1 minute read

White Noise

Next Article
Chowder

Chowder

Across maine resorts, skiers and snowboarders face off on who’s most ‘righteously cool’…or is it who’s ‘sick’?

In the beginning, skiers took to the slopes on two planks. Whether they made sinuous traverses or headed straight downhill at a breakneck pace, skiers saw before them their domain–the mountain–where they reigned supreme. And it was good. At least for the skiers. By the 1980s, it wasn’t so great for the ski industry, which was struggling with flat, even declining, participation. Ski resorts were increasingly cautious. Fearing litigation by injured skiers, the mountains developed a skier’s safety code and instituted a “no air”–keep your skis on the snow–policy. It wasn’t what you’d call an exciting development. What was exciting to some youngsters was a new sport: snowboarding. The sport was actually born in the 1960s. Some give a former skateboard champion, Tom Sims–later of Sims Snowboards–credit for the birth of the sport. Others cite Sherman Poppen of Michigan; after king seeing his daughter balancing on one ski, he created the “Snurfer,”

White White By Donna Stuart Noise Noise

D e (Continued on page 84)

This article is from: