[3][4] The first snowboards were developed in 1965 when Sherm Poppen, an engineer in Muskegon, Michigan, invented a toy for his daughters by fastening two skis together and attaching a rope to one end so he would have some control as they stood on the board and glided downhill.

[6] Modern snowboarding was pioneered by Tom Sims and Jake Burton Carpenter, who both contributed significant innovations and started influential companies.

In February 1968, Poppen organized the first snurfing competition at a Michigan ski resort that attracted enthusiasts from all over the country.

[7] One of those early pioneers was Tom Sims, a devotee of skateboarding (a sport born in the 1950s when kids attached roller skate wheels to small boards that they steered by shifting their weight).

In the 1960s, as an eighth grader in Haddonfield, New Jersey, Sims crafted a snowboard in his school shop class by gluing carpet to the top of a piece of wood and attaching aluminum sheeting to the bottom.

[9][10] Others experimented with board-on-snow configurations at this time, including Welsh skateboard enthusiasts Jon Roberts and Pete Matthews developed their own snowboards to use at their local dry ski slope.

[16] In 1980 the event moved to Pando Winter Sports Park near Grand Rapids, Michigan, because of a lack of snow that year at the original venue.

[28] In 1985, the first World Cup was held in Zürs, Austria,[29] further cementing snowboarding's recognition as an official international competitive sport.

As a noun: a jib includes metal rails, boxes, benches, concrete ledges, walls, vehicles, rocks and logs.

In freestyle, the rider utilizes natural and man-made features such as rails, jumps, boxes, and innumerable others to perform tricks.

Sometimes called freecarving or hardbooting (due to the equipment used), this discipline usually takes place on hard packed snow or groomed runs (although it can be practiced in any and all conditions) and focuses on carving linked turns, much like surfing or longboarding.

Carving on a snowboard is like riding a roller coaster, because the board will lock into a turn radius and provide what feels like multiple Gs of acceleration.

[43] Compared to freestyle snowboarding gear:[44] Competitors perform tricks while descending a course, moving around, over, across, up, or down terrain features.

Big air competitions are contests where riders perform tricks after launching off a man-made jump built specifically for the event.

[45] Competitors perform tricks in the air, aiming to attain sizable height and distance, all while securing a clean landing.

[46] One of the first snowboard competitions where Travis Rice attempted and landed a "double back flip backside 180" took place at the 2006 Red Bull Gap Session.

In snowboard racing, riders must complete a downhill course constructed of a series of turning color indicators (gates) placed in the snow at prescribed distances apart.

These include the Holy Oly Revival at The Summit at Snoqualmie, The Nate Chute Hawaiian Classic at Whitefish, the original anti-contest, the World Quarterpipe Championships and the Grenade Games.

[53] The early stereotypes of snowboarding included "lazy", "grungy", "punk", "stoners", "troublemakers", and numerous others, many of which are associated with skateboarding and surfing as well.

Snowboarding has become a sport that encompasses a very diverse international based crowd and fanbase of many millions, so much so that it is no longer possible to stereotype such a large community.

Reasons for these dying stereotypes include how mainstream and popular the sport has become, with the shock factor of snowboarding's quick take off on the slopes wearing off.

"Most of the professionals and elite snowboarders frequently sustain injuries when trying to execute challenging tricks at high speeds and with increased levels of force to the lower limbs".

Protective eyewear is also recommended as eye injury can be caused by impact and snow blindness can be a result of exposure to strong ultra-violet light in snow-covered areas.

This injury results in persistent lateral pain in the affected ankle yet is difficult to spot in a plain X-ray image.

[62] The use of portable ultrasound for mountainside diagnostics has been reviewed and appears to be a plausible tool for diagnosing some of the common injuries associated with the sport.

[68] Four to eight percent of snowboarding injuries take place while the person is waiting in ski-lift lines or entering and exiting ski lifts.

[69][70] Snowboard binding rotating devices are designed to minimize the torque force, Quick Stance[71] being the first developed in 1995.

In 2013, The Crash Reel, a feature-length documentary by filmmaker Lucy Walker about former Shaun White rival Kevin Pearce, premiered on the film festival circuit to critical acclaim and was subsequently broadcast on HBO.

Using Pearce's career-ending traumatic brain injury and subsequent recovery as a backdrop, the film examines the physical dangers inherent to pro snowboarders and other extreme sports professional athletes under pressure by sponsors and the media to perform increasingly spectacular feats.

Snowboard magazines have recently made a push to expand their brands to the online market, and there has also been a growth in online-only publications.