Ask a random person on the chairlift who invented the snowboard and they’ll probably say Jake Burton. Or maybe they’ll mention that guy from the 70s with the weird mustache. Honestly, the answer depends on how you define "invented." Are we talking about the first person to slide on a piece of wood, or the first person to turn it into a global billion-dollar industry?
It wasn't a single "Eureka!" moment in a lab. It was a chaotic, decades-long scrap between surfers, engineers, and rebellious kids who were tired of being told they weren't allowed on ski hills.
The Snurfer: A Christmas miracle in a backyard
The real commercial spark started on Christmas Day in 1965. Sherman Poppen, an engineer in Muskegon, Michigan, watched his daughters trying to stand up on their sleds. It looked sketchy. So, he went into his garage and bolted two skis together.
He called it the Snurfer. Get it? Snow plus surfer.
It was basically a yellow and black piece of wood with a rope tied to the front. You didn't have bindings. You just stood on it and prayed. It was a toy. Poppen eventually licensed the idea to Brunswick (the bowling ball company), and they sold about a million of them. But here is the thing: Poppen didn't think of it as a sport. To him, it was a gimmick for kids.
While Poppen was selling toys, a teenager named Tom Sims was in his woodshop class in Haddonfield, New Jersey. In 1963—two years before the Snurfer—Sims built what he called a "skiboard." He was a skater who hated winter. He wanted to skate on snow. He glued carpet to the top for grip and aluminum to the bottom. It worked, sort of.
Jake Burton and the battle for legitimacy
This is where the history gets heated. Jake Burton Carpenter was a Snurfer fanatic. He felt the design was limited. He moved to Vermont in the late 70s and started hand-building boards in his garage, adding one crucial element that Poppen missed: bindings.
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Burton didn't just want to slide; he wanted to control the board. He spent his nights refining prototypes and his days trying to convince ski resorts that these "boarders" weren't just hooligans. It was a hard sell. Most resorts laughed at him. They thought it was a fad that would die by 1985.
But Burton was a marketing genius. He realized that to answer the question of who invented the snowboard, you have to look at who made it a culture. While Sims was focused on the soul of the sport and the "skate" feel, Burton was building a corporate powerhouse. The rivalry between Sims and Burton defined the 1980s. It was East Coast vs. West Coast. Suits vs. Punks.
The forgotten pioneer: Dimitrije Milovich
We have to talk about Dimitrije Milovich. If you're a gear nerd, this is the name you need to know. In 1970, Milovich started a company called Winterstick.
He was influenced by Wayne Stoveken, who had been experimenting with "snow surfboards" even earlier. Milovich’s boards were actually sophisticated. They had swallowtails and used fiberglass. He even got featured in Newsweek and Playboy. But the world wasn't ready. The technology was ahead of the market, and Winterstick struggled financially while Burton and Sims were duking it out for dominance.
Milovich eventually stepped away, but his influence is everywhere in modern "powder" board shapes. He proved that a board could carve, not just slide.
Why does the "who" even matter?
Because for decades, people were getting arrested for snowboarding. No, really.
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In the early 80s, you had to take a "test" at many resorts to prove you could ride a chairlift without killing yourself or others. Usually, they still kicked you off. The invention of the snowboard wasn't just about the deck; it was about the steel edges and the p-tex bases.
- 1977: Jake Burton introduces the "Backhill" board.
- 1980: Burton uses a P-tex base for the first time, bringing ski-level speed to boards.
- 1983: Jeff Grell invents the high-back binding, allowing riders to actually turn on ice.
Without Grell’s binding, snowboarding would have stayed a backyard hobby for powdery hills in Michigan. The high-back gave riders leverage over the heel edge. Suddenly, you could ride the icy slopes of Stratton or Stowe.
The "First" vs. The "Best"
If we are being strictly literal, people in Turkey have been "snowboarding" on flat wooden planks called Petranboards for about 300 years. They use a stick for balance and a rope for steering. It looks remarkably like a Snurfer.
So, did Sherman Poppen invent it? Or did he just westernize an ancient Turkish transportation method?
Most historians agree that while Poppen created the product, Jake Burton Carpenter and Tom Sims co-invented the sport. They took a piece of wood and added the engineering required to make it a high-performance tool.
What most people get wrong about the history
There’s a common myth that snowboarding was invented by surfers who were bored in the winter. While that’s partially true for guys like Sims and Milovich, the actual engineering came from the skateboarding and skiing worlds.
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The first "snowboards" didn't have edges. If you hit a patch of ice, you were finished. It wasn't until the mid-80s that boards started looking like the twin-tip shapes we see today.
Modern context: 2026 and beyond
Today, the "invention" continues. We are seeing a massive resurgence in "splitboarding," which allows riders to take their boards apart to hike up mountains like skiers. We are also seeing a return to "bindingless" riding—essentially a high-tech version of the Snurfer—which brings the story full circle.
The industry is currently valued at over $500 million globally, a far cry from Jake Burton’s garage or Sherman Poppen’s backyard.
How to use this history to your advantage
Knowing who built what isn't just for trivia night. It helps you understand your gear.
- Look at your sidecut. If you like carving, thank the ski engineers who influenced the 1980s Burton models.
- Check your tail. If you’re riding a swallowtail in deep powder, you’re riding a direct descendant of Dimitrije Milovich’s 1970s Winterstick.
- Appreciate your bindings. Every time you strap in, remember that before 1977, you’d be holding a piece of rope and sliding sideways into a tree.
If you want to experience the roots of the sport, look for "Snurfer" replicas. Riding one will make you realize how incredibly difficult—and dangerous—the early days were. It will also make you appreciate your modern board's steel edges a whole lot more.
Stop by a local board shop instead of a big-box retailer. Talk to the older guys. They usually have a vintage Burton Performer or a Sims Terry Kidwell model hanging on the wall. Those boards aren't just decorations; they are the literal DNA of every turn you make on the mountain today.