December 25

Snurfer Inspired by Daughter's Antics

On this day in 1966, Sherman Poppen invented the Snurfer, the precursor to the modern snowboard. Poppen's daughter, Wendy, had been trying to ride her sled downhill standing up. Seeing her do this, Poppen got the idea to bolt Wendy's skis together so she could ride downhill more safely. Little did he know that his invention would become a new craze and he would end up making half a million Snurfers. Years later, another inventor used a similar design to create the snowboard.