding, Sims tried to go out in the snow and slide down the hill with a "snowboard" he built in a junior high shop-class. He just glued some carpet to the top of a piece of wood, and put an aluminum sheeting on the bottom. After he focused on producing skateboards in his garage, with the help of his friend and employee Chuck Barfoot, he started making snowboards in 1977.

Barfoot, who actually made the snowboards, came up with the "Flying Yellow Banana". It was just a skateboard deck on top of a plastic shell with skegs. Officially the first real ski technology for snowboards was introduced by Burton 1980 (it is said Winterstick already used a P-Tex base in 1974). The new prototype had a P-tex base and combined more of the ski technology into snowboards with that. In the same year Sims signed a skate- and snowboarding deal with a big mainstream company (Vision Sports), which helped him solving his financial problems.

Barfoot was left out, and tried to built his own firm. He did not succeed against the big competitors Sims and Burton. In 1982 the first National Snowboard race was held in Suicide Six, outside Woodstock, Vermont. The goal of the race appeared mostly to be "survival" because the race consists of a steep icy kamikaze downhill run, called "The Face". In 1985 still only 39, of the approximately 600 snowboard areas allow snowboards.

The same year one of the first (there was another one in 1981, called "Snowboarder") Snowboarding magazine comes out. It's name is "Absolutely Radical". Later on the name is changed into "International Snowboarding Magazine". In 1986 Regis Rolland, a French snowboarder, stars in "Apocalypse Snow". His staring launches a new European Snowboarding generation of fans who organize their own regional events, such as the Swiss championship in St. Moritz. Snowboarding is becoming a more and more popular sport.

In 1994 Snowboarding was declared as an Olympic Sport. Now it finally became accepted as a real competitive sport, not only a new trend which would disappear again. Snowboarding debuted in the 1998 Olympics.

Some Simple Snowboarding Facts

Snowboarding is a winter sport that is a cross between surfing and skateboarding. While surfing is done on the water, and skateboarding on cement, snowboarding is done on the snow.

Snowboarders (also called riders) stand sideways on the snowboard, which is usually constructed out of wood, fiberglass, p-tex and metal edges in much the same way as skis.

Snowboards vary in size and shape, but an average board is 150cm long and 25cm wide.

Riders wear boots specifically designed for snowboarding, and their feet are attached to the board with bindings that typically strap across each boot. (Unlike skiing, no poles are needed.)

Snowboarding primarily takes place alongside skiing at ski resorts.

In 2000, snowboarding was the fastest-growing sport in the US (followed by skateboarding) with the number of people who went snowboarding rising to a total of just over 7.2 million participants.

Snowboarding originated in the U.S. in the 1960's. Early boards were very rudimentary in design compared to the models available today. More recent designs reflect the variety of riding styles that have emerged within the sport. (Read more about snowboarding's history here.)

There are two primary styles of snowboarding: 1) freestyle/freeride and 2) alpine/carving. Each style requires its own specialized set of equipment.

Snowboarding competitions have been taking place for approximately 20 years, and include events such as the halfpipe, boardercross, slopestyle and parallel giant slalom.

Snowboarding made its Olympics debut in Nagano, Japan in 1998. It returned to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City with 2 events, the halfpipe and parallel giant slalom.

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