Backcountry snowboarding

Backcountry snowboarding is snowboarding in a sparsely inhabited rural region over ungroomed and unmarked slopes or pistes in the backcountry, frequently amongst trees ("glade boarding"), usually in pursuit of fresh fallen snow, known as powder. Often, the land and the snow pack are not monitored, patrolled, or maintained. Fixed mechanical means of ascent such as ski lifts are typically not present, but alternative means such as splitboarding, hiking, snow shoeing and helicopters ("heliskiing") are sometimes used to reach the mountain's peak,

In the early 1960s, at the height of surfing's popularity, the first snowboard ever was created by a chemical engineer named Sherman Poppen in Muskegon, Michigan. Poppen was inspired by watching his daughter attempt to sled down a hill standing up and so he decided to fashion his skis together and then tie rope to the nose for more stability. His wife named his creation the "Snurfer", a combination of snow and surfer, and between 1966 and 1977, Poppen sold over half a million all around the country. The snurfer was originally marketed to kids in grocery stores but when more traditional models were created, they were marketed to surfers and skateboarders. Despite the increasing popularity, snowboarding was seen as a gimmick and wasn't recognized as a true sport. More importantly, it was banned from all ski resorts in North America, forcing any prospective boarders to look elsewhere. Backcountry snowboarding became the original kind of snowboarding simply because there was no other choice, boards were specifically designed for powder snow and the experimental board designs weren't designed for groomers. It wasn't until the 1980s that snowboarders were finally accepted into resorts. Despite the new access to resorts and lifts, some boarders chose to continue to ride in the backcountry.

In the late 1980s, a snowboarder named Brett Kobernick changed the backcountry snowboarding game forever by cutting a snowboard in half with a hacksaw and then using the two halves to get up the mountain and reattaching them to descend. This later became known as splitboarding and has becoming an increasingly popular alternative to hiking or snowshoeing. Splitboards gives snowboarders the range and versatility of alpine touring skis while retaining the freedom of a snowboard for the descent. Unlike using snow shoes to access backcountry, the rider does not need to carry a board during the ascent, and does not need to carry snow shoes on the descent.

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Wikipedia