Snowboarding: All You Ever Wanted to Know

LETCHWORTH, U.K. - Aug. 3, 2013 - PRLog -- Snowboarding is around for a very long time. If history books are to be believed, then it existed even in 1920’s in its primitive form. However, it wasn’t until 1960’s that it was commercialized and industrialized. It is pretty tough to say who actually invented the sport or who was the very first guy to use a snow board as people in hilly areas have always managed to find a way to slid down the snowy slope one way or the other. Men and often women would fasten wooden planks or plywood to their feet from barrels with the help of horse reins and clotheslines to steer themselves smoothly down hills.

However, the history of modern snowboarding is quite clear. It is said to have started when a young surf freak by the name of Sherman Poppen was looking for an easy, safe and reliable way to surf down the icy hills of Rockies. His fortitude paid off and he was able to make the very first synthetic surfboard for snow in 1964. His first prototype was about 1.20 m long plastic plank. He made it for his daughter Wendy and soon caught the eye of every snowboarding lover in the town.

The idea and design of the board was so practical that it went in to mass production just a year later in 1965. It was called snurfer back then. It quickly found its way under the Christmas trees and in the birthday gift boxes because of its peerless price of just 15$. Over one million snurfers were sold in the decade that followed making it one of the most demanded sport items.

However, the evolution continued and reached a new point in 1970. During this phase a surfer in the East Cost known as Milovich got a unique idea while sliding around on cafeteria trays in the snow of NYC. He decided to give a new touch to snowboarding and developed boards following the same pattern as the short surf boards. His initial designs also made use of rudimentary steel edges, but he quickly gave up on this as he usually only rode in deep powder anyway. The man went on to experiment with a few things including gravel and laminating glass on the board. Giving his love for the sport he opened a company called "Winterstick" which is believed to be the pioneer in the industry.

Snowboarding has gone through some radical changes technology wise during the past few decades. Right from the material of the boards to the surfing techniques, it has gone through some deep-seated transformation. At first it was just a recreational activity done by some adrenalin junkies over the icy slopes, but now it has became a fiercely contested sport.

Snowboarding competitions are being held in the US since 1981. Seeing its rising popularity it was included in the Olympics in 1998 giving a big boost to its image in the country.

Snowboarding contests are held all around the world including competitions like The Air & Style, The X Games, The X-Trail Jam, Burton Global Open Series, FIS World Championships, Shakedown and FIS World Cup.

The TTR tour is extremely famous and attracts people of all ages. This huge event is recognized as the World Snowboard Tour. This has grown hugely in the last seven years and now follows a unique 10-month competition season. This is a true global event held in different regions. The Tour includes events like The Arctic Challenge, TTR 6Star Air & Style, and the US Open of Snowboarding. This acts as the finale to multiple events including ESPN's X-Games that joined the tour in 2012.