Since it was first invented in the mid-1960s, snowboarding has become one of the world’s most popular winter sports. The modern development of the sport has occurred at a lightning pace. here are some of the most important events in snowboarding history:
1. Sherman Poppen’s invention–This man is the inventor of a winter toy called a snurfer. Poppen bound two skis together and produced the prototype of today’s snowboards. Although probably no one could foresee how momentous an event this was, it was akin to Walter Morrison’s using a pie tin as an idea to create his popular Frisbee.[1][2]
2. Dimitrie Milovic company–Milovic started the first modern snowboard company–Winterstick. He partnered with a guy named Wayne Stoveken and began testing their boards. They began selling them out of a shop in Salt Lake City around the mid-seventies.
3. A Tale of Two Rivals–A businessman named James Burton and a surfer named Tom Sims began a bitter rivalry that greatly elevated the business of snowboarding. Through their constant desire to outdo one another, they sparked innovation, creativity, and overall improvement of the sport.[3]
4. The International Olympic Committee and X-Games–Snowboarding became one of the sports caught up in the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC’s) competition with the X-Games which was created by ESPN. Not to be outdone, the Olympics began adding more extreme sports as well to attract the same younger viewers who enjoyed the X-Games.[4]
5. The Winter Olympics–Snowboarding became an official winter sport at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan. This was an important milestone in the history of the sport. Since that time, it has been an integral part of the Olympic Games. Snowboarders like Shaun White, have become extremely popular, adding to the luster of snowboarding on the Olympic scene and giving it the much-needed name recognition that keeps sports fans tuned in each year. White’s completion of a perfect season in 2005-06, etching out 12 out of 12 victories certainly didn’t hurt either.[5]
6. Pipe the Magic Dragon— A man by the name of Doug Waugh did the sport of snowboarding a huge favor by designing a machine to make building halfpipes, the special ramps made for skaters and snowboarders, much easier to create. Shortly after Waug’s design, the halfpipe, which could now be built more easily and conveniently, could be seen in parks everywhere. This gave momentum to snowboarding’s growth and popularity.[6]
The future of snowboarding looks as bright as ever, with a crop of fresh new Superstars ready to take the sport to new heights. Phenoms like Ayuma Hirano, Julia Marino, Chloe Kim, and Marcus Kleveland, are sure to keep snowboarding ascending to heights unknown in the years to come.
