Snowboarding was invented only about 35 years ago. In 1963 a man named Tom Sims made a snowboard out of plywood. He was in eighth grade and he did this in his shop class. He called it a ski board. He later formed a company that makes many snowboards.

 

Another snowboard inventor is Sherman Poppen. In 1965 Poppen designed a snowboard called a snurfer. To make it Sherman had bolted two skis together. He attached a rope to help the rider keep his balance and steer.

 

In 1979 Jake Burton Carpenter started making snowboards out of fiberglass. He also added bindings to help control the board easier. In the 1980's they started adding steel edges to the sides of the snowboard. They also invented bindings with high backs to help control when snowboarding on hard packed snow.

 

Snowboarding becomes more popular every year. At first a lot of ski resorts would not let snowboarders use their slopes. Now there are only a few that won't let snowboarders in. In 1996 there were about two million snowboarders. By the year 2000 there will be about 4 million people who snowboard.