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Snowboarding ... These Days It's JUST Another Way to Ride the Snow! A few years ago we, like the ski resorts themselves, we segregated our content and actually attempted to come up with a special section of our website for snowboarders. It was a futile attempt for a few reasons. One, our writers aren’t snowboarders; Two, snowboarders tend to want to DO the sport and not write about it; Three, not a lot was REALLY happening at all of the resorts of the region and keeping informative content was a chore. Now having a special section devoted to snowboarding is silly. WHY? Because snowboarders are just as much a part of our everyday life on the slopes…as skiers are. In the beginning, there WAS a snowboarding “lifestyle” that seemed to hugely populated by enthusiasts would could do amazing things athletically…but they couldn’t speak…or so it seemed! Like most people I enjoyed watching the X-Games and Olympics when amazing athletes do amazing tricks, but how many of you really know what an OLLIE, AIR to FAKIE, BUTTER or ROCK n ROLL Grind is? No a “rock n roll grind” is NOT a form of dirty dancing. …and admit it, when you watched the Winter Olympics didn’t you really think that some of the lesser-known's out snowboarded the likes of snowboarding’s favorite son, Shaun White? Also interviews with some of the biggest stars of snowboarding went something like this: Reporter: How do you feel that you did out there with that run? Snowboarder: K Reporter: Well, um, so when you cranked that Frontside 720 did you know that you had the landing nailed? Snowboarder: Yea Reporter: Well can you elaborate? Snowboarder: Huh? I dunno what ya mean, but I can tell you man, that I was stoked fo’ shizzle dude! Okay…we’re having a little fun. The truth is now snowboarding has really caught on with all ages, all educational, and all makes and models of human beings! In fact, if you go into most ski and snowboard shops with any pre-conceived ideas or stereotypes in your mind you might be in for a surprise. I was in a shop last season after I had busted the bindings of my new Atomic SX-11s and I was approached by the store’s manager. He was a skin head, dude-talking fellow, so I asked him how the snowboarding was outside. He answered, “I mostly ski, man.” There was a dreadlocked employee who joined in our conversation and I asked him what kind of board he used. He replied, “No dude, I ski.” I was 0 for 2. I was walking around the store a few minutes later with a friend who was looking to buy a snowboard and I came across another friendly employee - a tattooed, soul patch fellow. This time I knew I had myself a snowboarder. So I asked if he could recommend a board to my buddy. He replied in perfect grammar, “I’d love to help you, but I really only ski.” After that day, I started to pay attention and if you’ll do the same the next time you’re in a lift line…listen up…the jargon, demeanor and overall disposition of snow sports enthusiasts are the same…whether you use ONE BOARD or TWO these days.  Nowadays,
snowboarding is just so common, that we really don’t think that that it
warrants separating content. Snow sports is snow sports…again, whether
you sliding on one plank or two. HOWEVER, what DOES warrant devoted
content is TERRAIN PARKS. Terrain parks used to be a place JUST FOR
snowboarders, but that’s not the case anymore either. Now most (SMART)
ski resort operators devote dedicated terrain to thrill-seekers of all
ilk. Many of our area’s ski resorts now have one, two and even THREE
terrain parks and terrain park “gardens” that feature everything from
death-defying jumps to tame “hits” that even intermediate skiers and
one-plankers can hit.So if you’re interested in our area of SkiSoutheast that is devoted to what’s happening in the TERRAIN PARKS…click here. A LITTLE HISTORY OF SNOWBOARDING FOR THOSE THAT WISH TO KNOW… Just a few short years ago (hard to believe) NO ski resorts in the region allowed snowboarders on the slopes. At that time it wasn’t because snowboarders were a “bad element”; it was simply that resort operators only allowed SKIS of one sort or another on their slopes. Snowboarding was said to have been developed in the 1950s, and originated in the United States, where several inventors explored the idea of surfing on the snow. Although it is hard to pinpoint the pioneer of Snowboarding, it has been recognized that it was initiated around the 1950s by a few surf and skate enthusiasts who used self-made boards to explore their favorite hill. The first REAL Snowboard hit the market during the 1960's in the form of Sherman Poppen's “Snurfer”. Just in case you missed the connection, the name came from SNOW & SURFER. It appeared like a weird crossover between a wooden sled and a skateboard. A rope was attached to the front tip of the snurfer (board) and it offered the rider some control. Believe it or not he had steel tacks poking through the upper deck that served to hold the rider's feet in place! During those early years skiers didn’t even recognize snowboarders and in large part resorts prohibited them from playing on their public terrain so snowboarding was done almost entirely OFF SLOPES. While it wasn’t an immediate, overnight success snowboarding did become more popular in the 70s and 80s. Snowboarding pioneers such as Jake BURTON Carpenter came up with new designs using sweet new materials (like fiberglass!) and each new design came with improved bindings and looks. Although exact statistics are not available, less than one out of ten resorts in the United States allowed snowboarding in the early 80s and now only a select few resorts exclude it. Snowboarding is not only the FASTEST growing snow sport, its fan-base is growing at such a fast pace that it has actually caused the number of SKIERS in the US to decline by 25%. It is now estimated that more than 3.5 MILLION people snowboard. According to industry experts most ski areas claim that nearly 20% of their annual visitors are now snowboarders. Some predict a continuing rise in those numbers. |
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