“This is so easy—the board is strapped to your feet!”

–Nick Perata

It could be the best one-line description of a first day snowboarding ever. In 1983, California skaters Pat Solomon, Fred Stern and Nick Perata made their own snowboards on a two-by-four press. “We used seven plies of maple, just like we would do with skateboards,” said Perata. “The Burton Backhills were out there, but we couldn’t afford them.”

They cut seat belts out of a beater car for bindings. After a rare 2-foot snowstorm hit the San Gabriel Mountains above Los Angeles, they drove up from Pasadena to Mt. Waterman. The ski area wouldn’t let them on the lifts, so they hiked up next to the area. Everything worked out fine.

Four decades later snowboarding is still easy. In some ways, even easier. Gear has evolved. Lifts are faster. They don’t hate us. Snowmaking works now. Splitboards let you climb with lighter packs. Nobody grills you about leashes. If you already skateboard, surf, BMX, swim, ski, wakeboard, parasail, climb, hunt, walk dogs, run crab gear, plant crops or hang drywall, you can probably snowboard now without “getting in shape.”

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