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 Snowboarding - How did it evolve?
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It is hard to say where the first snowboard actually came from. It's so similar to surfing skateboarding and skiing that it was bound to evolve at some point. For years people have been sliding around on planks of wood but these came in many forms.
 There were some people like M.J. "Jack" Burchett. He cut out a plank of plywood in 1929 and tried to secure his feet with some clothesline and horse reins. 30 years later in 1965 Sherman Poppen, invented "The Snurfer". He made the Snurfer by binding two skis together and putting a rope at the nose, so the rider could hold it and keep it more stable. The Snurfer sold over half a million in 1966, Poppen organized competitions with this new board, Jake Burton was one of many to take part.
During that time, Snowboarding appealed initially to a small group of surfers, skateboarders, and backcountry enthusiasts. People who rode their own Snowboard contraptions were highly frowned upon by the majority of skiers. They were not even allowed to ride the regular skiing slopes. Consequently, Snowboarding started off- piste.
Dimitrije Milovich started making snowboards in 1969. After sliding down some hills on a cafeteria plate in College, he came up with the idea. His boards were based on surfboards combined with the way skis work. In 1972 Milovich started a new company called "Winterstick". He produced several boards, and even got articles in the "Newsweek", "Playboy" and "Powder" which helped to make snowboarding better known.
In 1977 Jake Burton, moved to Vermont to make some money by building different versions of the Snurfer, which he still remembered. His first boards were made of laminated hardwood. Burton shocked all the Snurfer riders by winning a Snurfer competition with his own board, which had the first binding.
 In the 70's and 80's Snowboarding became more popular, Dimitrije Milovich and Jake Burton carried on designing snowboards and changing materials which slowly developed into the Snowboard, bindings and other boarding equipment we all know and love today.
In 1983, less than 10 percent of United States ski areas allowed Snowboarding. But by 1997, few resorts excluded it. Today, Snowboarding is now as accepted as skiing in most Ski Resorts Worldwide and its popularity and fan base is growing at such a pace that the number of skiers in the US has declined by 25%. The number of Snowboarders has increased by 77%, making Snowboarding the fastest growing winter sport in the US. Today, more than 3.4 million people Snowboard.
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