| Although snowboarding became a Winter Olympic | | | | world and 1.58 million boards were sold in 1998 alone. |
| Sport in the year 1998, people have been enjoying | | | | Interestingly, snowboarding is becoming popular in |
| the sport for many years now. Snowboarding was | | | | countries like Australia where there is no snow at all |
| developed in the US in the 1960s and became | | | | and nearly 20% of all visitors to ski resorts in the US |
| immensely popular by the 1970s. The first snowboard | | | | are snowboarding enthusiasts. Improved facilities |
| is believed to have been developed by Sherman | | | | have made it possible for enthusiasts to enjoy the |
| Poppen in 1965 and was nicknamed the Snurfer. | | | | sport all over the US and Europe. |
| Although the Snurfer was essentially a scaled down | | | | Snowboarding is already an easily marketable |
| skateboard, it was only later that entrepreneurs like | | | | commodity, and has been a part of numerous |
| Dimitrije Milovich, Jake Burton (founder, Burton), Tom | | | | Hollywood movies and the 2005 film 'First Descent' |
| Sims (founder, Sims ) and Mike Olson (founder, GNU ) | | | | was one of the first films dedicated to the sport of |
| pioneered snowboarding equipment. | | | | snowboarding. There are also games available for |
| The easy availability of snowboards and the 'hip' | | | | popular gaming platforms like the PS2 and Xbox. |
| image associated with the sport attracted people | | | | Magazines are also an integral part of snowboarding, |
| from all age groups and in 1985 the first world cup | | | | and popular magazines offer travel advice, sport tips |
| which was held in Zurs, Austria. The ISA | | | | and are comparable to most lifestyle magazines |
| (International Snowboard Association) was founded in | | | | available today. In fact, snowboarding magazines are |
| the year 1994 and now regulates most events the | | | | now moving to make their online presence stronger |
| world over. There were initial safety concerns and | | | | as many enthusiasts use the internet to make travel |
| only 7% of all ski resorts allowed snowboarding. | | | | reservations and other plans. |
| Today, nearly 97% of all ski resorts over the world | | | | New disciplines and styles of boarding are evolving on |
| allow snowboarding and have trainers and equipment | | | | a regular basis, and the dynamic and 'extreme' nature |
| (like rails) to facilitate the sport. | | | | of the sport is expected to increase its appeal with |
| With nearly 3.5 million snowboarders in the world, | | | | the 'young generation' of the world. As is the case |
| major sporting events like the Winter X-Games and | | | | with most new sports, snowboarding is still |
| the Winter Olympics are now multi-million dollar | | | | considered in its embryonic stage and is expected to |
| events. The exponential rise in the number of | | | | become a universally accepted phenomenon in the |
| snowboarders has fueled board sales all over the | | | | near future. |