Muskegon Area Sports Hall of Fame - History of the Snurfer, Snurfing and the sport of Snowboarding

Snurfing 1979

Winner of the newly created Open Division, Jake Burton Carpenter, poses with his non-regulation "Burton Boards" manufactured in
Londonderry, VT.

January 30, 1979 - Bay Window Collegiate

A different bread of sport - Snurfing
January 28, 1979 - Muskegon Chronicle

A promotional poster for the 1979 competition.

In 1979, Labatt's brewery released a commercial focused on snurfing. Featuring Paul Graves, Mark Halseth, and Mark's wife, Jane, the commercial aired only in Canada

Click here watch the show.

An ad from the pages of Rolling Stone

The first edition of Snurfing News. Printed by the National Snurfing Association, this issue covers the 1979 Snurfing Nationals in Muskegon. According to a photo caption, Paul Graves, "premier Snurfing expert from Cheshire, CT...delighted the crowd by doing a full 360 turn while Snurfing downhill.

A photo in the issue states "Members of the film crew suit up far a day of shooting. Shots of the National Championship will appear in both the 1979 Snurfer T.V. commercial and a six minute Snurfing movie."

Promo video, filmed at what appears to be the 1979 National Championships.

Click here to watch the show.

Thanks Roger Pozeznik

Thanks Mark Halseth for preserving this issue!

Issue No 2 of Snurfing News carried the news that the Snurfer would soon make a national television appearance on NBC's Today Show in a "What's New" segment.

"NBC Sports is also reviewing some Snurfing film. The sport is now attracting international attention, and we feel it is only a matter of time until a major television network covers a Snurfing competition."

The December 1979 issue of Snurfer News. This was Volume 1, No 3. Note the Snurfing Events Calendar, reproduced below.

The calendar shows events scheduled for Marion, VA, Steamboat Springs, CO, Mt. Hood, OR, Jackson Hole, WY, Squaw Valley, CA and, of course, the 14th Annual National Snurfing Championships in Muskegon, MI.