Jake Burton: American Snowboarder & Sports Icon Jake Burton: American Snowboarder & Sports Icon

By Melody Zhang | Layout By Katy Su

By Melody Zhang | Layout By Katy Su

By Melody Zhang | Layout: Michele Liu and Katy Su

through adversity to come out stronger. Jake was born on April 29, 1954, in New York, as the youngest of four siblings. Jake experienced early life trauma which may have triggered a determination to succeed, almost as a coping mechanism to overcome the pain. When he was just thirteen, his older brother died serving in Marine Corps in Vietnam. Four years later, his mother passed away. It was around this time that Jake decided to work extremely hard to become an overachiever in academia and sports. He ended up graduating from Marvelwood School as the valedictorian of his class (1972). More setbacks were faced when he tried out for the University of Colorado Boulder Ski team and got rejected. He later left the University of Colorado due to being lonely and sad and tried to pursue a career in horse training. That career ended on its first day, as he quit on the spot after witnessing horrific cruelty towards horses as they were prepared for racing. Jake was a values-driven individual who refused to compromise on his beliefs. There would be more twists and turns on this slow start toward becoming a legend of snowboarding, a sport that did not yet exist at the time. Later in life, Jake suffered serious injuries on the slopes and fought valiantly against the early stages of cancer. Despite all that life threw at him, he maintained an athlete’s mentality of never giving up on all of his pursuits. Ultimately, he was able to find success on his own terms and create a lasting legacy that outlived his spectacular life.

ing angle (steam-bent solid ash) to boat construction (fiberglass chop) to surfboard construction-inspired designs. Eventually, the modern-day snowboard as we know it - with straps for the snowboarder’s feet on the board - was born. In many ways, Jake’s innovation was built on top of the inventor of the “snurfer”, Sherman Poppen, an engineer who invented a toy for his daughters a couple of decades earlier by fastening two skis together and attaching a rope to one end for control. While snurfing had a niche following, snowboarding became a worldwide phenomenon. Human innovation is often iterative and built upon prior progress as our species evolves to move forward as a collective. Jake’s innovations were pivotal in forming a new sporting movement. Even after successfully creating modern-day snowboards, product development was still one of Jake’s biggest passions. Taking a piece of gear and asking: How can we make it better? He couldn’t keep his hands off, and no detail was too small. Jake continued to push innovation in the snowboarding industry. He and his company invented new board technologies such as “step on” to alleviate the difficulties of adjusting straps manually on the snowboard.

Have you ever wondered what it takes to evolve a childhood game into a global sporting phenomenon? Snowboarding is one of the biggest winter sports in the world, and its popularity has been skyrocketing recently. Today, snowboarding is a sport enjoyed by millions globally and has become a mainstay in the Olympics since 1998. To explore the humble origins of this sport, we must learn from the inspiring journey of Jake Burton Carpenter, the father of snowboarding, the inventor of the modern-day snowboard, and arguably its greatest ever ambassador. As an avid skier and “snurfing” athlete since a young age, Jake took these concepts further to create his own interpretation of “surfing on snow”, thus creating a new sport, revolutionizing a whole industry, and redefining his own life journey. Jake founded Burton Snowboards in 1977 out of a Vermont barn based on a vision of the future. Burton would later evolve into an iconic snowboarding brand that produces world-leading apparel, merchandise, and equipment that is widely recognized as some of the, if not the, best. Jake’s journey had its incredible highs and soul-searching lows, just like the snowy slopes in Vermont where Jake prototyped his first snowboards before sharing his passion with the rest of the world. As in snowboarding and life, sometimes it is necessary to slow down on the way up before accelerating with exhilarating speed on a spectacular ride. While Jake is no longer with us, his baton of inspiration and joy has been passed on to millions of individuals globally who love the sport and enjoy it in their own ways. There are many lessons we can draw from his life, which is so deeply intertwined with the art of snowboarding.

Have you ever wondered what it takes to evolve a childhood game into a global sporting phenomenon? Snowboarding is one of the biggest winter sports in the world, and its popularity has been skyrocketing recently. Today, snowboarding is a sport enjoyed by millions globally and has become a mainstay in the Olympics since 1998. To explore the humble origins of this sport, we must learn from the inspiring journey of Jake Burton Carpenter, the father of snowboarding, the inventor of the modern-day snowboard, and arguably its greatest ever ambassador. As an avid skier and “snurfing” athlete since a young age, Jake took these concepts further to create his own interpretation of “surfing on snow”, thus creating a new sport, revolutionizing a whole industry, and redefining his own life journey. Jake founded Burton Snowboards in 1977 out of a Vermont barn based on a vision of the future. Burton would later evolve into an iconic snowboarding brand that produces world-leading apparel, merchandise, and equipment that is widely recognized as some of the, if not the, best. Jake’s journey had its incredible highs and soul-searching lows, just like the snowy slopes in Vermont where Jake prototyped his first snowboards before sharing his passion with the rest of the world. As in snowboarding and life, sometimes it is necessary to slow down on the way up before accelerating with exhilarating speed on a spectacular ride. While Jake is no longer with us, his baton of inspiration and joy has been passed on to millions of individuals globally who love the sport and enjoy it in their own ways. There are many lessons we can draw from his life, which is so deeply intertwined with the art of snowboarding.

chandise, and equipment that is widely recognized as some of the, if not the, best. Jake’s journey had its incredible highs and soul-searching lows, just like the snowy slopes in Vermont where Jake prototyped his first snowboards before sharing his passion with the rest of the world. As in snowboarding and life, sometimes it is necessary to slow down on the way up before accelerating with exhilarating speed on a spectacular ride. While Jake is no longer with us, his baton of inspiration and joy has been passed on to millions of individuals globally who love the sport and enjoy it in their own ways. There are many lessons we can draw from his life, which is so deeply intertwined with the art of snowboarding.

Aside from his obvious accomplishments as a successful entrepreneur, charismatic individual, and elite athlete, Jake Burton is a positive role model, who exemplified resilience and sporting spirit. He had a true athlete’s mentality which pushed him through adversity to come out stronger. Jake was born on April 29, 1954, in New York, as the youngest of four siblings. Jake experienced early life trauma which may have triggered a determination to succeed, almost as a coping mechanism to overcome the pain. When he was just thirteen, his older brother died serving in Marine Corps in Vietnam. Four years later, his mother passed away. It was around this time that Jake decided to work extremely hard to become an overachiever in academia and sports.

Have you ever wondered what it takes to evolve a childhood game into a global sporting phenomenon? Snowboarding is one of the biggest winter sports in the world, and its popularity has been skyrocketing recently. Today, snowboarding is a sport enjoyed by millions globally and has become a mainstay in the Olympics since 1998. To explore the humble origins of this sport, we must learn from the inspiring journey of Jake Burton Carpenter, the father of snowboarding, the inventor of the modern-day snowboard, and arguably its greatest ever ambassador. As an avid skier and “snurfing” athlete since a young age, Jake took these concepts further to create his own interpretation of “surfing on snow”, thus creating a new sport, revolutionizing a whole industry, and redefining his own life journey. Jake founded Burton Snowboards in 1977 out of a Vermont barn based on a vision of the future. Burton would later evolve into an iconic snowboarding brand that produces world-leading apparel, mer-

Aside from his obvious accomplishments as a successful entrepreneur, charismatic individual, and elite athlete, Jake Burton is a positive role model, who exemplified resilience and sporting spirit. He had a true athlete’s mentality which pushed him through adversity to come out stronger. Jake was born on April 29, 1954, in New York, as the youngest of four siblings. Jake experienced early life trauma which may have triggered a determination to succeed, almost as a coping mechanism to overcome the pain. When he was just thirteen, his older brother died serving in Marine Corps in Vietnam. Four years later, his mother passed away. It was around this time that Jake decided to work extremely hard to become an overachiever in academia and sports.

Aside from his obvious accomplishments as a successful entrepreneur, charismatic individual, and elite athlete, Jake Burton is a positive role model, who exemplified resilience and sporting spirit. He had a true athlete’s mentality which pushed him

Harboring an innovative mindset that allowed him to “think outside the box”, Jake dreamed of an alternate reality and created it through trial and error. After graduating from NYU university, he worked at a small investment banking firm, working for 12-14 hours a day in a job he simply did not enjoy. He always had a vision that surfing on snow could become a sport, and decided then that he would pursue it with everything he had. He left a stable and well-paying job in finance to pursue a dream that held no promises. Having enjoyed the snurf board from the age of 14, Jake took inspiration from the snurf board and turned it into an actual sport. In 1977, he founded Burton Snowboards in a barn in Vermont. However, it was a slow process to invent the modern-day snowboard - it took Jake three to four years. While relentlessly prototyping new designs in the barn, Jake worked as a bartender by night to make ends meet. He experimented with different prototypes ranging from a furniture-mak-

Unfortunately, Jake passed away in 2019 after valiantly battling many bouts of cancer. Jake’s journey allows us to reflect on the art of “riding” through life. As a boarder — whether is snowboarding, surfing, or skating, you ride through the elements and would need to adjust your positioning based on the external environment to keep your balance. There will be flat ground, smooth slopes, big waves, pesky rocks, and sometimes even snow covering your goggles. As Jake went through life, he had to adapt and adjust, as one would on the slopes. Sometimes, the only thing guiding you is the belief in your heart and the determination to pursue a dream. In life, we all have to keep our balance while navigating the terrain with all its twists and turns, things that are often out of our control. Sometimes, we need to accelerate and try our hardest to achieve a breakthrough, and at other moments we need to slow down and trust the process while maintaining our balance. Jake taught us that it is acceptable to fall but unacceptable to stay down. There will be many ups and downs, but all of them count. Thank you for these valuable lessons, and ride on, Jake!