Ken Kampenga, John Asmussen and Jim Trim placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively in the Standard competition with best two combined times of 24.71, 25.02 and 25.41 and Jake Carpenter won prize money as the sole entrant in the "open" division with a time of 26.35. That race was considered the first competition for snowboards and is the start of what became competitive snowboarding. A "modified" "Open" division was created and won by Jake as the sole entrant. Paul Graves, and others, advocated that Jake be allowed to race. There were protests about Jake entering with a non-snurfer board. In 1979, Jake Burton Carpenter came from Vermont to compete with a snowboard of his own design. The first competitions to offer prize money were the National Snurfing Championship, held at Muskegon State Park in Muskegon, Michigan. Burton's early designs for boards with bindings became the dominant features in snowboarding. Very few people picked up snowboarding because the price of the board was considered too high at $38 and were not allowed on many ski hills, but eventually Burton would become the biggest snowboarding company in the business. The "snowboards" were made of wooden planks that were flexible and had water ski foot traps. That same year, he founded Burton Snowboards in Londonderry, Vermont. Īlso during this same period, in 1977, Jake Burton Carpenter, a Vermont native who had enjoyed snurfing since the age of 14, impressed the crowd at a Michigan snurfing competition with bindings he had designed to secure his feet to the board. The pioneers were not all from the United States in 1976, Welsh skateboard enthusiasts Jon Roberts and Pete Matthews developed their own snowboards to use at their local dry ski slope. He produced commercial snowboards in the mid-70s. In the 1960s, as an eighth grader in Haddonfield, New Jersey, Sims crafted a snowboard in his school shop class by gluing carpet to the top of a piece of wood and attaching aluminum sheeting to the bottom. One of those early pioneers was Tom Sims, a devotee of skateboarding (a sport born in the 1950s when kids attached roller skate wheels to small boards that they steered by shifting their weight). In February 1968, Poppen organized the first snurfing competition at a Michigan ski resort that attracted enthusiasts from all over the country. And, in 1966 alone, over half a million snurfers were sold. Dubbed the " snurfer" (combining snow and surfer) by his wife Nancy, the toy proved so popular among his daughters' friends that Poppen licensed the idea to a manufacturer, Brunswick Corporation, that sold about a million snurfers over the next decade. Modern snowboarding began in 1965 when Sherman Poppen, an engineer in Muskegon, Michigan, invented a toy for his daughters by fastening two skis together and attaching a rope to one end so he would have some control as they stood on the board and glided downhill. Have questions? Reach out to our team of customer care experts.Freeride snowboarding, in areas off of the main trails
We are a full online snowboard shop with everything from snowboards to clothing and accessories - shop all things snowboard at evo. Not sure which size is best for you? Check out our snowboard sizing and buyer’s guide.
If you already have a basic idea of what type of snowboard you want, you’re in the right place - filter by the type of board form all-mountain to powder snowboards to find your next snowboard. To learn more about the different shapes, rocker profiles and various technical jargon, check out our guide to choosing the right snowboard. We have many great resources and a wide selection of snowboards for sale for all kinds of different riders. This can make it hard to choose the best snowboard for you. There are so many snowboards out there nowadays, from crazy directional fishtail snowboards to more familiar looking symmetrical twintips. Your snowboard is your paintbrush, letting you leave your individual mark on the mountain, be it deep in the backcountry on a splitboard, or ripping carves on an all-mountain snowboard. Sure, it’s fun to pick out the rest of your snowboarding gear, but there’s no more important piece of the puzzle than your snowboard itself.