1984 Nationals

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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