
We Ride: The Story of Snowboarding
This film offers an interesting journey into the unique history of snowboarding. It explores de cultural forces that shaped this sport into what it is today. The roots of modern snowboarding can be traced way back to the 1960s when a major revolution was beginning in the United States. People started moving away from the old way of thinking and into a new era.
Surfing had always been popular but the counter culture movement took it into the mainstream, way beyond the beaches and onto the snowy shores of Lake Michigan. It was there where one man, Sherman Poppen, started longing to be on the beach so he could surf. One fine day he took his daughter’s skis and tied them together. That’s how the ‘snurfer’ was born and the new sport was called ‘snurfing’ for snow surfing.
A couple of Brunswick engineers took up the idea and began advertising the snurfer as a winter skateboard.
Within a short period of time some downhill contests were organized in which hundreds of participants would compete. By the mid 1970s, snurfing had become a national sport and cash prices were being offered to the winners.
In 1977, a young man got fed up of his job in New York City and decided to take some money he had inherited and live out his passion. Not too long after that, by 1979, Jake Burton Carpenter had established the concept of ‘snowboard’ and began to market the new design as such. He took the snurfer created by Brunswick and improved it; he made them wider and bigger and added straps for protection.
1981 marked the very first true snowboarding contest where East Coast met West Coast. This started a rivalry that went on for years.
Then Sims boards showed up on the scene as Burton’s biggest rival and changed the course of history. What happened next includes betrayal, backstabbing, pain, and grudges that would be held for years when one professional snowboarder made a crucial decision that caused a company to go bankrupt.
This story will keep you on the edge of your seat. Watch it now.