Outdoor Central Oregon January/February 2020 | Page 31

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I only met him once but I have a strong feeling about Jake.
I clearly understand that his mission was to grow snowboarding and that if the community grew, his company
would thrive. And it did. If you take care of the big picture, your own situation usually works out pretty well.
And personally, having worked for a publicly traded snowboard company, I am convinced that the snowboard
industry would be drastically different had Jake taken Burton public in the late 90s when it was en vogue to
do so. So, it is Jake staying true to snowboarding that I admired the most and as a person in the position in
which I am, I’m determined to honor his legacy by growing the community of snowboarding and doing what’s
right for the people who love it as much as I.
-Kevin English - Academy President and CEO (High Cascade Snowboard Camp)
Fully equipped - I was lucky enough to have called Jake friend
I feel I am fully equipped to write this tribute although it pains me to the core. Jake Burton’s untimely death was both shocking and
not completely unexpected considering his health battles he faced. He stared death in the face and won some of them. Although
Jake was a famous person known even outside of winter sports, I considered him a friend first. Jake had many friends all over this
planet but what was impressive is how Jake was able to make his company, his neighborhoods where he lived in Vermont and any-
body who stepped into his home feel like family.
I feel equipped to write this tribute because I have been snowboarding for 31 years, been involved in the industry for at least that
long, and I am a historian of the sport, I even showered in his bathroom after a round of tennis (not together of course). Since mov-
ing to Bend eight years ago it was the last time we spoke. I have many regrets about that.
Winter sports pioneer - He built a new sport based on fun
Many people just assume that the company was named after his last name. Burton, (Jake Burton). Carpenter was his last name,
Burton was his middle name.
Jake Burton Carpenter grew up in Cedarhurst, New York on Long island. He didn’t have a lot of money as a kid but eventually got
his hands on his first surfboard at 13. In the winter, he would go to a golf course nearby when it snowed and ride down on a “snurf-
er” (a toy available in many sports shops). The main difference was Jake always felt there was a sport in sliding sideways on snow
while most were just out for fun on a winter’s day. After getting bored working on Wall Street in NYC, he moved to Londonderry,
Vermont and took care of horses for free rent. In one of the barns on the property a sport, culture, and a lifestyle was born (Though
there were others with the same vision).
In 1977, Jake started Burton. (or “Burton Boarding”) as people were calling it. The “snowboarding” name came later. Jake would
drive all over Vermont, New York, New Hampshire, and Maine and try to sell boards out of his car. He stopped at “ski” shops, ski
areas to talk to the management to allow the boards on the hill, and even would sell a board to anybody on the street who would
want one. Early on it was all about hiking for your turns (this is the reason for one of the boards to be called Backhill as “ski” areas
were slow to embrace the new boards.
The bigger picture - He started a worldwide movement of fun and diversity
Skiing and Nordic were very European and Scandinavian. Just about every ski area started in North America was built by Europe-
ans. That all changed when snowboarding took off in the 90’s. Skiing also used to be a sport that the middle class could afford (not
anymore except for a few neighborhood slopes). Back in the day there were many “neighborhood” ski slopes that kids could enjoy
for a few bucks on a Friday night. Living in New Jersey and Vermont in the late 80’s, I noticed ski area racial demographics started
to expand quickly. City kids from Boston, New York, Philadelphia started shredding the eastern mountains. In the West I’m sure the
same was going on. Youth from Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle of all ethnicities, started to hit the slopes with their new
found sport that was inclusive and welcomed people of all colors and religions. Jake, being from the New York area, was by far the
biggest cheerleader to expand winter sports to any and ALL. Jake Burton and others turned a little backhill activity into a worldwide
phenomenon in a relatively short period of time. So big that the Olympics eventually came knocking (because of money and TV rat-
ings ironically)
P: Greg Howard
He Changed an entire culture worldwide - winter sports
went from fun to amazing
Snowboarding, with Burton’s help, influenced and shaped
an entire culture (even ski companies started to come out
with skis with more sidecut that were easier to turn). Some
ski resorts held out for a long time even with the promise of
extra cash flow from a whole new segment of the popula-
tion. In the mid 90’s, I was called by MTV to bring a bunch
of snowboarders to the MTV Beach house in Long Island
to film a segment. Some of the same “misfits” who skate-
boarded, started going to the mountains to shred. First,
bright colors showed up, then the baggy pants (and some
with bad attitudes, smoking cigs, weed, and not following
the ski area etiquette and safety codes). Art, board graphics,
concerts, and jobs popped up coast to coast. In the west,
the movement came from the skate and surf culture and
Jake was eager to learn more about the scene. An entire
industry grew up offering thousands of jobs, new busi-
nesses, photography and videography careers blew up fast.
Snowboarders started working in ski area marketing offices
and everywhere around the resorts. Resorts started to offer
lessons and added it to the ski school. The music industry
and record companies begged to have their bands music
featured in the soundtracks of new films and took out full
page ads in the snowboarding mags to promote their new
found grunge bands. All kinds of crazy hair styles, clothing,
outerwear, street wear, and in many cases a new lingo of
words and trick names surfaced. More events than you could
shake a leg at started popping up at ski areas, cities, at retail
shops, backyards, and even an event I helped organize in