Jeg er fræk... Derfor får du lige den fulde historie.. Godt nok på engelsk. Men ta og læs historien om snowboard. det er spændende læsning:
THE HISTORY OF SNOWBOARDING IN NORTH AMERICA
It was Christmas morning, 1965 when Sherman Poppen walked outside his home in Muskegon,
Michigan, looked at a snow-covered hill, and saw a wave.
Seems like an odd scenario for the birth-moment of snowboarding, but considering the Beach Boys
had just finished selling twelve million albums, it's not surprising that a land-locked inventor with
several industrial gas patents under his belt got the surfing bug and translated it to snow.
As with all inventions, there's always some speculation regarding
who pioneered the movement. Before Poppen, there were
accounts of World War I soldiers standing sideways on barrel
staves and sliding down snow-swept hills while stationed in
Europe. At a local garage sale, Jake found a board dating back
to the 1920s.The recent discovery of a video dating back to 1939
shows an elegantly dressed man by the name of Vern Wicklund
riding a snowboard-type sled sideways down a small Chicago
hill. Wicklund family members have also uncovered patents for
the board. This discovery adds to the historical depth of
snowboarding, but as far as initially bringing the idea to the
masses, Poppen's Snurfer onslaught marked the conception.
"My wife was pregnant and told me I had to do something
to get my two daughters out of the house or she was going
to go crazy," said Poppen, who admitted he was
fascinated by surfing, but had never tried it. "When I looked
at that hill, I thought why not?" Remembering the past
attempts of his daughter Wendy standing up on her sled,
he hastily screwed two pairs of children's skis together
with some doweling and fashioned a surfboard for the
snow. Within a few days, all the neighborhood kids were
begging Mr. Poppen for what Mrs. Poppen dubbed the
"Snurfer" by mixing the word "snow" with "surfer." Six
months later, Poppen licensed the idea to Brunswick
Manufacturing, and over the next ten years, upwards of a
million Snurfers were produced and sold through chain
sporting goods stores and toy stores.
Jake Burton Carpenter, founder of Burton Snowboards, the
largest snowboard brand in the world, remembers the Snurfer
as his first winter ride, as does Demetrije Milovich who
started Winterstick Snowboards and Chris Sanders who
founded Avalanche Snowboards. Burton, Winterstick and
Avalanche all started up in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s as did
Sims out on the West Coast. Quickly thereafter, the
American-born sport filtered throughout Europe with early
pioneers such as Frenchman Regis Rolland riding his
swallowtail snowboard into history as the "good guy
snowboarder" being pursued by the "bad guy skiers" in the
cult classic movies known simply as Apocalypse Snow I, II
and III. The French dubbed the sport appropriately Le Surf,
and surfing on snow became the newest winter sport
worldwide.
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In the early eighties, ski movies by Warren Miller and Greg Stump occasionally featured clips of
snowboarders surfing deep powder and articles gradually popped up in skateboarding, surfing and
skiing publications.
But unlike the Hawaiian-born water sport of surfing, there was no clear-cut occurrence that brought
modern-day snowboarding to the masses. Hollywood released the movie Gidget in 1959, and then
in 1966 independent filmmaker Bruce Brown released The Endless Summer and the surfing lifestyle
reached the mainstream. Though the Vietnam War slowed down the sport's growth until the mid
‘70s, the romantic lifestyle of chasing waves instead of paychecks was firmly engraved into the
youthful minds of the world and especially America.
If any year could be marked as the beginning of the snowboarding explosion it was 1985.
Absolutely Radical, the first exclusive snowboard magazine hit the newsstand behind visionary
publisher Tom Hsieh. By this time, dozens of snowboard entrepreneurs were addicted to riding and
recognized the huge potential of the sport. Six months later, Hsieh changed the name of his
magazine to International Snowboard Magazine to tone down the sport's already "radical" image
and better represent the snowboarders of the world.
Even British agent James Bond saw the benefits of snowboarding when he narrowly escaped
capture by enemy Russian thugs in the 1985 release of A View To A Kill. American snowboarders
Steve Link and Tom Sims doubled for 007 on location at Glacier Lake in Iceland and Vadrietta di
Scersen in The Swiss Alps. The final scene of the pursuit shows Bond riding full speed into a glacial
lake where he surfs safely across the surface to the other side as the skier thugs wipe out,
screaming and sinking in the icy waters.
Two years later the publication of TransWorld Snowboarding Magazine and Snowboarder Magazine
spread the word with high circulation numbers targeting skateboarders, surfers and cross-over
skiers. By 1990, every European country as well as Japan, Canada, Australia and New Zealand
offered exclusive coverage of snowboarding. Local "zines" and independent filmmakers released
Snowboarders In Exile and Totally Board while snowboard manufacturers like Burton fed the fire with
Winter Waves and Chill.
Skiers started to wonder, "Where did all these snowboarders come from?" For some staunch
traditionalists, snowboarders came straight out of their worst nightmares, the bad boys and girls of
winter who, according to a 1994 television episode of American Journal, "are knocking down skiers
like bowling pins." Ironically, that same year, the May 5th cover of Wall Street Journal proclaimed,
“Snowboarding scores as the fastest growing sport with participation up 50 percent since the
previous winter." Appropriately a day later, Ride Snowboards became the first snowboard-specific
company to go public. It raised over $5.75 million its first day on the
stock exchange.
All this from a sport that was discounted as "a fad" by many ski resorts and mainstream media
journalists. Parade Magazine quoted Time Magazine, in its January 1988 issue by calling
snowboarding the "Worst New Sport...To traditionalists, the breezy fad is a clumsy intrusion on the
sleek precision of downhill skiing, but to some 100,000 enthusiasts, many of them adolescent
males, it is the coolest snow sport of the season... Of course there are holdouts. Complains
veteran Vermont skier, Mary Simons: Snowboarding is not about grace and style but about raging
hormones." But that was 1988.
Still, the sport was struggling for acceptance at many resorts in the early ‘90s. The average
snowboarder was an adolescent male with the same attitude as an adolescent skier. But since
most adolescents were on snowboards, the stereotypes began as a result of a few bad apples
riding fast and out of control, cutting lift lines and disregarding ski area boundaries. The still fledgling
sport was pegged and anyone on a board was regarded as "one to watch" by the ski patrol, and
"one to watch out for" by the skiers. Riders and manufacturers eventually started to police each
other and write letters to the resorts, lobbying for acceptance. Many resorts began to allow
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snowboarders, but a few resorts still held out against riders. Today, only a handful of resorts that
ban snowboarders remain: Alta and Deer Valley in Utah, Taos in New Mexico, and Mad River Glen
in Vermont. Park City in Utah finally gave in during the 1996 season, ironically, after it bid for the
snowboard events at the 2002 Winter Olympics, and more recently Aspen opened its slopes on
April 1st, 2001.
Snowboarding has come a long way since The Summer of Love, 1965. It debuted as an official
Olympic sport at the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, proving that it was no longer a fad.
And the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics fully launched snowboarding into the mainstream,
dominating the media and public’s attention before,during and after the Games. Burton Team rider
Kelly Clark captured the first Olympic Gold Medal for the United States at the 2002 Winter Games,
winning the Women’s Halfpipe Competition. And Burton Global Team rider Ross Powers won the
Olympic Gold Medal in Men’s Halfpipe, leading the Americans to the first medal sweep at the
Winter Olympics since 1956. Burton PGS rider Chris Klug also walked away from the Olympics
with a bronze medal in the Parallel Giant Slalom event, bringing Burton’s medal count to three – two
gold medals and a bronze. A 2002 survey conducted by Leisure Trends stated that 32% of the total
US population saw the Snowboarding Halfpipe competition – that means nearly 92 million people
watched the event – and that was only in the US. Of that percentage, 18.6 million Americans said
they wanted to try snowboarding after viewing the Olympic event. The 2002 Olympic Games gave
snowboarding an unprecedented amount of exposure, showing the world that it was legit and here to
stay.
In addition to the Olympics, ESPN, MTV and dozens of corporations push snowboarding to the
masses. Thanks to a dedicated core group of snowboarding industry leaders, including
manufacturers, magazines and riders, the soul of the sport is remaining intact and thriving amidst
the chaos of its newfound fame.
3 COPYRIGHT 2005, THE BURTON CORPORATION
THE HISTORY OF SNOWBOARDING IN EUROPE
The Old Continent, the stronghold of the sport of skiing, has always lagged behind its North
American cousin. Indeed, as Jake was developing his first boards with edges, the Europeans,
especially the French, still flailed about on their monoskis.
It is difficult to say who was truly responsible for launching snowboarding in Europe. Many
legends abound, but the starting point of snowboarding in Europe cannot be traced back to
anyone in particular. The first time one of those snowboarding contraptions was seen in Europe
was at the end of the seventies, first in France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and finally, a few
years after, in Italy.
The Eighties: A new trend - snowboarding searches for its identity.
At the end of the seventies, some pioneers, like Henri Authier and skateboarder José Fernandès
from Zurich, returned from the States with a strange board named the Winterstick, but its
popularity was limited.
In 1980, while German Petra Mussig first rode moon-boots slipped under rubber foot straps
attached to the top of her board, Paul Loxton, an Australian living in the United States, arrived in
Les Arcs, France with some Winterstick boards in tow. Alain Gaymard, the publicity coordinator
for Les Arcs, had invited him there. The next year, Alain invited the US Winterstick Team to the
opening of the newly-founded resort Les Arcs 2000 in 1981/82. The team took to the virgin
slopes, accompanied by some local guides. Among the locals was 22-year-old Régis Rolland,
who continued experimenting with the board after the Americans’ departure. After attempting to
ride the board for three months, he finished a perfect run down a powder face and was hooked.
That same season, Gaymard offered Régis an appearance in the promotion film for Les Arcs, Ski
Espaces, one of the first films to feature a snowboarder. The director was famous filmmaker
Didier Lafont. In 1983, the same film crew shot Apocalypse Snow, a farcical film about a
snowboarder being chased by malicious monoskiers. The film, carried by its imaginative scenario,
spanned the globe, spreading the message of snowboarding. From 1984 to 1986, Apocalypse
Snow 2 and 3 followed with increasing success. Régis Rolland had now emerged as the emblem
of this fledgling sport.
Meanwhile, in addition to the private individuals who were manufacturing prototypes, some small
companies were moving into mass-production. All the riders at the time greeted this with great
enthusiasm. In Switzerland, the two pioneers José Fernandès and Antoine Massy started
designing boards (the Hooger Booger) design concepts similar to those still in use today.
In 1984, the French company DEA launched the first mass-produced swallowtail board. The
powder board Swell Panik also appeared in the same year. The first surf-shop emerged as well;
Eric Gros, the owner of the Parisian shop Hawaii Surf sold his first branded boards and import ed
Burton products directly from the States. In Tignes, Pierre Lavagne, founding member of the
Lézards Impériaux, opened Bazoom, which carried about fifteen different boards. The same
year, Jean Nerva, future icon of snowboarding in France, then a junior skiing instructor in Les
Arcs and hardcore monoskier, tried a Winterstick board brought back by Loxton. Back then,
powder snow was generous and Jean rode down the valley from Les Arcs to Bourg St Maurice
every evening.
1985 marked the beginning of the period of fun, fluorescent colors and zinc; hardly anyone went
unnoticed in their flurry of color. Gangs of riders started appearing at all the resorts with such
flashy names as the Lézards Impériaux and the Flying Carpets. That same year, boards with
metal edges, such as Burton Snowboards’ Performer, also began appearing. It was also the year
where the first freestyle pro-model, Terry Kidwell’s, came on the scene. The diversity of shapes
and designs led to the first snowboard tests conducted by the French Ski Magazine. Hot
Snowboards, another pioneering French manufacturer, now very rare but still available on the
4 COPYRIGHT 2005, THE BURTON CORPORATION
market, came out with the One Sixty, a model with edges and a parabolic sidecut, marking a
turning point in the snowboard’s shape and influencing the entire alpine industry, including skiing.
Serge Dupraz had designed an evolutionary board, one that could carve curves into the snow
with its 6-meter sidecut radius. All the manufacturers jumped on this brilliant idea. Then, the first
snowboard gatherings started occurring. In France, the classic Serre Chevalier Derby allowed
the big riders of the time to confront each other: Jean Nerva and Gerard Rougier (current
president of the AFS, French Association of Snowboarding), Gilles Becker, Jean-Phi Garcia and
more.
In 1986, between the occasional do-it-yourselfers and the large manufacturers, small companies
(especially French and Swiss) flourished in Europe. Today, there are few survivors; Hot, Nidecker
and Swell Panik are still active but on a smaller scale. At the time, however, snowboarding grew
in all directions, from alpine to extreme, while taking its first tentative steps at skateboardinfluenced
freestyle. On May 16, 1986, a group of snowboarders went down Mont Blanc to stage
a media blow-out for the new magazine Vertical. Among the riders was Bruno Gouvy, riding a
swallowtail design with Bataille boots. Two years later, Bruno became a living legend after
completing three extreme powder slopes around Chamonix, the Eiger, the Cervin and the
Jorasses. He would also be the first snowboarder to accomplish an 8000 meter ride in the
Himalayas. Always pushing himself to the limit, Bruno made his last turn on l’Aiguille Verte in
1990. On May 17th, Denis Bertrand, snowboard designer, professional competitor, and another
French pioneer of extreme snowboarding, rode down the northeast face of les Courtes in the
Mont Blanc mountain range. He followed this up with a descent of Mont Blanc on the same day,
and thus became a fixture in the young and developing history of snowboarding in France. That
same year, as the sport was becoming more widely accepted and more organized, the first
European Championships were held in St. Moritz, Switzerland. At the same time, the first World
Championships were held in Breckenridge, Colorado. José Fernandès was the only European
rider to take part in that competition and he destroyed the Americans on their home turf, claiming
victory. José rode the first asymmetrical board, the Hooger Booger, with hiking boots mounted on
plate bindings, a more effective set-up than what the Americans were using at the time. While
there, José met freestyler Terry Kidwell, and returned to Europe throwing down backside airs and
rocket airs, two of the coolest tricks at that time.
At the same time in France, La Plagne organized one of the first large European gatherings: the
Euro Cup. Again, the Swiss team, composed of José Fernandès, Antoine Massy and Philippe
Imhof, and their technologically advanced short spatula boards and sharp sidecuts ruled the field.
Jean Nerva salvaged some French pride with a fourth-place finish with his tail-finned Bird Surf
board. Jean-Phi Garcia was also among the finishers. As for Serge Vitelli, he was still in the
United States on skis working as an entertainment director at Club Med. Another notable
gathering that year was the Tignes’ 1st Symposium. In 1986, the ratio of monoskiers to
snowboarders was approximately 9 to 1, but after that second event, that ratio would quickly
reverse itself. During the 1st Symposium, Denis Bertrand, Jacques Gris, Kafi, Kébra and Antoine
Massy met and exchanged ideas. There, they laid the groundwork for the commercial Look
Snowboards brand, a departure from the prevailing underground reputation of snowboarding.
In 1987, snowboarding’s popularity continued to grow, and it was becoming more accepted by the
mainstream. Admittedly, most resorts still looked down on those punks wearing fluorescent
clothes, and many ski lifts were still off-limits to snowboarders. Nevertheless, the first national
contests were established, and snowboarder associations, sometimes affiliated with ski
federations, were created. In France, Henri Gonon won the French championships with a One
Sixty board, and Jean Nerva was the runner-up. Livigno (Italy) and St. Moritz (Switzerland)
hosted the first world championships in Europe. More than 100 competitors from 17 nations
competed. Surprisingly, the French clinched first places: Yann Giauchain won the downhill and
Mylène Duclos took the Slalom ahead of favorite Petra Mussig. The halfpipe was also introduced
for the first time in a competition in Europe, and three Americans were giving a show: Terry
Kidwell, Craig Kelly and Bert Lamar; not only did they clear the halfpipe walls, but on top of that
they threw down some crazy airs while stunned European faces gazed skywards.The European
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freestyle scene at this time was indeed extremely scaled-down. It had nowhere to go but up.
German heartthrob Peter Bauer was widely considered the best snowboarder in his country and
was the Slalom champion of Europe. He ran into Jean Nerva during a training course in Dubai,
who had just met Philippe Chenue, sole importer for Burton Snowboards in France. Nerva
quickly signed on to the Burton team, following the footsteps of Peter who had joined the year
before. This turned out to be fortuitous for both parties as Nerva, wearing his Safari boots, would
take the Slalom and the Giant Slalom titles during his first world cup in Zürs, Austria in 1988,
trumping Peter, who was the pre-competitionship favorite. Jean kept at it and became the moguls
world champion. During this time, he met Swede Anders Auer, one of the Look pro-riders. Bert
Lamar won fame in the pipe with the famous Look Lamar, a freestyle board with particular
cuttings made for better grabs.
In 1989, resorts started to smell the money that could be made. Not only did they remove the ban
on snowboarder access to ski lifts, but they also became interested in building halfpipes on their
grounds. Those attempts would fail, particularly in Serre Chevalier and l’Alpe d’Huez in France.
The Swiss were a little more advanced. When the pipe world cups rolled around, Italian Max
Perotti was gunning for the star, Bert Lamar. At the same time, the Alpine discipline was
evolving. At the world cup, the Frenchmen Yann Giauchain, Serge Vitelli, Eric Rey, D.D.
Maszewski and Denis Bertrand were the ones to beat in the alpine event. During this carve-crazy
period, Serge Vitelli was having fun “taking crazy angles, until you get your face in the snow;” the
Vitelli Turn was born (that was how Maurice Lejeune, trainer of Petra Müssig, coined it). Serge
felt ready to win in the slalom world championships, but he did not.
At the end of the 80s, competitions were still a mess; several world championships proceeded
simultaneously, the Grundig circuit was launched, and the birth of Kébra Classic occurred in 1989
in Tignes. The Kébra was an international race, which was not affiliated with any federation but
did attract some of the world’s best. During its first year, two petite Swiss women became well
known: Nicole Angelrath and Arlette Javet. The first Mondial du Snowboard took place in
October 1989 on the glacier of Les Deux Alpes: this was the first test for the well-known makes;
ten manufacturers were present. Because of a few unfortunate incidents, snowboarders were
compared to hooligans by the press.
The end of the Eighties would see the emergence of the urban styles and skateboard-influenced
riding.
The 90s: The snowboarding industry comes of age. Three disciplines emerge; Alpine,
Freestyle and Freeride.
The beginning of the 90s marked the advent of the pro-teams. Each manufacturer had one, the
cash was happening, the riders were stuffing their pockets and everyone was happy. Jean
Nerva, Peter Bauer, Pietro Colturi, Ashild Loftus and Nicole Angelrath made up Burton’s pro team
at the time. They competed with the best in the world. Ashild appeared unbeatable in Alpine,
beating the nearest competition in the women’s events by seconds and achieving times
comparable to the top eight male riders in the world. She rode with three buckle soft boots
whereas all the others were in plates. Nicole Angelrath left for the States, entered a halfpipe and
moguls competition without knowing that it was a World Cup event and returned with two titles.
It was also in 1990 that a young rider first appeared in France during the Kébra Classique: he
won the pipe competition. His name was Terje Haakonsen. Future snowboarding legend Terje
immediately joined the Euro Burton Pro Team, where he taught Jean Nerva the backside air.
While on the team, Terje was training for slalom using plates, with Peters and Jean.
D.D. Maszewski, then Alpine World Champion, and member of the then dominating Hot Pro
Team, was a strong believer in asymmetrical snowboards. Ironically, he was one of the first to
return to symmetric designs. In 1990, all the manufacturers launched their own asymmetrical
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boards. Burton was no exception to the rule and launched the PJ, a board that also sealed the
friendship between Peter and Jean.
In 1991: Alpine was pitted versus new school, and the two styles confronted each other head on.
At the time of the Coupe des Nations in Avoriaz, each team represented their country and
competed in the giant Slalom and halfpipe. France won the Coupe three years in a row.
Freestyle established itself more and more but alpine kept reigning as the main event.
Freestylers were in an intense phase of tinkering. In the need for innovation they cut their boots
and tweaked them. David Vincent, recruited by Régis Rolland, made his appearance on the
French circuit and became a top rider of France, while his friend Vianney Tisseau (now famous
snowboarding photographer) came in second place during the Coupe de France and posed for a
magazine wearing nothing more than a hat.
At this time, the Burton Alpine Team was made up of Martin Freinademetz, Dieter Happ and
Christine Rauter.
In 1992, snowboarding had definitely grown in popularity, enough that the first snowboard
monthly magazine, SnowSurf, invaded the shelves in France. Denis Bertrand was the chief
editor, and Vianney Tisseau the photo editor. Other European countries soon followed, Germany
with MBM, etc.
The charismatic David Vincent appeared more and more between the covers, and was one of the
Europeans able to show up the American freestylers. Régis Rolland offered him his first pro
model at A Snowboards, Régis’s new line after Apocalypse misfired.
In 1993, the ISF (the International Snowboarding Federation made for and by snowboarders)
organized the first official world championships in Ishgl, Austria. A large venue was chosen, and
the Austrian public answered the invitation en masse. This was the coronation of Terje and Nicole
Angelrath in the pipe. Alexis Parmentier won the title in slalom, and Freinademetz won the giant
slalom. Bertie Denervaud won the overall/combination. He hadn’t yet chosen his specialty
between Alpine and Freestyle, but this didn’t stop him from placing regularly in the top 8 in the
world in either discipline, when he wasn’t actually on the podiums themselves.
Alpine was still the style of choice in Europe, with 80% of riders in Europe on alpine gear, while in
the States, alpine accounted for less than 5% in sales for the manufacturers.
1993 saw the first downtown contests and jams. Events moved at first in front of the Trocadéro in
Paris in November ’93, where Fred Beauchêne installed a parallel slalom race. Peter Bauer and
Dieter Happ were the finalists. The freestylers were there only for demonstration and the jump
was no good. If Paris favoured Alpine, Innsbruck would choose Freestyle for its first show, the Air
& Style, an enormous big-air event on a ski-jump in the city.
In the mid 90s, baggy XXL pants dominated the fashion scene. Skiers looked at snowboarders
like they were hooded, baggy-clothed punks. However, the resorts understood the financial stake
that this industry represented and started to create spaces reserved for snowboarders - the
terrain parks. Switzerland was again very advanced compared to its neighbors. It had resorts
entirely devoted to snowboarding: Laax, Les Diablerets, Saas Fee. As for France, they still can’t
cut a decent pipe.
In the summer, the glaciers saw plenty of action, and the summer camps were always full.
The sport of snowboarding was maturing, enough so that the FIS wanted to take part in the
action, and organized a world tour circuit even though the ISF had already developed a wellestablished
circuit of its own. The division pitted pro against amateur. The riders supported the
ISF, but the FIS held the decision over qualification for the future Olympics, and the riders were
obliged to compete in FIS events if they wanted to have a chance at qualifying for the Olympics.
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While the barometer of popularity definitively started to lean towards freestyle in Switzerland and
France, in Austria and Italy, alpine held steady.
The Scandinavians defined themselves as freestyle riders, particularly Ingemar Backman, who
would make the covers of five magazines around the world thanks to a mythical backside air
more than eight meters high that he pulled at an event in Riksgransen.
With the apogee of freestyle peaking in ‘95, two extremists, D.D. Rhem and Jérôme Ruby made
extreme snowboarding history by descending the Northern face of the Triolet , a face much
coveted by skiers.
1996 saw the birth of a new discipline, the Boardercross. Very quickly, the Boardercross became
the media darling. Sponsors circled in, and alpine riders were reborn as media superstars.
Philippe Conte was the first European to beat Shawn Palmer.
In 1998, snowboarding was legitimized further due to the Nagano Winter Olympics. However, the
environment was dubious. Terje, one of the world’s best riders, boycotted the event. To him, the
Olympic Games and the snowboarding philosophy would never mix. Despite many complications,
poor courses and halfpipe competitions in the rain, there were some good moments at Nagano. A
German, Nicola Thost (halfpipe), a Frenchwoman, Karine Ruby (giant slalom), a Swiss, Gian
Simmen (halfpipe) and a Canadian, Ross Rebagliati (giant slalom), were the first gold medal
winners of Olympic snowboard history.
In 2000, the ski-snowboard war was reconciled, with snowboarders representing more than 35%
of the market for winter sports.
The sport of snowboarding has matured and is here to stay. Snowboarders are on their way to
overtaking skiers on the slopes in terms of numbers. People snowboard everywhere, including
Russia, where in Moscow, snowboarding has become a favorite national pastime. During the fall
of 2000, a new toy, a hybrid between skateboard and snowboard started showing up, called a
“snow skate”. Most riders liked it, and for 2001, several manufacturers have developed their own
model, including Burton’s Snowdeck.
In 2002, a phenomenal thing happened. Snowboarding owned the spotlight at the Winter Games
in Salt Lake City, Utah. Many people had heard of snowboarding before the Olympics, but never
had so many people avidly watched and followed a snowboarding competition. The 2002 Olympic
Games gave snowboarding an unprecedented amount of exposure, showing the world that it was
legit and here to |
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