A Brief History of Snowboarding

With an emphasis on its roots in Vermont

Snowboarding is a sport enjoyed by millions around the world, but it was only 60 years ago when Sherman Poppen, to keep his daughters occupied on Christmas Day, 1965, nailed two skis together so they could slide down a little hill in their yard in Muskegon, Michigan. With that spark of innovation, Sherman saw potential and began to refine his idea. Looking for a name for his new contraption, his wife Nancy blended ‘snow’ with ‘surf’ and came up with Snurfer. Over the next 20 years, what began as a backyard toy became the global snowboarding phenomena.

There were other efforts many years before that event, some that were even commercialized, that are very similar to what we know today, but none caught on the way the Snurfer did.

Pre 1900

The earliest known existence of something that looks like snowboarding took place on the Petran Plateau in the Rize Province of Turkey where they’ve ridden wide wooden boards with a rope off the nose called a Lazboard for several hundred years!

The recent documentary Foothills, the Unlinked Heritage of Snowboarding, dives into its history. Snowboarder Danny Davis has visited the region and there is now an annual Lazboard Festival to celebrate their local heritage. You can find several other videos on YouTube about the Lazboard.

1900-1950

More recently, but still well before its popularity skyrocketed, there were a few attempts in the early 1900’s to develop a snowboard like product. Vern Wicklund, Gunnar Burgeson and Harvey Burgeson of Oak Park, Illinois, designed a board that had all the elements of early snowboards including a strap for the back foot and a rope coming off the nose. It was reportedly designed somewhere around 1916 but they patented it much later in 1939.

Around the same time, Howard Ferris of Harvard, Illinois, patented a ‘coasting device’ in 1926. This product had a stamp steel board with a wooden platform on it for the feet and a wooden handle coming off the front to hold onto. The Museum has one of these in the collection and it is heavy and one would hope that it didn’t hit you if it got loose!

With both of these coming out of Illinois around the same time, one wonders if there might be some connection.

1965

Sherman Poppen, to keep his daughters occupied on Christmas Day, 1965, nailed two skis together so his girls could slide down a little hill in their yard in Muskegon, Michigan. With that spark of innovation, Sherman saw potential and began to refine his idea. Looking for a name for his new contraption, his wife Nancy blended ‘snow’ with ‘surf’ and came up with Snurfer. Over the next 20 years, what began as a backyard toy became the global snowboarding phenomena.

1966

Poppen licenses the concept to Brunswick Corp (think bowling alleys and pool tables) who introduces the Snurfer for $10. They use material from their pool tables to make them.

Paul Graves receives his first Snurfer

1968

Hosted by a college fraternity from Muskegon Community College, the first organized Snurfer contest, The World Snurfing Championships, was held on February 19th at Blockhouse Hill in Muskegon State Park in Michigan. There were 300 participants! 

Sherman Poppen receives patent approval on his Snurfer from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Offices.

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