Yo, dynos! Don’t Norton*
If you thought that the shred heads were just an anomaly and were going to fade away, you had better rethink your position. In the cavernous halls of Budapest’s Hotel Duma Intercontinental, snowboarding sought and gained international credibility when the sport experienced a very favorable reaction from the FIS, skiing’s international governing body, to become a governed sport.
Where did the push come from? It was not only from the United States delegation, where snowboarding and subsequently competition first took hold; unconventional as it may seem, the FIS hierarchy, the old blue bloods of skiing, threw their weight behind the request of the rad and the gnarly. Blood, it seems, is thicker then water. Appeals for snowboarding came from none other than the architect of the Albertville games and skiing’s hall of famer, Jean-Claude Killy, whose son is an avid shredder. Shred support came from the top straightaway. Marc Hodler, the FIS president who has led the federation for five decades, rallied to the cause announcing that his grandson was an avid aficionado. Not to be left out, the FIS’ Secretary General, Gian Franco Kasper, broadcast that his son was a shredder, like totally. Long time FIS Alpine Executive Committee chairman Rato Melcher, considered to be the top FIS alpine technical delegate, proclaimed his grandson had forsaken two skis for the sake of a board.
What does all of this mean? Simply put, thousands of youngsters, and not a few middle-agers, are finding out that riding a board is a kick. Even those who have been brought up completely under the influence of a skiing family are trying, and apparently enjoying, snowboarding. In doing so, they become simply an extension of the millions already woomphing down the mountainsides.
In terms of recognizing the competitive side of the sport, technically the FIS remanded snowboarding to an exploratory working group for study. However, with such a push coming from the top, the odds of boarding joining the FIS family are excellent, as the governing body acknowledges the great and growing popularity of snowboarding worldwide.
In the United States, steps are being completed to merge the U.S. Amateur Snowboarding Association, which currently is the largest organizer of competitions, with U.S. Skiing. This will bring 2,500 licensed snowboard competitors under the aegis of Park City which will greatly ease any transition into international competition on the part of U.S. boarders. While there is no chance at competition snowboarding being considered for the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics, there is a distinct possibility that enough technical work will be completed to have snowboards a demonstration sport at Nagano, Japan in 1998. Putting it into perspective, combining competition boarders with all U.S. alpine ski competitors, snowboarders are going to comprise almost 20 percent of the total licensed competitors. And snowboarding competitions are still in an early stage of development.
It is not so early in terms of what it means to the retail world. USIA estimates that just over 100,000 units were sold in 1991 compared to 500,000 pairs of skis, give or take. A 1991 National Sporting Goods Association survey finds there are 1,577,000 boarders riding in the U.S. Boarders are young, predominantly male. The sport is growing — over eight percent in the U.S. last year according to the same survey — in stark contrast to alpine skiing.
The FIS, not known to react quickly, and certainly not a proactive group, is moving swiftly to get involved, which ought to tell one something.
Snowboarding is going to be a large snow sport factor in the 21st century. Climb aboard. Otherwise you will Norton for sure.
— G.B., Jr.
* Snowboard term for “blowing it.”
