dale+keating+snowboarding


 * __ History Of Snowboarding __**

People have been going down the sides of mountains ever since we can remember so it is hard to tell who really discovered snowboarding, although there was a man by the name M.J. “Jack” Burchett who cut out a plank of plywood and tried to secure his feet with some clothes line and horse reins. But it would be 30 years until the next snowboard was made. In 1965 Sherman Poppen, a chemical gases engineer invented "The Snurfer" (his wife came up with the name) as a toy for his daughter and was made by tying two skis together and putting a rope at the nose, so the rider could hold it and keep it more stable. Many of his daughter’s friends wanted one of those new Snurfers, and soon Poppen licensed his new idea to a manufacturer. The Snurfer was sold over half a million times in 1966, but was only seen as a toy for kids. In 1969 Dimitrije Milovich started making snowboards after sliding down some hills on a cafeteria plate in College. His boards were based on a surfboard that was attach ed with two skies; In 1972 Milovich started a new company called "Winterstick". He produced several boards. Snowboarding was becoming known as Milovich was printing articles in well known magazines such as powder, news week and playboy. Even though Milovich left the snowboarding business in 1980, he is still recognized as a very important pioneer of the sport. In 1977 Jake Burton who was making different versions of the Snurfer by laminating hardwood Burton shocked all the Snurfer riders by winning a Snurfer competition with his own board, which had the first binding (is to keep the foot in place). Tom Sims produced his first snowboards in 1977. Being obsessed with skateboarding, Sims tried to go out in the snow and slide down the hill with a "snowboard" he built in a junior high shop-class. The board was made by a piece of aluminium with carpet glued to the top of the board, after that snowboards were skateboards with plastic shell with skegs and were actually classed as the first real ski technology and were introduced in 1980. In 1982 the first National Snowboard race was held in Suicide Six, outside Woodstock, Vermont. **__ Snowboarding today __** In 1994 snowboarding finally got recognized for its the skill it takes to be a snowboarder and was introduce to the winter Olympics, in 1998 people started to appreciate the sport and welcomed it to the Olympic games. Ross Rebagliati after winning gold at the winter Olympics on the slalom, he had to later do a urine test and showed positive. His gold medal was taken off him for a day and given back the next day but this gave a reputation for other boarders and people thought that if you snowboard you would smoke pot. In 1998 snowboarding contributed to 50% of winter activity and is now accepted as one of the most extreme dangerous sports around.

**__bibliography__**
 * []
 * []
 * []
 * []