While snowboarding became popular in the 1990s, its origin goes back to the early 70s, and (if you consider it an extension of skiing, even farther). This is one of the most popular pages here on Grays on Trays, so let's get started. A (very brief) timeline of snowboarding: 1929. M.J. "Jack" Burchett is said to have one of the first quasi-snowboarding experiences. (Reliable sources, anyone?) 1938. Gunnar E. Burgeson, Harvey W. Burgeson, and Vern C. Wicklund file a patent application for a "sled" that some claim is the first snowboard. The patent is granted in 1939. You can view the text of the patent, plus its blueprint, at the web site of the U.S. Patent Office. (Here is a direct link, though you may need to install some plug-ins along the way.) Both Snowboard magazine and The Snowboard Journal have photos. For more information, see our Wicklund Snowboard patent page. 1963. Tom Sims creates a "ski board" as middle school student. 1965. A proto-snowboard is created when Michigan resident Sherman Poppen fixes two skis side side-by-side. He calls his device, which allow for "snow surfing" a snurfer (see photo above). By one account, roughly 800,000 of the items are sold. On occasion, you can still buy one of these on eBay. 1968. The first competition for Snurfers is held in Muskegon, Michigan, near the shores of Lake Michigan. Annual competitions are held for roughly a decade. 1970. Dimitrije Milovich gets inspiration from riding on cafeteria trays while as a college student. He forms the Winterstick Snowboard Co. 1975. An article in Newsweek says that "Snow surfing (or 'snurfing') through deep powder is all the rage in Utah, where two snurfers have invented the 'Winterstick,' a 5-foot-long, 14-inch-wide foam-cored board with three small 'skegs,' or fins, on the underside like a surfboard." The article also quotes Milovich, who says "It's just one more step toward total freedom - freeing the skier from the strict rules of the mountain." 1977. Tom Sims creates a device he calls a snowboard. Sims was a skateboarder. 1978. Fiberglass snowboard created by Chuck Barfoot. 1979. Jake Burton Carpenter competes in the Snurfer competition with his own version of a snowboard--with bindings. 1982. First national racing competition, featuring slalom and downhill events. 1982 and beyond: Neon snowboards. See the Oregon Snowboard Museum for photos. Notice that some of the bindings resemble bindings for water skis. (By the way, the Snowboard Magazine web site has a good collection of early snowboarding equipment.) 1983. The highback binding, a commonplace of today's snowboarding scene, is invented by Jeff Grell. 1983. First national competition for the halfpipe. 1984. First modern board, with a deep sidecut, metal sidecut, and P-tex base, among other features. 1985. Only 7 percent of U.S. ski areas allow snowboarding. This includes Buttermilk, which would eventually host the Winter X Games. 1985. Breckenridge holds the inaugural Snowboarding World Cup Championship. 1986. Soft boots created by Jake Burton. 1987. Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA) publishes first manual for teaching snowboarding 1988. The number of U.S. ski areas that allow snowboarding explodes this year, going up by nearly half. 1989. By one estimate, 75 percent of U.S. ski areas allow snowboarding. 1989. Releasable binding created by Carl Miller. Today, by contrast, most bindings are non-releasable. 1991. First snowboard park established, Vail, Colorado. 1993. The grunge look appears. 1993. Snowboards are allowed at 91 percent of U.S. ski areas. 1994. Noting that the market for skiing has been flat since the late 1970s, one industry observer says that "snowboarding is now an engine of replacement." 1997. Popular Mechanics becomes the first major non-sports publication to notice grown-up snowboarders. 1998. Snowboarding becomes an Olympic sport, in Nagano, Japan. 2000. The Wall Street Journal takes notes of adult snowboarders, followed in 2002 by the New York Times. The history of snowboarding is not well-established. Many web sites, for example, seem to merely repeat each other, and some data conflict. The key people in its development came from various sports: surfing, skateboarding, and skiing. This is only appropriate, as snowboarding resembles, in differing ways, each of these sports. For more information, see EXPN.com See also the ski history page for information on the sport that started mountain sliding. Discussion board Did you ever use a Snurfer? Sneak past the ski patrol? Remember when duct tape was your most important tool on the slopes? Stop by the GraysOnTrays discussion board to add your comments or questions about snowboarding history and snowboarding for adults. Return to the home page.