In the Spring of 1984, on a long-closed hill in the backwoods of Vermont, snowboarders nationwide gathered for the American Snowboard Nationals. From a snowcat that only turned left to beer bottles entombed in the snow, late-night skate sessions and a small dose of early freestyle, it was a hint of the future of snowboarding. Former Senior Editor of International Snowboard Magazine Wiley Asher recalls a seminal moment in snowboard history.

When we pulled up the desolate side road off Route 30 and into the parking lot of Snow Valley, Vermont, there wasn’t even a banner acknowledging this was the 1984 National Snowboarding Contest. As the biggest—and only—snowboard event in the East this was a typical welcome for snowboarders at the time. Must be the right place.

We didn’t know it then, but we were joining a group of riders who would become some of the most influential people in the snowboard world. The contest would become one of the defining moments in these people’s careers–and in the history of snowboarding…

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