Skiboarding

Skiboarding is a winter sport which combines elements of skating, snowboarding, and skiing. Skiboards are used and worn in conjunction with standard ski boots that connect to the skiboards with use of a binding. Skiboards can be grouped into two general categories. Regular skiboards are generally 75–110 cm long, symmetrical, twin tipped. Modern skiboards share these characteristics but are also wider. Skiboarding is often incorrectly referred to as snowblading or skiblading, however, "Snowblades" are a trademark of Salomon. Further adding to the confusion, Salomon has ceased manufacturing skiboards, the product for which they coined the common name snowblades.

Firn Gliders (short 50 to 65 cm skis) have been used by alpine mountaineers since the 1940s to transverse summer glaciers more easily. This may be the earliest equivalent to today’s skiboards. The first prototype of the modern skiboard was the Atomic Glider (later renamed the Figl), a 63.5 cm bindingless ski designed in 1982 to fit into a hiker's backpack and sold primarily in Colorado. Then, around 1990, Austrian company Kneissel introduced the BigFoot, a 65 cm ski with a binding system. The BigFoot was one of the first mass-produced skiboards, which featured a foam core, p-tex base and trademark 'toes' on the tip.

In 1992, Kent Keiswieller invented something he called the MicroSki, which was another take on skiboards. Also that year, Michael Canon became the west coast distributor for Kneissel's BigFoot. Just one year later, in 1993, Canon, Tayt Tindall and Victor Holtorf founded Klimax Skiboards.

The mid 90s saw a large growth in skiboarding manufacturers. German Mat Merckel begin creating his vision of 'snow skates' in early 90s in his grandfather's garage. By the middle of the decade, he had founded the Powder Company which produced much wider skiboards than those being created at that time. In the US, Jarred and Kary Parrelmutter founded GrooveUSA Skiboards after spending a short time producing skiboards for Klimax. These individuals would shape the skiboarding industry and drive the popularity during the next few years. On the east coast, Jason Levinthal was designing his own type of Skiboards for his soon to be company, LINE, which has evolved into one of the most prominent twin-tip ski manufacturers. Michael Canon left Klimax and created another all skiboarding company, Canon Skiboards.

In 1997, German ski company Salomon (Adidas-Salomon) released their version of skiboards, called Snowblades, in response to skiboarding's growing popularity. Soon, many larger ski companies such began to produce skiboards.

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