On this date in 1998, snowboarding made its debut at the Winter Olympics. 10 things you might not know about snowboarding:
- The snowboard was invented in 1965 in Muskegon, Michigan, by a man called Sherman Poppen, who bolted two skis together and added a rope for steering; a new toy for his daughters to play with in the Snow.
- His wife originally called the new toy a “snurfer”, a portmanteau of surfing and snow. The idea caught on in Muskegon with a snurfing championship held there in 1968.
- By the early 1980s, snowboarding had become very popular with young people many of whom who also embraced pop culture in the form of punk and hip hop music. Needless to say the established Skiing community wasn’t impressed. Snowboarding was dismissed as a dangerous teen craze and was actually banned in US ski resorts. Stratton Mountain was the first to lift the ban in 1983.
- One of the first things a snowboarder learns is whether they are regular or goofy. Regular means you snowboard with your left foot forward and Goofy means you snowboard with your right foot forward.
- Snowboarders are often seen riding on things other than snow – metal rails, boxes, benches, concrete ledges, walls, vehicles, rocks and logs. This is called “jibbing”.
- Snowboarders are 50-70% more likely to get injured than skiers but are 3 times less likely to die in an accident. (one source I looked at said you were more likely to be killed by an angry cow while crossing a field than in a snowboarding accident!) The most common injuries include wrist sprains and broken arms and collar bones.
- The first snowboarding world cup was held in Zürs, Austria in 1985. Its first appearance at the Winter Olympic Games was in in Nagano, Japan, in 1998 and at the Paralympic Winter Games adaptive snowboarding was introduced at the Games in Sochi, Russia in 2014. The first person to win Olympic gold in snowboarding was Karine Ruby from France.
- The fastest speed reached on a snowboard is 125mph by Australian snowboarder Darren Powell at the French resort of Les Arcs in 1999. The record for the longest jump is 57 metres, set by Norwegian snowboarder Mads Johnson in 2005.
- The world’s largest snowboard can hold 20 people. It’s 10 meters long and 2.15 meters wide and was invented by Arnold Schinder.
- In 2017, 1,498 snowboarders at Sheregesh ski resort, Siberia, set a new world record for the most snowboarders to hit the slopes dressed in Bikinis.
Character Birthday
Firefox, aka Jason Warner. Middle child of Superwil and Electric Blue, he has fire based powers similar to those of Firebolt, and like Firebolt, works for the fire service. Growing up he found fame as one of the Warners Superhero Family and gained a significant fan following. Firebolt is his godfather and mentor, and as an adult, he joined the Freedom League. He appears in Tale of Two Sisters, Power of Love and Fire in Her Blood.
Fire in her Blood
Sent away to school to get her away from undesirable company, Agnes finds herself homesick and lonely. A brief connection with Jason Warner leads to the teenage crush to end all teenage crushes. Jason is barely aware Agnes exists, but she plans her whole future around him.
It is only when they meet again as adults that the connection becomes mutual; but before it can develop, Jason makes a discovery which rocks his entire world. He needs time alone, away from everyone, including Agnes. When Jason is finally ready to go back to his old life, Agnes has moved on and he cannot find her.
Agnes is now a single parent to the remarkable Seraphina. The Power League want to harness Seraphina's powers for evil before the Freedom League become aware of her. Agnes has no idea her new colleague and friend is a supervillain with his own agenda, and his willingness to babysit is not as innocent as she thinks. As Incendio starts teaching Seraphina to use her powers, the Freedom League intervene. Little do they know that they have found one of their own.
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