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Winter Olympics: 125 athletes
Winter Olympics: 125 athletes -
Ski resport acceptance
Snowboarding finally showed signs of acceptance at ski resorts. Many resorts that previously only allowed skiers opened their arms to the snowboard industry. In 1998, snowboarding accounted almost 50 percent of winter activity on the slopes. -
Period: to
years
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Highest speed ever
On May 2, 1999, Australian Darren Powell reached the highest speed ever on a snowboard at Les Arcs in France. He clocked in at 125.459 mph, winning him a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. -
Enourmous Snowboarding growth
Snowboarding experienced an enormous growth in popularity with nearly 4.3 million snowboarders worldwide, and 2 million in the United States alone. -
The first person to snowboard down Mt. Everest.
Marco Siffredi, a legendary French snowboarder and climber, became the first person to snowboard down Mt. Everest. He rode the mountain via the Norton Couloir gorge on the north face. -
Winter Olympics: 118 athletes
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World Snowboard Tour was created
The Ticket to Ride, later the World Snowboard Tour, was created under the leadership of Terje Haakonsen, one of the most revered riders in the business. The goal was to connect the must successful and competitive snowboarders with events around the globe. -
Shaun White, the flying tomato
This year marked the true emergence of Shaun White, also known as "The Flying Tomato," winning gold medals in the slopestyle and superpipe competitions at the Winter Games. -
Increased popularity
Snowboarding continued to increase in popularity. The number of snowboarders in the world was projected to be 6.6 million. -
Winter Olympics: 187 athletes
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Female dominance
Daniela Meuli, a female Swiss rider, proved her dominance by winning an Olympic gold in the women’s Parallel Giant Slalom event. In the same season, she was on the podium for every World Cup race. She retired from competitive snowboarding after this epic season in August 2006. -
Continued growth in popularity
Snowboarding continued to grow in popularity in 2008, and a huge incentive was added to the end of the World Snowboard Tour season. A total of $250,000 in prizes was awarded to riders at the end of the year. The 2008 World Tour champions, Kevin Pearce and Jamie Anderson took home $50,000 each. The competition had the highest number of participants ever; 2,706 men and 711 women from around the world. -
Continued rise in number of riders
The number of riders on the World Snowboard Tour continued to rise as 3,385 men and 822 women competed. Kelly Clark took home $50,000 as the women’s champion, and Peetu Piiroinen of Finland was the men's. -
Winter Olympics: 185 athletes
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Snowboard visits downfall
Snowboarders fell to 30 percent of resort visitors in 2011-12, down from a peak of 33 percent in 2009-10. -
Slight increase in visits
2012/13: 56.6 mln
2011/12: 51 mln
2010/11: 60.5 mln Source:
http://www.snowsports.org/Retailers/Research/SnowSportsFactSheet -
Industry Sales
Ski and Snowboard Retail industry hits $3.4 billion in sales in season 2012/2013 -
Winter Olympics: 430 athletes