Do you like going really, really, ridiculously fast?
Surfers are bastards (as established here just days ago). Arrogant. Unrepentant. Unaware. Surfers think they can nose into other subcultural pursuits just because.
But look at this Winterstick™ right here! It was co-invented by a surfer and don’t you kind of want to try it? Doesn’t it look fun?
Matt Warshaw, famous surf historian, was poking around this archives today and stumbled upon the Winterstick™ which was featured in a 1977 issue of Surfer magazine with the caption:
People who have backgrounds in surfing will discover that they know how to snow surf. Small weight shifts elicit much response. Using the flex and torque of the board such as cranking and extending results in positive fluid carves.
The company is still around today and describes its history thusly:
The Winterstick story began in the late ’60s when Winterstick founder Dimitrije Milovich met up with New Jersey surfboard shaper, Wayne Stoveken. Stoveken, whom Milovich believed to be the first snowboarder, had started making snow-surfboard designs, and he showed Milovich a few construction ideas.
Inspired by Stoveken’s designs and also by the now-famous surf film Five Summer Stories, Milovich started making his own snowboards. In 1972, Milovich dropped out of college and moved to Utah to work full time on developing his new designs in the Wasatch backcountry. Later that year, he patented the first modern snowboard, the Swallowtail.
I poked around the website and discovered they have a Tom Burt model. I’ve had the honor of snowboarding with Tom Burt a few times and by “with” I mean “one mile behind.”
Tom Burt is the fastest snowboarder I’ve ever even seen! You can buy his here or a version of the original swallowtail here.
And if you ever find yourself snowboarding “with” Tom Burt try to remember what he’s wearing so you can find him in the lodge or parking lot whenever the day is over.
