Snowboarding History
I chose snowboarding for my I-search project because it is one of the many things I enjoy. I wanted to find out more about the sport I like, and I thought I would have fun in the process. My interest in snowboarding started when I was seven years old. The first time I tried it I liked it so much more than skiing that I never skied again. As I grew older and learned to love snowboarding, I became very interested in who had created the art of snowboarding and what was the first snowboard like. I know now that snowboarding is one of the fastest growing sports in the world. But I always wondered who was the brave soul who had decided to take a board and attach it to his feet and go flying down a huge mountain. For my I-search project I intend to find out who created snowboarding and when did they create it.
It is hard to say who actually invented the first snowboard. People would have always figured out how to slide down a hill on some sled, thus it would be unfair to point out one specific person, who came up with the first snowboard. There were some people, though, who built snowboard like sleds before. One of them was M.J. "Jack" Burchett. He cut out a plank of plywood in 1929 and tried to secure his feet with some clothesline and horse reins. Burchett came up with on of the first snowboards. Before the next step for the snowboard was taken, it had to wait over 30 years .
In 1965 Sherman Poppen, a chemical gases engineer in Muskegon, invented "The Snurfer", a name which his wife created as a toy for his daughter. He made the Snurfer by bounding...