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The history of snowboarding goes back farther than most people realize. Even a lot of the pro boarders are not aware that the sport of snowboarding originated as far back as the 1920s. It really came from garages and made its way to the Olympics and is one of the quickest sports to reach such heights of popularity. Some people think that snowboarding only came about a few decades ago and while this is somewhat true, the idea of snowboarding came about as far back as the 1920s.
In the early 1920s the sport had not actually been invented yet but people were using different primitive forms of snowboards. Although there were versions of snowboarding as far back as the 1920s when people would use plywood boards to slide down the snow-covered hills, there was no true definition of the snowboarding sport until just a few decades ago. Snowboarding is a sport that was mainly derived from surfing, as the concept is basically the same only instead of sliding around on water you are on the snow. One of the most recognizable names in the history of snowboarding is Jake Burton Carpenter.
This is where the Burton snowboard line came from, which is now one of the most reputable and most infamous snowboarding companies in the world. Their gear is high quality and is what most of the pros rely on. The first snowboards were called snurfers and this is what Graves was used to riding. Known today as the snowboard, back then Graves would take his snurfer to different resorts and would get shut out time and time again.
There were just no rules or basics to the sport, just some man riding down the hill on a board, and people were not used to seeing this. Over the years the sport got more recognition and made its way into the mainstream. With loyal fans supporting it, the sport soon made its way into the mainstream and more people began to get interested in it. There was a milestone for the sport in the year 1994 when it was declared to be an Olympic sport.
Unfortunately over the years there have been some bad stereotypes put on snowboarders, namely that they are potheads. This is due to a few bad examples including Ross Rebagliati who was an Olympic snowboarder and who was found to have marijuana in his system and his Olympic medal was taken away. Ross Rebagliati really started off the sport in the wrong way and that stereotype still sticks for a lot of snowboarders. Snowboarding is a fantastic sport and its popularity is expected to only continue to rise.