R.I.P. To The Grandfather And Inspiration Of Modern Day Snowboarding
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Sherman R. Poppen - Credit: https://www.smithsonianmag.com |
Poppen has a place in winter sports history for creating the Snurfer, which amounted to a mono-ski like contraption with a front mount string, similar to sleds of the day, but with the intention of riding on it standing up.
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Credit: http://www.vintageadsandstuff.com/ |
It wasn't long after that fateful Christmas day that Poppen applied for a patent on his newly invented device and history was made. So much so, that the original Snurfers are housed in the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
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Credit: Invented by Sherman R. Poppen, assigned to Brunswick Corporation uploaded by User:Lar [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
Beyond the honor of having his invention forever displayed at the Smithsonian, Poppen's hometown of Muskegon, Michigan is the home of the sculpture, The Turning Point, which was placed in 2012 to commemorate the life of Poppen and his contribution to winter sports history.
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