nowboard innovators. Around the same time that Poppen was developing the snurfer, Tom Sims, a skateboarder from New Jersey, had an idea. Because the streets of New Jersey were icy in the winter, he decided to design a skateboard for the ice in his junior high wood shop class. Sims was not able to base his snowboard on Poppens Snurfer design because he did not know about it yet. His first designs were from skateboards without the metal axles or wheels. Although the first designs were not very successful, Sims came across the right combination of materials, shape, and bindings in 1969. Tom then began to produce his own line of snowboards, which remain one of the most popular boards today. Because Poppen and Sims began their snowboard designs at about the same time, nobody really knows who the true inventor of the snowboard is. Most of the credit goes to Poppens invention of the Snurfer because it was manufactured first. Poppen and Sims were not the only snowboard innovators though. Jake Burton Carpenter, a surfer from Long Island, New York, had the idea not to skate on the ice, but rather to surf the mountain. Burton took a common Snurfer, and added rubber straps to achieve better control of the board. These bindings allowed riders to control the snurfer much better with their feet than with the steering rope. Burton entered his design in the annual National Snurfer Open Competition. Because Burtons board was so modified, he was in a class all by himself, and easily won first place. The other snurfers saw Burtons design, which led to the birth of Burton snowboards. Jake Burton is considered "Mr. Snowboard" because Burton's probably got 40 to 45% marketshare overall. Not only that, but Jakes nearest competitor probably has 10 or 12 percent [of the snowboarding industry] Jakes stuck with a philosophy and set the stage. Everyones copying him (Neuert). This is why Burton snowboards have become the most popular boards on the slopes today.Snow...
