Snurfing
Snurfing or what is now called Snowboarding is a very popular sport with all ages and both genders. There are many different ways to snowboard and there are different types of snowboards. The most common way to ride the snowboard is freeride and the majority of people ride snowboards regular, but some ride goofy. Learning the basic concepts of snowboarding usually takes a person three days, but to actually get good at it takes years of practice. The best thing about snowboarding is the feeling of elation you get while gliding down the trails. You feel so free, the spray of snow behind you as you go, the sound the edge of you board makes when it hits ice and the rush of adrenaline when airborne. There is nothing better than being the first on a trail after a big snowstorm because snowboarding is the best in fresh powder. There is nothing like being the first to make your mark on a trail.
The history of snowboarding officially begins with a quick appearance of a snowboard-like invention by M.J. Burchett in 1929, and was not seen again until 1965, with the invention of the snurfer. Sherman Poppens was its creator, who was a chemical gases engineer in Muskegon, Michigan. Poppen’s wife was the one who came up with the name “Snurfer”. She called it that because it was a contraction of “snow surfer” (Dennis). The snurfer was a wooden plank with a string attached to the front for control. He had originally created the snurfer as a toy for his daughter, and soon after creating it her friends were asking him to make them snurfers too. So he licensed the idea to a manufacturer, and by 1966 he had sold over half a million snurfers. In the early 1970’s Poppen organized snurfing competitions, which attracted enthusiasts from all over. Snowboards as we know them came into existence in 1969, and were created by Dimitrije Milovich. Milovich was an east coast surfer, and while riding down snowy hills on a cafeteria tray at Cornell University he was inspired (Voje). He created snowboards based on the design and feel of surfboards but they worked the same way skis do. When Milovich started his company “Winterstick” many articles were written about him and snowboarding, which was instrumental to the kick off of snowboarding. Later in 1977 Jack Burton Carpenter established Burton snowboards and won a snurfer competition with his own board. One of the reasons that he won the competition was because he was the first person to add ski-like bindings onto his board, which gave him greater control. At the same time, Burton’s main competitor was Tom Sims. Sims, being an avid skateboarder, based his snowboard designs off of skateboards. In 1982, the first ever snowboarding competition was held at Suicide Six outside of Woodstock, Vermont. The difference between that competition and competitions now is that the runs at Suicide Six were so icy and dangerous that the point of the race was to stay alive not to come in first.
Snowboarding was beginning to become more popular but many ski resorts would not allow snowboarders. Once Burton had created the snowboard bindings, he lobbied the ski resorts to allow snowboarders on their mountains. Resorts slowly began to allow snowboarders because the bindings made snowboarding safer for the rider and other skiers, but there were still a lot of resorts reluctant to let them on their mountains. The fact that snowboarders were now being allowed on ski resorts created much animosity between skiers and snowboarders. “In 1983, less than 10 percent of the United States ski areas allowed Snowboarding. But by 1997, few resorts excluded it.” (Snowboarding History | Orgin of Snowboard). Today skiers and snowboarders still do not love each other but the relationship is more harmonious than twenty years ago. Finally in 1994 the International Snowboard Association was created, and in 1998 snowboarding became a winter Olympic game. Today there are a wide variety of people who snowboard, and there are always new types of boards and riding techniques. Snowboarding has become one of the fastest growing sports.
If you wanna learn how to snowboard here’s how. First get your equipment and go to a mountain, once there it would be best to go inside and put your snowboard boots on. If you put your boots on while your feet are cold then they will never get warm. There are two layers to the boot - the inner liner and the outside layer. First you must slip you foot into the inner liner and tighten the laces. To do so, the inner liner has a wire threaded through a tab and you must pull the laces until they are tight, then slide the tab down and lock it. You want the inner liner to be snug because if it is to loose you will have issues turning and your foot may pop out. Next you need to tighten the outside layer of your boot. You lace them like you would a regular shoe but instead of holes, there are hooks which you wrap the laces around, and when you get to the top you tie it like a regular shoe (I would recommend double-knotting it). Now that you have your boots on, grab your board and walk over to the bottom of the bunny hill by the lift. From here on directions are for someone who is riding a board regular. The first thing you need to do is put your left foot into the front binding, making sure your heel is snug against the back of the binding. This is your lead foot and only gets unbuckled when taking off the snowboard. Next you must secure your foot in the bindings. There should be two straps on the binding - one going across your toes and one going across your ankle. I like to start with the toe strap because it helps push your boot against the back of the binding. To do this grab the plastic strap without the lever and thread it through the lever on the other strap. Then pull the metal or plastic tab up repeatedly until snug, you should hear a click for every notch it tightens (if you make the strap too tight you can cut off circulation and your feet will get cold faster). After you have tightened the toe strap, do the exact same thing for the ankle strap. Now that your foot is secure to the binding you must attach the leash to your boot. All you have to do for that is clip the leash that is attached to the bindings onto you bootlaces. This prevents runaway boards, which are extremely dangerous.
You are now ready to skate over to the chairlift, meaning take your right foot and place it either in front of or behind your board and push yourself forward. Once you get to the chairlift move to the red line, and wait for the lift operator to motion you forward. You then skate to the next red line or where the operator is standing and wait for the chair to come. While waiting you should have your board pointed uphill, right foot behind you and be looking back for the chair. When the chair comes bend you knees slightly and then sit on it with your board still pointed uphill. Once everyone is situated on the chair lower the safety bar and rest your board on the bar (if there is one). If there is not, the best thing to do is rest your board on the toe of your right foot. Otherwise your left foot will get very sore from having the snowboard hanging off of it. When you get to the top of the lift and you see the sign telling you to, lift the safety bar and raise the tip of your board up slightly. When getting off it helps to be sitting sideways at the edge of the chair. When your snowboard can touch the ground stand up and place your right foot on the stomp pad, which is located in the middle of the board closer to the right binding. Let the chairlift push you off and ride it out until you come to a stop.
Now that you have successfully gotten off the chairlift, skate over to a spot at the top of the hill on the side and sit down. It is now time to buckle your right foot in. Do the exact same thing you did for your left foot except for the leash. At this point you should be sitting on your butt looking down hill. I find it easier to roll myself onto my stomach and flip my board so that I’m on my knees (this position is much easier to stand up from). Slowly stand up keeping your knees bent and pressure on the balls of your feet; you should now be looking uphill. The key to turning is shifting your weight. Now you are going to want to turn left. In order to do this you must put your weight on the ball of your right foot and then swing your whole left side (shoulders and hips mainly) left. You want to keep your weight on the ball of your foot until you are parallel with the slope (your leading foot is pointed downhill). If you do not put your weight on the ball of your foot, you will catch your edge and fall. When turning, it is very important to make sure your edge is raised so that you do not catch it. Now that we have turned left, let’s try turning right. To turn right, when your leading foot is pointed down hill shift your weight to your back foot (right) and then pivot on the ball of your right foot while swinging your left side right. To turn left from the same position you shift your weight again to you back foot but you pivot on the heel of your right foot and swing your left side left. You can stop either toe side (toes pointing towards the mountain) or heel side (toes pointing away from the mountain). To stop toes side, turn right, bend your knees and dig into the snow with the edge of the board. For heel side, turn left, bend your knees and dig into the snow with the edge of the board. Turning takes a while before you finally get it, but when you do it is easy. Snowboarding is mostly trial and error and some stuff you just have to feel out for yourself but the basic concepts of snowboarding are shifting your weight, balance and always watch the edge of your board.
Snowboarding is a fun winter sport that has only officially been around for forty-five years. Snowboarding has become more accepted at ski resorts and there are a wide variety of people who do it. There still is animosity between snowboarders and skiers, but it is not as bad as it used to be. I love snowboarding and skiing with my family every winter and winter this year cannot come soon enough.

Works Cited

Dennis, Maggie. Inventor Sherman Poppen, snurfing his way into history. 09 September 2009. 11 October 2010 <http://blog.americanhistory.si.edu/osaycanyousee/2009/09/inventor-sherman-poppen-snurfing-his-way-into-history.html>.

Snowboarding History | Orgin of Snowboard. 2008. 11 October 2010 <http://www.abc-of-snowboarding.com/snowboardinghistory.asp>.

Voje, Julian. The Beginning Of Snowboarding. 22 May 2005. 11 October 2010 <http://www.sbhistory.de/>.