# Your First Board and Origins Stories



## CassMT (Mar 14, 2013)

i bought a Burton Backyard at a garage sale for $5...this was 1984. I lived in Peter's Twp Pennsylvania at the time. Other friends got into boarding too, we would ride the hills of the golf course that was thru the woods behind my house. Didn't think it was a big deal at the time, or that it would be the root of all that ive done, and many decisions i have made since. mainly about where i would go apon leaving home, where i would eventually live, etc...lots more to tell of my bizarre path to MT, but i'll save that to see if anyone else chimes in here...


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## NWBoarder (Jan 10, 2010)

My first board was a 1996 K2 Dart. I'm pretty sure it was a 168. It was the NARROWEST board I have ever been on. And it's what I learned with. The combination of giant board, skinny waist, and Clicker Boots and Bindings made it a monster to ride. Forward angles were the only way I could ride it with my size 13 boots. I got it from my friend's bro-in-law who worked at the K2 factory on Vashon. The whole setup cost me $75. Best part is, it was a part of a group buy with a bunch of my friends, and I only ended up on the Dart because it was the longest board and I was the tallest dude. The 158 K2 Fatbob ended up going to the shortest dude with the smallest feet. If only I knew then what I know now. LoL!


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## KIRKRIDER (Mar 18, 2008)

Mid 90's Lib Tech with a violin design on it. No idea about the model.


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## MarshallV82 (Apr 6, 2011)

My first board came from a friend who worked at Coors, he won a snowboard and had zero interest in the thing, traded it to me for some weed. It was pretty cool, said "Be Original" on the base and the top was painted like a beer mug. I knew nothing about snowboards at the time and was an avid skier.

I still have it too! Bindings, bag, airwalk boots and all, I believe it was a Burton, not sure what model.

I tried it 5-6 times that season then got into it the next (2000 ish) I loved the way it felt in deep powder and it just seemed more fun!. I haven't bought a new pair of skis since! I do want to get some newer skis though, mine are antiques!


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## super-rad (Jan 25, 2012)

There's my first board. Late 90's K2 Doublewide. Originally had K2 Clicker bindings and boots. Eventually swapped them for Sims boots and bindings (pictured). I was happy to be off Clickers, but the hardware on those Sims would always come loose after a few runs.

I really loved this board. I could butter on it for days. It saw lots of action in the NC and WV mountains.


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## glaucon (Jan 3, 2013)

Got this beaut in 1994 (not my actual board, I just found a picture of it):










Used it for 9 years, had no idea it was a piece of shit :dunno: but I learned everything I needed to know on it. The base had a railroad spike graphic running the entire length, kinda cool.

But my brother rode this throughout his formative snowboarding years (I still don't know how he kept up):










As awesomely vintage it is, it was a total pain in the ass to ride.


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

NWBoarder said:


> If only I knew then what I know now. LoL!


Haha... was alike here. My first board was a F2 in '92. They had no clou in the shop, I had no clou so they gave me a 160ish one (cause this was the lenght of the ski I rode). I was a teen then, around 100lbs. Don't remember if I ever managed to do three turns in a row on this monster  

It's impossible to don't live close to mountains in Switzerland... but I wouldn't move to a country/place where there are no mountains. I get lost I flat lands (psyc. and phys). I often hear people here moan about the bad weather, the short days in winter, how they would love to live in the - say - Caribbean. Never had this wish


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## CassMT (Mar 14, 2013)

cool to see these old boards!, i remeber thinking those red burton highback w/buckles(!) were soooo rad

i had the Performer Elite 140 also! wish i had held onto all of these boards, vintage stuff is worth some bucks now

at one time or another i had all of these...









i remember i still had the Safari my first year in Jackson ('89) thing was stiff as fuk as i recall...next chapter of my tale when i can type it, in a bit...


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## BurtonAvenger (Aug 14, 2007)

The Christmas of 87 brought all the grandkids Blacksnow Snurfer type things. They were about 135cms, had built in traction pads on the top and a rope handle. Underneath it was lime green with 2 metal skegs and a power channel down the middle. 

Seeing as there were 4 of us about 3 months apart in age plus my older brother we decided to test them out immediately while the adults did adult things. I can distinctly remember my one cousin running me over on his and cutting my pants open with those skegs as we bombed down my grandparents driveway and tried to pop over the abutment wall at the end. I'm also pretty sure my one cousin went into the goldfish pond and broke the ice and my aunt had to come get him out. 

Needless to say it wasn't long before my brother realized standing on the thing sucked and we needed straps so he wood screwed in two loops that were cut from an old dog leash. That was the game changer.


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## binarypie (Nov 29, 2009)

1995/1996 was when I first started snowboarding and without ever taking a lesson I was able to convince my parents to buy me A-Deck 139 with Burton Freestyle bindings.


The board was pink on top with a green bottom. My bindings were dark grey with forest green high backs. My boots were made by a company called Jobless.

I worse all my normal snow gear and didn't even realize there were goggles until my second year snowboarding. I just thought snowboarding was a fun way to pass the time until I could skateboard again.

Thusly I spent a lot of time on sidehills around my home town in Vermont. I mostly built jumps or used my snowboard to bring pvc pipes out to slide. 

It wasn't until my second year that things got real. My mom found out about this thing called a ski-bus and I was able to go up every weekend for 27 dollars. 

I remember going off my first real jump. Skateboarding was officially dead to me that day. I spent hours and hours hanging out after school at the Burton factory. I jumped on their trampolines. Did everything I could to just snowboard.

The rest is history...


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## CassMT (Mar 14, 2013)

great storys! "power channel!" hahaha

to continue my tale...

kept on boarding, such as it was, on the golf course behind the house...we had a run we called "Killer Hill" LOL...it had a roller in the middle, so you could make a couple turns, then bomb for the roller, get maybe 3 feet high, 15-20 feet roller-air, then another turn or 2 to the bottom. we would go hit that like 50 times, until it was too dark to see

later we went and poached a 7 Springs and another mountain in WV, i forget the name...this was of course long before they were allowed on the mountain, we would get chased off, threatened etc, but not before getting a run or 2, haha

senior year my bro and i roadtripped the 14 hrs to Stowe, VT,,this was the first year they allowed boards, i guess that was winter '86?...we were* not *ready for a real mountain, with our Performers, and jeans..but we went anyhow...that trip planted the seed though...the winter of '88 i left home and moved to Stowe in my van, to teach snowboarding ! hah, got hired by Lowell Hart on the phone (he went on to help found the first teaching certification for board, i forget the acronym)...ridiculous though, me teaching! but, by the end of that season i had new gear (burton air, the first one)








and new skills from riding the vermont ice. a fellow instructor was Bud Keene, who also went on to greatness in competition, and is currently the head coach of the US Olympic Snowboard team, and Shaun White's personal coach i believe...

more to come...


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## Sudden_Death (Mar 23, 2011)

This is my first board, a Black Snow Legend. I got the board Christmas of 88 but before that my friends and I would stand on toboggans or take the trucks off our skateboards and staple crazy carpets to the bottom. I didn't get a board with steel edges for a couple more years but it didn't matter since we'd just hike and straighline the same jump on a 20 ft hill the entire day. 

Edit; Took me a few weeks before I realized you could switch the bindings around to ride it goofy. 25 years later and I finally did my first full switch run this year.


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## john doe (Nov 6, 2009)

My first board? My first board has never been rode by me. After I tried snowboarding I knew I was hooked. As the next season came up I bought a $40 board and binding combo off Craigslist just to make sure I had something to ride. An old cap construction Liquid board with old thin foam crap Liquid bindings. Never rode them since I got a Lib Tech TRS MTX of ebay and some Contrabands before the season started. The bindings got use on a homemade trampoline practice board and the board has set tune, waxed, and never ridden.


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## lander91 (Mar 14, 2013)

My first board was an oversized DC Biddy from the end of season sales last year. We'd had two recreational sessions at the local snowdomes since passing our learner lessons, and quickly learned that rentals were crap! My full setup was the 151 Biddy, Union Flite bindings, and Burton Mint boots. At the time I wished I'd have gotten a smaller size, but it ended up being a great all-mountain board for our recent holiday to the French alps. 

During the summer I picked up the last Roxy Ally 143 demo board from the dome, which I'd been drooling over since our first lesson... same boots/bindings and it's a dream for jibbing.

Kristi


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## Basti (Sep 22, 2011)

My first board was a Sims Salasnek. The iconic one with the skate trucks. I'm still beating myself up for selling it


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## MG0815 (Jan 11, 2013)

This is my first board, Burton Air 6.1; ... the early 90´s .... with this board me and my buddies had real good times in the "wild east" of germany and Czech Republic. We had no instructors, no idea how to ride it...great times and lots of fun.
It is still in good condition for it´s age, the bindings are also still full functional, but i don´t ride it anymore


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## CassMT (Mar 14, 2013)

...next chapter 
so im in Stowe and spring comes, spring '89, and i just dont want to stop riding, cant stand the thought of going back to PA, so i bought a plane ticket to Portland with what little money i had. never been out west before, had no contacts, maybe $200, a little backpack and my board...i just had heard that they ride Mount Hood all summer and that the boarding camps were going on at Timberline. Arrive in PDX and thumb it right out of the airport parking lot, catch a ride all the way to Gov't Camp. Rode timberline some, met people, crashed on condo floors or wherever, i was in heaven, but running out of money and there was no work at Hood. Heard about Bend/Bachelor (had never even heard of those, thats how clueless i was, LOL) and that there was work in Bend and that they rode all summer too, so i thumbed it to Bend, camped out on the 7 Mile Rd(? some name like that) and rode Bachelor til closing day, back in those days it was July sometime........con't


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## nooboarder (Feb 26, 2013)

GNU Carbon Credit this season's model. LOL. Just started boarding this January at 26, got hooked. I love the board and basically used this forum to figure out what to buy .


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## Casual (Feb 9, 2011)

I see someone else started on the same thing as me! haha. 1988 I was 11. Black Snow Legend. Pretty much same deal, spent about 2 years hitting the same jump on a small toboggan hill a few blocks from my house and at 13 I got a Burton Air and a pass at the local hill.


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## vltsai (Jan 20, 2011)

5150 with "GOT RICE" on the nose and tail. It was from my cousin, it was stiff, and it was pretty damn fast for what it was. Learned on that and then switched to a Lib Tech Phoenix as soon as I was good enough to tell the difference.


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## jdang307 (Feb 6, 2011)

2009-2010 wife who lived in Davis and went to Tahoe all the time, scores a killer deal (due to a Sams Club glitch) to Denver Co. Less than $100 pp, for flights and hotel. Score.

So I buy that board because it was less than $100 at a store that was no longer going to sell snowboarding stuff. That and a pair of Technine MFM pro bindings.

Did not know I was buying snowboarding hoodsta shit :laugh:

Went to Keystone, forced myself down their green runs without any training or knowledge. Managed to ride a little and forced myself down when I needed to stop.


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## poutanen (Dec 22, 2011)

Skied from 5-11 or so. In grade 6 my school had 4 field trips to the local hill, rentals and lessons included. No discount for having skis already, so I tried boarding. Never looked back! That was in '92, and I bought this shortly after...

Kemper Freestyle, despite the "freestyle" name this thing was narrow, stiff and heavily cambered with kevlar in the core. I wish they still built boards like this.


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## Clayton Bigsby (Oct 23, 2012)

My first "snowboard", was an 8th grade woodshop project in 1979, that I rode down a hill across the street in the cemetery, but as for my first purchased board it was a Burton Performer 150, with the first pair of Burton boots, that were basically a light weight hiking boot. The next year we started riding with Sorels, I remember in 85'ish I went to a local ski shop in Everett Wa and asked them if they sell ski boot bladders, he said "as a matter of fact we have a mini storage shed across the street that is full of them and we dont know what to do with them", the storage shed was filled from floor to ceiling and I ended up buying several pairs and letting all of my friends know. I can still hear the guy asking me what I wanted them for, if only I thought to make snowboard boots with bladders $$$$$$$$$$.

Like some of you have stated I wished I would have kept all of my boards, I see them on ebay all the time. I thought I'd name a few:
Burton performer
Sims FE1500
Sims Kidwell 1650 (x 3)
Sims 1710 blade
Burton Air
Burton Kelly Air (RIP, x 3)
" " Safari
" " PJ6 w/hardboots
Santa Cruz Beta 163
Santa Cruz 162
K2 Fatbob
Ride Jason Ford
Ride 164
Nitro Fusion
Nitro 170
Gnu Big Bas
LIB tech Emma peel (x 2)
" " Pacifier
" " TRS magne
Glissade big gun 175
Burton FISH (x 2)
and current ride, Burton Malolo
next board is a Barracuda 161 or the juice wagon 163, leaning towards the wagon (full camber)

I think that's all of them, that comes to more then one board per years riding, as for which ones stand out, the 1650 Kidwell was an incredible all around board at BAKER (an oldschool riding buddy of mine, still busts it out on deep days), the Ride Jason Ford was the first true twin I'd bought (great for the new school style of riding that was evolving) and last but not least the FISH/, need I say more.


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## Ungrateful (Mar 31, 2013)

CassMT said:


> i bought a Burton Backyard at a garage sale for $5...this was 1984. I lived in Peter's Twp Pennsylvania at the time. Other friends got into boarding too, we would ride the hills of the golf course that was thru the woods behind my house. Didn't think it was a big deal at the time, or that it would be the root of all that ive done, and many decisions i have made since. mainly about where i would go apon leaving home, where i would eventually live, etc...lots more to tell of my bizarre path to MT, but i'll save that to see if anyone else chimes in here...


Hah, I'm from Washington PA, crazy that of all places a fellow south-western PA native.


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## mojo maestro (Jan 6, 2009)

Sudden_Death said:


> This is my first board, a Black Snow Legend. I got the board Christmas of 88 but before that my friends and I would stand on toboggans or take the trucks off our skateboards and staple crazy carpets to the bottom. I didn't get a board with steel edges for a couple more years but it didn't matter since we'd just hike and straighline the same jump on a 20 ft hill the entire day.
> 
> Edit; Took me a few weeks before I realized you could switch the bindings around to ride it goofy. 25 years later and I finally did my first full switch run this year.


Grasshopper blackbelt?


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## CassMT (Mar 14, 2013)

black snow! i forgot about those...werent they just molded all in one piece of plastic, base and all? the ones with big indentations in the base for the binding hardware, as if a flat base did not matter?


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## CassMT (Mar 14, 2013)

Ungrateful said:


> Hah, I'm from Washington PA, crazy that of all places a fellow south-western PA native.


wattup washington! haha...skating was def pretty big in that area for some reason


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## Sudden_Death (Mar 23, 2011)

mojo maestro said:


> Grasshopper blackbelt?


Nah, Karate Kid inspired Christmas PJs.


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## mojo maestro (Jan 6, 2009)

Sudden_Death said:


> Nah, Karate Kid inspired Christmas PJs.


Awesome pic....smile is priceless!


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## poutanen (Dec 22, 2011)

CassMT said:


> black snow! i forgot about those...werent they just molded all in one piece of plastic, base and all? the ones with big indentations in the base for the binding hardware, as if a flat base did not matter?


Yeah I had one of those... Even tried taking it to a local ski hill near my dads cottage. Realized pretty quickly that no metal edges make for some pretty crappy boarding!


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## timmytard (Mar 19, 2009)

Basti said:


> My first board was a Sims Salasnek. The iconic one with the skate trucks. I'm still beating myself up for selling it


This is a wicked thread:thumbsup:
I just picked up one of those & a few more not too long ago.


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## SimonB (Oct 13, 2010)

Very first board was Black Snow Mogul Monster 125 (blue one)










Got it for X-Mas around 1988. Used it all around the neighborhood's hills. Had no idea that snowboarding was an actual sports and that you could do it at ski resorts.

Then I got a Black Snow Edge 145 (with edges, as the name implies). I took that one to the local ski resort...










My first "real" snowboard was a Sims Switchblade 163 (1988). Bought that from a friend who was something like 5'2", 100 lbs ...










Note: photos are not from my actual boards.

After that I got:

1993 K2 HC 156 (stolen)
1993 Burton 6.1 (snapped, warrantied)
1994 Burton 6.1
1995 K2 Tricky 146 (base delam'ed, warrantied)
1995 K2 Daniel Franck
1997 Limited 151
- 10 years break -
2011 Nitro Addict 159W
2012 NS Proto CTX 160


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## Deacon (Mar 2, 2013)

i dig this thread! Cass, your story is awesome.

Sadly, my first board is the one I've just retired. '07 K2 Union 164w. Nice board, just too big for me.


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## CassMT (Mar 14, 2013)

but wait, there's more....!

so i'm in Bend, bachelor season is winding down, its August or early Sept. I had left my van back east, and my brother gets the idea to roadtrip out to OR with some college friends and fly back on the other half of my ticket...awesome, i wouldd have my van out here. I had everything lined up to go back to Stowe and teach again, giving me months or so to get back cross country. So it all worked, got my van and started heading east....of course i had heard the tales of Jackson Hole, and even though it was summer i wanted to check it out...so i'm in the parking lot of Jackon and...the linkage falls out of my van, and,,,i ended up staying 4 years, lol....october rolls around and i'm trying to scrape money together to get back to VT, and suddenly i though why the F am i trying to leave the greatest mountain in the US with winter coming on, haha

great to see all these old boards, brings back some great memories!


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## EastCoastChris (Feb 24, 2013)

The first board I ever rode was a 1993 Burton Air 5.1. 
My brother took me snowboarding the first time and he's not a great teacher...nor was he super tolerant of his little sister hanging around. He took me to the top of Whiffletree quad at Sugarloaf and was like ok...lets snowboard down. Its a green yes..but not the bunny hill. I skied so I was ok with the speed of pointing downhill. But I had no idea how to turn or stop. So I bailed and broke my wrist. In hindsight it was pretty dumb. 

I wrapped the cast in a garbage bag a d skiied for 6 more weeks. As soon as it was off I took myself to the bunny hill and learned to turn and stop!

The first board I bought with my own money was the 1995 (or 96 maybe?) Rossignol Recycler 152...heavy, narrow, directional full camber all mountain board that I rode the shit out of for like 12 years. I loved that board.


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## duh (Sep 7, 2011)

We moved to a little town near Mammoth in 84. For my 14th birthday that year my dad took me out cross country skiing to share one of his favorite activities with me. I quickly realized that those things were not for me. About a mile from the trailhead we ran across a couple of guys who had a Sims and they were hiking a 50 foot section of hillside. I was instantly intrigued, ditched the skis and spent the rest of the day hiking that little hillside. We rode that same board for the next 2 years scouting out little zones we could build tiny little jumps on. Just kids goofing off. 

Around 86, Ron McCoy, of the Mammoth Mountain McCoys returned from Colorado with a love for snowboarding and the ability to get the green light. June Mountain opened to snowboarding the next season. The board we were riding sucked on the groomers at June so we stayed in our little zones. Until one day my friend who skated for Body Glove got a box in the mail containing "the next new fad that we think you need to check out." A pretty new Sims. That board was our ticket to June, everyone I knew rode that poor thing. Over the next few years we all got our own boards as we found the right deals. 

The first board that I personally owned was a bright yellow Barfoot. That was also the board that changed my life. I graduated from high school the spring that Mammoth opened up for snowboarders and the rest is history for me. Worked the dream job path for them during the ninetees teaching snowboarding for years, followed by a few years getting the Unbound park up and rolling. I raced a little in those early years too, that was my foot in the door to my current industry ties.

Boards I've spent time on over the years:

Barfoot freestyle TwinTip, 161 yellow and green

Burton- Woody, Elite, Mystery Air (original), Air (90, 91, 93), PJ 6 and 7, Custom 59 (96), Custom 64 (97), Triumph 64 (04)

Sims- Switchblade, Noah (skatedeck), Noah's Ark, Aaron Vincent (polar bears)

Kemper- Freestyle (90), Screamer (91)

F2 Speedster 54, 60?

Gnu- Pharoah (89?, 94, 95), 11up (06), KFC, Riders Choice (JLA tombstone)

Lib Tech- Emma Peel (many), Cummins (Rad Rick, 04, 09), Lynn (too many), Dark (04, 05, 06, 08), Trice (all), Trice HP (all), Grocer x3, Doughboy, Doughboy Shredder, Dave Lee, Whitlake, Attack Banana (blue and red), Skate Banana (07), TRS (03, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09) Emmagator (too many), have a Birdman 180 but I haven't had the right day for it yet.

There are a heck of a lot more boards I've ridden while working for different design teams, but those boards were rarely ever boards I would ride on a personal day, so they don't count. I take A LOT of personal days.


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## BigAL (Feb 19, 2013)

I didn't have the luxury of having a legit board growing up, but when I was 5 my parents got me some generic-walmart-poor-white-trash board with no bindings (to this day I still can't find the original maker), so for years I would go to this park down the street from my house 75-100 vert and ride down as long as I could without bindings, boots, or a helmet. My first board was a Nidecker Axis 165







I bought when I was 16 and got some used K2 cinch bindings. Never got to use it on an actual resort mountain but trained days on end with just a small hill. I finally got to ride real runs in 2010. Ah the bruises and tired legs bring up so many memories.


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## jayb (Oct 9, 2008)

Guys, I am loving this thread so here goes.

The winter of 94-95 I was 15 My uncle was in the marines posted in Hawaii of all places, he started surfing. He came home for leave that winter and wanted to surf and obliviously could not in NY so he took me and my 2 other cousins to our local hill. We rented shit gear, but had a great time. We went again the next day my cousins bailed, but I caught the bug. 

I picked up a 143 Green Burnt board that summer with shit bindings at Dicks of all places. I think I road it 3 times before it got passed down to all my friends to learn how to ride. I was working construction with my dad in the city and we drove passed a real board shop "Hardpact". I Made him stop as I just got paid He said "You got 10 Minutes Boy" If you knew him you would know he would have left me there. So I picked out a 148cm Joyride life support with joyride rain bindings. Think I paid $ 400.00 for all in less then 10 minutes. 3 years latter I picked up a new Never summer SL.

Fast forward almost 20 years. All my friends still ride with me that learned on that old Burnt board Even my wife and 5 year old son. My Uncle and my cousins all stopped after 2 or 3 seasons.


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## cbrenthus (Feb 12, 2014)

Great thread! I think I also had a black snow. It was in '88, all I remember was it was a red plastic board, with black velcro strap bindings. Took it to the sledding hill once, my dad tried to ride it like a sled and the binding broke off. 

Then my first board I rode on the slopes was in '90, and it was a blue w/pink lettering Look. I can't find any info or pics online of it. It cracked and de-lammed, so I threw it away and got a Nitro in '91/92 season. Just got a new board this week when my Nitro binding broke. 

Here's my story (warning - long!): http://www.snowboardingforum.com/we...401-new-member-my-memoir-lol.html#post1533657

Pics:


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## Justman1020 (Nov 21, 2011)

my first board, nothing special, a silent city 2...bought it from a pawn shop with bindings (silence city well) for 30$. resold it for 25$ later down the road.


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## CassMT (Mar 14, 2013)

i think i had that nitro, and still have those binding angles, *HI5* to the oldschool


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## cbrenthus (Feb 12, 2014)

CassMT said:


> i think i had that nitro, and still have those binding angles, *HI5* to the oldschool


Yeah, I'm debating on how to set up the lib-tech: so many options now!!! I'm thinking a bit wider stance, might do a slight forward angle on the rear like the Nitro to start, but carry a screwdriver with me in case I want to make an adjustment


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## Unkept Porpoise (Aug 15, 2013)

Had a 2000 or 2001 k2 kids board with a bee on the top sheet. Don't remember what it was called but I think I got it from sport check.


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## PalmerFreak (Jul 13, 2009)

Mine was a late 90's Burton Balance (I think it was a '99) that I bought on eBay because it looked cool. My snowboard riding buddy "guru" told me to get a board that came up to the tip of my nose - great. Bought a pair of Burton Ruler SI and Burton SI bindings and off I went to the local suicide hill to teach myself how to snowboard. Once I got the hang of things I went to our local resort with the "guru" and he turned me loose. I remember bumps and bruises in places that I never thought I'd have them. I stuck with it though and wouldn't trade it for the world.


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## TyBardy (Feb 7, 2014)

First board I purchased was a Rosignal Vintage (actually a pretty nice board). I cannot recal for the life of me what kind of bindings as they were the bottom of the line at the shop I was at. Some type of ratchet binding that quickly got replaced with a set of Flows. And I got hand me down Lamar boots that were too small for me (those were soooooooo bad). This was 2001 after about three years of renting boards and bindings. 

Basically, was going to keep renting equipment except I got a ton of money from my dad for christmas that year and my cousin worked at a local board shop in Sacramento so I was able to get a good deal on my first setup. Felt like a champ after that purchase. Still have the board... not the boots or bindings. 

I rode that Rosi for many years until I bought my next board, a Ride No. 4 in 2007.


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## vajohn (Jan 12, 2014)

Haha, I had a couple of those black snows back in the 80s before I got my first 'real' snowboard--a morrow multipro around 1990.


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## 107/234 Driver (Dec 11, 2013)

I'm loving the nostalgia in all the posts...

Christmas of 1991 my grandma got me a Kemper Rampage with Kemper bindings. Outstanding!! Till somebody stole it outside of West Village at Bachelor the following spring. Completely devastating.


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## Someoldguy (Jun 21, 2011)

Borrowed a neighbor's Burton Cruiser in 1988 and took a beating catching edges for 2 full days...the end of the 2nd day, the more experienced riders I went up with said "just think heel edge - flat base - then toe edge"...it all clicked for me and I was hooked. Bought a brand new Sims half pipe the following week. I was 17 at the time.

Moved up to Mount Hood that summer, first as a camper at the Chris Karol Snowboard camp (the only snowboard camp up there at the time, I think Windell's was in Whistler then). My Sims halfpipe was stolen from the lodge first month I was up there. Devastating to me, but was loaned a lot of different boards from the Gnu guys running the camp. After my camp sessions ended, rented a bunkbed in a room and got a job cleaning up the ski camper kids cabins.

The worst part was getting banned from the only store in Govt. camp my first week up there. Got drunk and did some stupid shit with Mike Ranquet and friends, tried to steal the store's sign or something dumb and got caught. Wasn't allowed back in the store all summer long. Had to get other people to go into the store to buy my cigarettes for me. I was one stupid kid back then.


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## stillz (Jan 5, 2010)

Great thread, glad someone dug it up! I learned how to surf in 2008 in Costa Rica and have been a board rider since. Good bye "real" world, you were boring. Came back to PA and ended up snowboarding and guiding whitewater. My first board was a 2008 Burton Blunt, though my first few days were spent on rental boards. Day 1 was a 9 hour catch-fest. By the end of it, I was so tired I was catching quick naps on the chair lift. But I was using both edges and usually getting the board to go where I wanted.


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## CassMT (Mar 14, 2013)

i want to surf so bad, thinking i'll take it up if ever my knees give out

keep em comin yall! doen't matter if you're og or started last week, everyone's got a tale to tell


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