Outdoor Central Oregon January/February 2020 | Page 34

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P: Mark Gallup
Burton is a solid company with an incredibly talented and dedicated workforce. The
company is diversified. Burton’s worldwide reach is intact. Kids on-hill learning programs
that Burton started is at many resorts. Burton still has the largest share of the pie, and
the sport of snowboarding is more stable as it has moved past the massive up and down
swings it saw as an emerging sport. Snowboarding is a big part of resorts revenue just
from what I see, myself, on the slopes. Burton will continue the thrive and innovate.
Anytime somebody, anywhere on this planet straps on a board, even if it’s not a Burton,
they will be taking a little piece of Jake heart with them as they head down the slope
with a smile on their face. I’ve read articles where people have said that snowboarding
saved their life. I have been told the same thing to my face, “If I didn’t have snowboard-
ing I probably would have ended up a drug addict or even dead”. There is no doubt in
my mind that Jake has had a powerful, positive, influence on people and the American
culture. Worldwide, Jake’s legacy will last forever as long as people keep having fun
snowboarding.
Jake Burton Carpenter was born on April 29, 1954, in Long Island, NY. He married
Donna Gaston who he met at a New Year’s party in Londonderry, Vermont. Survivors
include his wife Donna Carpenter, and their three sons, George, Taylor, Timi, and millions
of snowboarders, and friends worldwide.
By Neil Korn founder and publisher of Eastern Edge Magazine (defunct), East Coast
Snowboarding Magazine (defunct), BendOR (changed the name),
Outdoor Oregon Magazine (current passion, hardly a business)
P: Hubert Schriebl