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Invention of the snowboard
Sherman Poppen, a surf fanatic, had the dream of surfing in the landscape of the Rockies. He took two kids' skis and bolted them together, which he made as a present for one of his daughter, The very next year, he partnered with a bowling ball manufacturer to create the "snurfer", and sold over 1 million in the following 10 years.
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Creation of "Winterstick
Dimitrije Milovich created his first company, Winterstick, considered the first snowboard company ever. They did not last very long however, and the business was broke by 1980.
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Creation of Burton
Jake Burton, then a 23 year old student, kept on improving the Snurfer to make it more controllable and to improve his riding. He then founded Burton, which is still to this day one of snowboarding`s biggest brands.
http://www.bulgariaski.com/snowboarding.shtml -
Improvements to the snowboard
Bob Webber developed the "yellow banana" board in 1977, which is responsible for the similar shape they have today. Chuck Barfoot also started to include fiberglass in the production of snowboards in the following year, greatly improving the products' strength and durability.
http://www.bulgariaski.com/snowboarding.shtml -
First "Snurfer" Contest
In 1979, at the annual Snurfer contest held in Michigan, pro snurfer Paul Graves performed a freestyle demo and made the crowd scream by showing four sliding 360s, dropping down on one knee for part of the course. This greatly grew the sport's popularity and helped advance the sport further. Jake Burton also entered with his own designs in an open division, created for him. It also gave some exposure to his designs.
http://www.bulgariaski.com/snowboarding.shtml -
First Snowboard Contest
Ski Cooper in Leadville, Colorado saw the first snowboard contest, after the snurfer slowly turned into a more controllable snowboard.
http://www.bulgariaski.com/snowboarding.shtml -
First National snowboard contest
Suicide Six, a station near Woodstock, Vermont, hosted the first US national snowboard championships in 1982.
http://www.bulgariaski.com/snowboarding.shtml -
First World Snowboarding championships
Tom Sims hosted the first ever World snowboarding Championships at the Soda Springs Ski Bowl in California, the first ever snowboard halfpipe championship. The Burton team threatened to boycott the competition because “they felt that halfpipe riding had nothing to do with snowboarding.” https://www.skimuseum.net/images/upload/PageContent/1328815703.pdf
https://www.olympic.org/snowboard-equipment-and-history -
Addition of high-back bindings to the board
In 1985, the first high-back bindings were produced by snowboard pioneers Flite, founded in 1974. More and more riders took off the fins, still on the boards at the time, and slowly but surely, the "snurfer" turned into a controllable "snowboard".
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Addition of metal edges
Metal edges are introduced on Sims 1500 FE and Burton Performer models, their winter production models. This ends the era of surfing-influenced fin design once and for all as snowboards become more compatible with ski technology. http://snowboarding.transworld.net/uncategorized/snowboard-history-timeline-part-21980s/#VTsEb4LAcV4UCdgH.99 -
First snowboarding instruction classes
Stratton Mountain in Vermont becomes the first resort to offer organized snowboarding instruction.
http://snowboarding.transworld.net/uncategorized/snowboard-history-timeline-part-21980s/#VTsEb4LAcV4UCdgH.99 -
Birth of Shaun White
Shaun White is widely regarded as the greatest snowboarder of all time. He was born on September 3rd, 1986, and by 7 years old already had scored his first sponsorship deal. He holds the X-Games records for gold medals and highest overall medal count, and has won 10 ESPY Awards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYxY1LL3AUk
http://www.biography.com/people/shaun-white-201311#synopsis -
Creation of modern snowboard boot
With a lace-up, ski-boot inner bladder, Burton produces what will become the standard design for soft-boot snowboarding.
http://snowboarding.transworld.net/uncategorized/snowboard-history-timeline-part-21980s/#VTsEb4LAcV4UCdgH.99 -
First asymmetrical board wins in competition
Jose Fernandes won the Giant Slalom of the "American" world championships of in Breckenridge, CO, with one of the first asymmetrical boards, the forerunner to asymmetrical production models popular in the early 90s. The board was made by his sponsor, Hooger Booger.
http://snowboarding.transworld.net/uncategorized/snowboard-history-timeline-part-21980s/#VTsEb4LAcV4UCdgH.99
http://www.bulgariaski.com/snowboarding.shtml -
Publication of first Transworld SNOWboarding magazine
Transworld SNOWboarding, one of today's largest snowboarding magazines, was first published in the fall of 1987.
http://snowboarding.transworld.net/uncategorized/snowboard-history-timeline-part-21980s/#Uzk2pFhbC6tgw3h6.97 -
Formation of the ISF
The International Snowboarding Federation was formed in 1990 in order to organize snowboarding competitions and championships worldwide.
https://www.olympic.org/snowboard-equipment-and-history -
Introduction as a FIS discipline
The International Ski Federation (FIS) introduced snowboarding as a FIS discipline in 1994. This helped pave the way for snowboarding’s inclusion in the Olympic Winter Games.
https://www.olympic.org/snowboard-equipment-and-history -
Olympic Debut
Men’s and women’s snowboarding made their Olympic debuts at the Nagano Games in 1998 with giant slalom and halfpipe competitions. The discipline proved an instant success and returned to Salt Lake City four years later with parallel giant slalom and halfpipe competitions. In Turin, snowboard cross also made its debut.
https://www.olympic.org/snowboard-equipment-and-history -
Snowboard Speed World record
Nowadays the speed record for snowboarders is set to 201,907 km/h, run by Australian Darren Powell in Les Arcs in 1999. It has still not been beaten to this day.
http://www.bulgariaski.com/snowboarding.shtml -
First ever snowboarding competitions at Winter X Games
Snowboarding made its debut at the 2002 Aspen Winter X Games, along with multiple other sports. The first Winter X Games were held in 1997 in Big Bear Lake, California.
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Interesting fact
Over 80% of kids that practice winter sports choose snowboarding
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSZhlfDB8VQ
http://www.bulgariaski.com/snowboarding.shtml
