Snowboarding, the art of standing upright on a board
and maneuvering it across snow, is widespread in skiing regions throughout the world and even practiced in
areas without mountains. Like surfers and skateboarders, snowboarders have imbued their sport with a philosophy of hedonism and pleasure seeking that has put
them at odds with the skiing establishment—even as
the sport itself becomes safer.
History
Snowboarding began in the 1960s and the first massproduced snowboard came on the market in 1966. The
snow surfer, or “Snurfer,” was little more than a large
skateboard. A hand-held rope provided steering and
gave the rider some control over speed while the deck
was covered with staples to give the rider’s feet traction.While the Snurfer was sold as a toy, the new leisure
movement of the 1960s saw its potential as serious
recreational equipment.
Snurfers were notoriously difficult to control and
consequently banned by commercial ski fields. Snowboarding transferred to the backcountry, where it developed a cult following. In the mid-1970s, technological advances overcame the limitations of the Snurfer,
but the ban remained in place.
In the late 1970s skateboarding began to affect
snowboarding. At this time punk, an antisocial subculture involving extremes of fashion, music, and attitudes, adopted skateboarding. Punk “skaters” viewed
ski slopes as the terrain of the yuppie. However, some
professional skateboarders saw snowboarding as an
appealing activity and promoted it to other skaters.
Snowboarding simultaneously became “surfing on
snow” and the winter activity for skaters.
In the mid-1980s, most ski areas had opened their
slopes to snowboarders. Skiing had reached a growth
plateau, and snowboarding offered ski areas a new
youth market and economic potential, although this
meant tolerating the countercultural and punk dimensions of snowboarders. It is from this point that snowboarding became popular.
By the 1990s skateboarding and snowboarding had
developed a close relationship. Snowboarders adopted
skaters’ aggressive riding styles and their distinct fashions and attitudes; the latter were designed to shock.
Skating also brought to snowboarding the styles and
politics of “hip-hop,” an urban black style of music and
fashion. Skateboarding’s influence dismayed many
older snowboarders; they had worked hard to gain the
public’s—and particularly ski area operators’—acceptance and sought a more responsible image.
Complicating this tension was the fracturing of
snowboarding into three distinct styles in the late
1980s: freestyling (influenced by skateboarding),
alpine (largely influenced by skiing and surfing), and
freeriding (a combination of both styles practiced on
all slopes). Freeriders and freestylers view alpine snowboarders as skiers on boards. In North America,
freeriders make up around 40 percent of snowboarders, freestylers nearly 50 percent, and alpine riders less
than 10 percent. In Europe, however, alpine riders make
up around 40 percent.
The debates within the snowboarding community
spilled over into skiing. A small number of disruptive
riders, exacerbated by a media frenzy, led several ski
areas to re-ban snowboarding. However, the majority of ski area managers are trying to accommodate snowboarders and reconcile both groups.
Snowboarding Today
Throughout the 1990s snowboarding has grown phenomenally, supported by the commercialization of an
underground youth style called “grunge.” Grunge youth
oppose the high consumption and competitiveness of
yuppie culture. Accordingly, they favor secondhand
clothes and cooperative recreational games and activities such as snowboarding. This commercialization of
grunge helps explain why snowboarding and skateboarding are so trendy.
Even conservative projections suggest that snowboarders will outnumber skiers by 2012. This dramatic
growth prompted the governing bodies of skiing to
reappraise the practice. The Fédération Internationale
du Ski (FIS) formed a snowboarding committee
largely, it seems, to take advantage of snowboarding’s
popularity and inclusion in the 1998 Winter Olympic
Games. Battle lines were drawn when the International
Olympic Committee recognized the FIS over snowboarding’s own governing body—the International
Snowboarding Federation (ISF).
Most competitive snowboarders and many recreational riders support the ISF in what they consider to
be a hostile takeover by skiers. Snowboarders fear the
loss of their identity and want to remain independent
of skiers.
The winning of medals at the 1998 Olympics and
the reality of lucrative commercial endorsements have
further divided snowboarders over the issue of remaining an alternative sport or entering the mainstream. As in most sports, it seems likely that money
will triumph.
—DUNCAN HUMPHREYS
Bibliography: Humphreys, Duncan. (1996) “Snowboarders:
Bodies out of Control and in Conflict.” Sporting Tradition.
Werner, Doug. (1993) Snowboarder’s Start-Up. Ventura,
CA: Pathfinder.