The Original Competition

1982 National Snow Surfing Championship

OG Program Cover (rider Paul Graves hand-illustrated by artist Denise Graves)

On February 13, 1982, Paul Graves—with the support of his team at Snowboard East and his wife Denise—launched a national open competition that would go on to become the longest-running event in snowboarding. It was a first of its kind and a foundational springboard for the sport.

The media loved it and every serious rider at the time was in attendance: Sims, Burton, Weber, Kimmel and more.

Before the Olympics…

Before the X Games…

Before the U.S. Open…

… there was the 1982 National Snow Surfing Championship.

Now, Paul is sharing tales of the early days leading up to this historic event, as we celebrate the roots of this sport.

The Blog
Snowboard East
Snowboard East

By the fall of 1980, my wife Denise and I had relocated to the green mountains of Woodstock, Vermont, a quintessential village with a rich history in skiing and outdoor sports. The area was surrounded by ski areas. However, none of them allowed snowboarding and I intended to change that.

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The Commercial
The Commercial

I was in the middle of a staff meeting when the phone rang. On the other end was a New York City executive with the J. Walter Thompson (JWT) advertising agency, one of the largest in the world at the time. He was curious if I would like to appear in a television commercial featuring Snurfing…

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The Dawning
The Dawning

My family moved to New Jersey from Alabama in November of 1961. I knew nothing of deep snow and winter activities and I had never experienced either. Fast forward three years, to the winter of 1964, when my new friends invited me to tag along to the local sledding hill in town…

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The original downhill course at Suicide Six in Woodstock, Vermont is known to the locals as “The Face.” It’s a wide, well-groomed Black Diamond trail and a legendary straight shot down the mountain.

40 years ago, with little more than a simple piece of wood or plastic under their feet and pure adrenaline pumping through their veins, “snow surfing” competitors fearlessly laid the foundation for the future.

You could say they were the OG’s.

Paul championed the sport of snowboarding for 17 years before hosting the original National Snow Surfing Championship in 1982.

Instead of manufacturing his own gear, Paul worked tirelessly to establish and legitimize the sport of snowboarding for everyone.

Not to make a million-dollar brand, but to persuade mountains to allow snowboards on the hill in the first place by being chased off himself to get a meeting.

All for the love of the sport.

 

Paul Graves appeared alongside Mark and Jane Halseth in this Labatt’s TV commercial, the first ever to feature snowboarding.