Skiboarding is a winter sport which combines elements of skating, snowboarding, and skiing. Skiboards are used and worn in conjunction with standard ski boots that connect to the skiboards with use of a binding. Skiboards can be grouped into two general categories. Regular skiboards are generally 75–110 cm long, symmetrical, twin tipped. Modern skiboards share these characteristics but are also wider, and have more in common with snowboards, encouraging use of the edge during a session. Skiboarding is often incorrectly referred to as snowblading or skiblading, however, “Snowblades” are a trademark of Salomon.
Early Days of Skiboarding
Firn Gliders (short 50 to 65 cm skis) have been used by alpine mountaineers since the 1940s to transverse summer glaciers more easily. This may be the earliest equivalent to today’s skiboards. The first prototype of the modern skiboard was the Atomic Glider (later renamed the Figl), a 63.5 cm bindingless ski designed in 1982 to fit into a hiker’s backpack and sold primarily in Colorado. Then, around 1990, Austrian company Kneissel introduced the BigFoot, a 65 cm ski with a binding system. The BigFoot was one of the first mass-produced skiboards, which featured a foam core, p-tex base and trademark ‘toes’ on the tip.
Skiboarding continued to grow and prosper as all of the companies were putting out new skiboards and sponsoring riders. The first pro model (M7) was designed for Micah Fischer of Canon in 1996.From 1998 to 2000, skiboarding was part of the winter X Games on ESPN. This helped to promote the sport and bring it to its peak. In 1999, Rick Stark started the World Skiboarding Federation (WSF) as a sanctioning body for skiboarding and the United Skiboard Series (USS) as a competition series for skiboarders.
During the 1999-2000 seasons, approximately 25 companies were manufacturing some form of skiboard, including Dynastar, Imperial, Odyssey and Kosmos. Larger ski manufacturers also entered the market around this same time. Companies such as Atomic, Alpina, Elan, Blizzard, Fischer and Head all contributed many new designs. Some of these manufacturers began producing skiboards that could be mounted with traditional ski-type release bindings as well such as Atomic and Head.
Manufacturing Skiboards
2000 was the final year of competition for skiboarding in the X games and for the second time the event was slopestyle. Neal Lyons (Canon) brought home the gold, while Mike Nick (Line) won the silver and Nicky Adams won the bronze. Skiboarding was replaced with skiing in the X Games, a hard hit to the USS and the skiboarding industry. Professional skiboarders no longer had a forum to compete, and several professional skiboarders including Mike Nick, Iannick B., and Nicky Adams switched to freestyle skiing.
From 1998 to 2000, skiboarding was part of the winter X Games on ESPN. This helped to promote the sport and bring it to its peak. In 1999, Rick Stark started the World Skiboarding Federation (WSF) as a sanctioning body for skiboarding and the United Skiboard Series (USS) as a competition series for skiboarders. Skiboarding continued to grow and prosper as all of the companies were putting out new skiboards and sponsoring riders. The first pro model (M7) was designed for Micah Fischer of Canon in 1996.
Some of these manufacturers began producing skiboards that could be mounted with traditional ski-type release bindings as well such as Atomic and Head. During the 1999-2000 seasons, approximately 25 companies were manufacturing some form of skiboard, including Dynastar, Imperial, Odyssey and Kosmos. Larger ski manufacturers also entered the market around this same time. Companies such as Atomic, Alpina, Elan, Blizzard, Fischer and Head all contributed many new designs.
World Skiboarding Federation
This may be the earliest equivalent to today’s skiboards. The first prototype of the modern skiboard was the Atomic Glider (later renamed the Figl), a 63.5 cm bindingless ski designed in 1982 to fit into a hiker’s backpack and sold primarily in Colorado. Then, around 1990, Austrian company Kneissel introduced the BigFoot, a 65 cm ski with a binding system. The BigFoot was one of the first mass-produced skiboards, which featured a foam core, p-tex base and trademark ‘toes’.
Skiboarding is often incorrectly referred to as snowblading or skiblading, however, “Snowblades” are a trademark of Salomon.
The first pro model (M7) was designed for Micah Fischer of Canon in 1996. From 1998 to 2000, skiboarding was part of the winter X Games on ESPN. This helped to promote the sport and bring it to its peak. In 1999, Rick Stark started the World Skiboarding Federation (WSF) as a sanctioning body for skiboarding and the United Skiboard Series (USS) as a competition series for skiboarders. Skiboarding continued to grow and prosper as all of the companies were putting out new skiboards and sponsoring riders.
Skiboarding continued to grow and prosper as all of the companies were putting out new skiboards and sponsoring riders. The first pro model (M7) was designed for Micah Fischer of Canon in 1996.From 1998 to 2000, skiboarding was part of the winter X Games on ESPN. This helped to promote the sport and bring it to its peak. In 1999, Rick Stark started the World Skiboarding Federation (WSF) as a sanctioning body for skiboarding and the United Skiboard Series (USS) as a competition series for skiboarders.
Source: Wikipedia.