Two years later, he dropped out of Cornell University, moved to Utah and started testing his prototype boards on the region’s champagne powder. Milovich was introduced to snowboarding in 1970 by Wayne Stoveken. More so than any other invention of the 1960s, the Snurfer inspired a generation of kids to surf the snow, among them future snowboard innovators Jake Burton, Chris Sanders and Jeff Grell.Ģ) Dimitrije Milovich Drops Out of Cornell to Snowboard (1972)ĭimitrije Milovich’s role in snowboarding history is simple: He started Winterstick, the first modern snowboard company. The predecessor to today’s snowboard became a cult phenomenon, selling more than 750,000 units over the next 15 years. He then patented the 42-inch-by-7-inch toy and licensed it to Brunswick (and later Jem). “When I saw how much fun the kids had Christmas Day,” Poppen told Skiing Heritage, “I spent the next week in Goodwill and everywhere else buying up every water ski I could find.”Ī couple of weeks later, Poppen added a rope to the front of the board to make turning easier and prevent it from sailing away when riders fell. The Snurfer – think snow and surfer – was born and became an instant hit. On Christmas morning 1965, Sherman Poppen went into his garage, cross-braced two Kmart skis together, stood atop his backyard hill and started surfing the snow. In chronological order, here are the top ten moments of snowboarding’s short, radical history … subject to debate of course.ġ) Sherman Poppen Invents the Snurfer (1965) Though snowboarding’s roots go back several centuries, its modern development began in the 1960s.
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