The Rise of Snow Boarding

By: Daron Taurino

Everyone has surely noticed the way that snow boarding has been rising and rising in terms of popularity in recent years, and I am sure that it is not just me that’s noticed. In the last decade snow boarding has went from skateboarding on snow, to the Olympics quicker than you one could ever imagine.

Firstly snow boarding started when the little known Sherman Poppen decided to nail kid’s skis together in an attempt to improve their skating skills. This was just the start, as Sherman noticed the economic potential of this he decided to go about getting them into production. Millions of dollars and thousands of happy boarders later, Sherman will always be remembered for bringing snow boarding to the masses.

The first official competition took place in 1982 and since then snow boarding has seen more and more competitions take place. As the competitions started to spread, snow boarding changed from a hobby to a professional sport, that requires skill and agility in equal measure.

The biggest achievement for snow boarding occurred in 1998 when snow boarding made it to the winter Olympics. Held in Nagano Japan, the sport was given more than its fair share of coverage. The sport was watched by so many people that have never seen the sport before. The sale of snow boarding and snow boarding equipment was said to has risen by 47% following its appearance in the televisions of millions around the world. As the amount of competition rose, and as the amount of boarders rose in more than equal measure the standards within the sport became phenomenal. The kind of things that people are doing these days weren’t even heard of 10 years ago.

The rise of snow boarding has not just been a result of competition. It is also because it fits under the category of a fun, exciting sport and more importantly: a sport that can be done freestyle! Making appearances on TV alongside motor cross, skateboarding, and skate boarding snow boarding has also been aided by the personalities that have come through the sport. The fact is that skiing doesn’t have the cool look that snow boarding has. Surely you know what I mean? The skier looks to rigid, and just doesn’t have the relaxed, in control look that makes snow boarders 100 times cooler.

So you are probably wondering why I got into snow boarding? The reason really is very simple indeed. My friends and me were always skate boarders, but I also liked other things like roller skating and skating even riding a BMX. The truth is I just loved anything that made me move on wheels. However, when I seen skiing I always thought it looked plain dumb. I did not want to move around with two big planks of wood attached to my legs. But then I started to notice and hear a lot more about snow boarding everywhere I went. For a start, it was appearing more on TV and in the kind of magazines that I bought. Then I thought that if I tried it then I would already have some of the skills that I would need from the fact that I was already able to do skate boarding. So me and my friends decided that we would book up a lesson, and give it a shot. Why not I thought?

However folks, if you are really in to skate boarding and you think that’s fun, then you really have not experienced any real fun yet. DO you know that feeling from skate boarding when you are going down a road that has zero bumps? The fact that you almost glide through the air. That is what snow boarding is like every single step of the way and that is why I love it so much. If you ever decide to give it a shot then I am sure you will do it time, after time again.