Snowboarding has steadily gained popularity since the 1980’s. Snowboarding takes the free style riding of surfing and puts it on snow. One of our favorite snowboarding facts not many people may know is the first man to invent the modern snowboard originally called it the “Snurfer” a term coined by his wife combing ‘snow’ and ‘surfer’. Sherman Poppen, the man who invented it, did so by fastening two skis together and attaching a rope for control. His daughters and friends loved the new toy so much it led to Sherman licensing and manufacturing his invention. This was in 1965 and over the next ten years about one million Snurfers would be sold. Keep reading to find our list of facts about snowboarding.
5 Gnarley Snowboarding Facts:
- There are still ski resorts that ban snowboarders today. (source) As snowboarding became more popular in the 1980’s some mountain resorts didn’t know what to do with these new ‘invaders’ who sometimes wore baggier clothes, didn’t follow all the rules and scared other skiers on the hill. Some resorts made designated areas for these new riders while others banned them completely. Today, three snowboarding bans still stand in the US.
- Snowboarding made its Olympic debut in 1998. (source) With the men’s giant slalom race snowboarding was thrust into the national spotlight however, its debut left people confused and snowboarders themselves feeling as though the Olympic committee missed the entire point of this new and exciting sport of self-expression.
- The youngest person to win an X-Games snowboard event was Chloe Kim at age 14. (source) After a scary fall during her practice run the day before, Kim went on to score 92 points with a large bandage on her face in her third run beating reigning X Games champion Kelly Clark.
- The highest air on a snowboard ever achieved was 32.2 feet (9.8 meters). (source) In 2007 Terje Haakonsen broke the six year world record held by Heikki Sorsa landing a backside 360 on the quarter pipe at the Arctic Challenge in Midtstuen, Oslo.
- Shaun White is considered the greatest snowboarder of all time. (source) He is a three-time Olympic gold medalist and also holds the record for the most X-Games gold medals and most Olympic gold medals by a snowboarder.
