By Alicia Parks
Okay, so I'm not an expert at skiboarding. To be honest I haven't even tried the sport (yet). However, I am a journalist and an emerging sport such as this is newsworthy. In an effort to learn more about the sport, I decided to start with how skiboarding originated. Little did I know, this would turn into a bigger task than I anticipated. At this point, I can't exactly pin a first place ribbon on the person who won the race in inventing skiboards. At this point, it isn't clear exactly when skiboarding debuted. All-of-a-sudden skiboarding arrived on the scene. Or did it?
Perhaps it was a pipe dream forgotten by one person and then re-invented by another. Perhaps skiboarding began because of a springboard idea derived from snowboarding or skiing. Or perhaps the idea of skiboarding came about in the minds of several different people at about the same time. Hey, it's possible.
All I know is that the evolutionary theory of skiboarding cannot be fully explained, yet. My efforts in researching the beginning of skiboarding have been extensive. I have much information to work with and yet so much more to discover. In an effort to be fair and accurate it would take me years of researching before I would even get my information organized. So, this is what I have decided to do.
I will write a continuing article on the evolutionary theory of skiboarding based on the amount of information I discover and will keep you posted. This way I can be objective and allow for all the information related to the beginnings of skiboarding to be included in my theory.
Recently, I spoke to several different people and companies who were or are involved in the skiboarding industry. Most of the companies producing skiboards seemed to have come up with the idea of skiboarding for the same reasons at about the same time.
Then again, another possible theory is that skiboarding came about over time as the construction of skis and snowboards advanced. As time went on skiboards began to evolve. Doc Roberts of Skiboards.com said, "Skiboarding is a sport who's time has come. It represents the leading edge of snowriding. And it opens up the mountain to more possibilities than ever thought before."
Some thought of the idea of skiboards many years ago. Kneissel started producing Big Feet (about 63 cm long) about 10 years ago. “They can be recognized by the toes at the tip," Kary Perelmutter of Groove Skiboards said. Some say these were the first skiboards, though they were not constructed like many of today’s skiboards with wood cores and twin tips.
While the evolution of skiboards began to flourish, popularity of the sport magnified itself. The design ideas began to change and the skiboard started to take more shape. "In 1992, MicroSki decided to take this new, strange sport a step further," Perelmutter said. MicroSki changed the design of the Big Feet by taking away the toes and then adding a "hands free" binding system, making them about 68 cm.
Doug Bell of MicroSki said he took over the business rights of the MicroSki after they were invented by Kent Keiswieller. According to Bell, Keiswieller came up with a mini-ski based on the idea of Big Feet. He purchased a snowboard and began to carve and reduce the size. Eventually, Keiswieller came up with the MicroSki at 68 cm. "This was the first American-made little ski we commonly refer to as skiboards," Bell said.
However, MicroSki was not the only company to contribute to new designs for the skiboard. Bit by bit, more and more people began to move forward into the world of skiboards. The skiboard was not just advancing in shape, but in graphical design as well. Issues with the craftsmanship of the skiboard and the quality of bindings were also considered.
According to Perelmutter, Klimax Skiboards was started by Victor Holporf in 1995. "He saw the potential this market had and decided to take it head on," Perelmutter said. Klimax came out with two models at that time, an 82 cm twin tip and a 76 cm fantail model.
In 1996, both Line and Groove introduced their designs of skiboards. "Both companies knew that in order to tap the huge market potential, they had to make this new era of skiboards special," Perelmutter said. Both companies came out with a variety of sizes ranging from 70 cm to 99cm, with new bindings and new design graphics, attracting even more attention.
Jason Levinthal of Line said, "I came up with the idea because I was a skier and a snowboarder and I wanted to combine the best aspects of both sports." Levinthal said that about four or five years ago he came up with the idea of skiboards and started building them in his parent's home. Before long, he started showing his creation at trade shows and began to take orders through distributors. Since then Line Skiboards have gained a world-wide reputation as have Groove, Microski and other manufacturers.
So what can we conclude thus far? At this point, just that many people were involved in helping make skiboards what they are today. In many ways, the idea was born into the minds of different people around the same time. From then on, skiboards evolved; some people added their own touches to a previous design, while others came up with new techniques for making skiboards.
As the evolutionary process of skiboarding continues to thrive and as others come forward, so will this theory. Stay tuned for continuing coverage of the evolutionary theory of the beginning of skiboarding.
Evolutionary Theory Of Skiboarding - Part 2
There is a thin line between when mini skies evolved and when skiboards came about. The discrepancy about when exactly skiboards were invented and by whom is where many misconceptions derive. This time the story is told through a skiboard manufacturer, a representative and a retailer.
Drew Sibr of Canon Skiboards said: "There is a debate over the origins of the short ski. The origin of skiboards, however, is easily documented." In the 60s, the Graduated Length Method (GLM) was developed to teach skiers how to ski by gradually increasing the length of the skis.
In the 70s and 80s, manufacturers began making short skis like, MicroSkis, the Atomic Figl, the BigFoot, the Gauer Snowblade, the Scorpion, Sled Dogs and more, said Sibr. "These skis were fun, but they were definitely missing some key elements."
Charlie Webb, a representative from Atomic, said that in 1982 Atomic developed a 63.5 cm snowboard-type ski called the Atomic Glider. Webb said they considered this to be their first skiboard model. "In reality it was designed to be put in a backpack so that a hiker could strap them to their hiking boots and ski down the glaciers or snow fields once they hiked to the top of the mountain."
"As far back as the late 80s, I sold Figls, as they were renamed, or Fern-Gliders (the generic term to ski clubs in Colorado)" At its peak, I was selling about 400 pairs of Figls a year in Colorado and Atomic sold about another 200 pairs nationwide. As you see, it was a local craze," Webb said.
Michael Hughes, a retail manager at Snowshoe Mountain in West Virginia, said that in addition to Atomic's Figl, Kneissl came out with their BigFoot, a 65cm, foam injected short ski with a crude binding system. Big Foot became officially the "granddaddy of the sport of skiboarding," Hughes said. What made the BigFoot different, according to Hughes, was that it had a sidecut (in contrast to the Figl).
"I discovered NUVO and BigFoot in April 1994 when approached by two of their salespeople, Michael Canon and Jonathan Rowan," Hughes said. He was hired to film a commercial for them and in doing so ended up trying out the BigFeet for the first time. "I became an animal, doing things I wouldn't dream of doing on skis. I was hooked, and the camera equipment never left the bag."
Hughes said he saw something special here. By October, 1994 Hughes and Rowan opened E2 Sports in Breckenridge, Colo., the first retail store to specialize in renting, selling and servicing this new sport, skiboarding. "BigFoot got badly needed exposure from NUVO and E2," Hughes said.
"This is where the sport started. We marketed this as its own sport, a lifestyle. And an important development in the winter sports business," Hughes said. In January, they started to sell MicroSkis, when Kent Keiswieller was manufacturing them.
Meanwhile, Canon and Tayt Tindal started to explore the market some more and in 1993, along with investor Victor Holtors, founded Klimax Skiboards. "Finally, skiboarding's roots are uncovered," Sibr said.
Canon and Tindal created the first wood core board with a symmetrical twin-tip. Tindal went on to join Salomon and in 1994 Canon founded Canon Skiboards, becoming the second skiboarding company, Sibr said. In 1997 Klimax Skiboards stopped production.
According to Sibr, a 100 percent solid-wood core is a must for a skiboard. Along with a sidecut, and a "unique shape." "It [a skiboard] must be wider than a conventional ski for stability and flotation. The clincher: twin tips, essential for riding forwards and backwards."
"Skiboards are born. Sure, short skis have been around since the Ice Age, but there is now a skiboarding industry that did not exist eight years ago, when short skis did," Sibr said.
Today there are many manufacturers for skiboards including Groove, Canon, Atomic, Salomon, K2, Dynastar, Hart, Fischer, Gauer, Blizzard, Snowjam, Kneissl, Elan, Microski, Line and more. Each one grabbing their nitch in the market place. Time will only tell where this sport will go, and that story will be a lot easier to follow.
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