When Jake Burton Carpenter first received a “ Snurfer ” as a Christmas gift in 1968 during a family visit to Southern Vermont , his first ride down the snowy hills of the Green Mountain State started a series of events that would come to shape the winter sports culture of an entire region – and eventually , the entire world .
CARVING THE PATH
Long before snowboarding became the universally-recognized winter sports phenomenon that it is today , “ snow surfing ” was once a controversial niche sport that was forbidden at nearly all mainstream ski resorts . One of the earliest watershed moments in the history of snowboarding occurred when Michigan-based entrepreneur Sherman Poppen first created the Snurfer in 1965 . After binding two short skis together to create a single rideable platform , Poppen was able to create an entertaining wintertime diversion that delighted his children . Through a combination of pure circumstantial luck and improvised engineering , Poppen stumbled upon a brilliantly simple idea that quickly captured the imaginations of winter sports enthusiasts all across the country .
After realizing the market potential for his accidental invention , Poppen tinkered with various prototypes until he developed a streamlined and enjoyable product . Although the exact origins of snowboarding remain a matter of relative historical contention , Poppen ’ s invention had an undeniable impact on the sport ’ s early trajectory . As the Snurfer continued to proliferate through American society , a significant number of enterprising alpine daredevils customized and modified Poppen ’ s product to improve its performance . Their makeshift enhancements paved the way for the development of the earliest iterations of the foot-bound snowboards that dominate the industry today .
Jake Burton Carpenter was arguably the most important and influential of those early Snurfer-inspired snowboard innovators . Born in Cedarhurst , New York , Carpenter was an avid skier who attended the University of Colorado . Carpenter ’ s dreams of professional ski racing were cut tragically short when a series of unfortunate accidents caused him to abandon his aspirations .
Carpenter came back home to the East Coast to finish his collegiate years at NYU , where he majored in finance . After graduating in 1977 , he worked for an investment banking company , where he interviewed independent entrepreneurs and conducted in-person research at their manufacturing facilities . Carpenter would then assess the earning potential of the businesses , and help them broker deals with various investment firms and buyers . During this time , he became acutely attuned to the subtleties of independent manufacturing .
When Carpenter grew tired of his hectic and stressful New York City job , he decided to take a different path . Utilizing his extensive knowledge of winter sports and independent manufacturing processes , he crafted a daring business model . By opening and operating his own shop , he aimed to design , produce , and market the finest snow surfing apparatus that the world had ever seen . Rather than simply modify an existing
How Snowboarding First Found its Footing in Southern Vermont
STORY BY BENJAMIN LERNER
42 VERMONT MAGAZINE