A vintage photo suddenly appeared on Social media, it was history calling me up from the past. Reminding me of the good old school snowboard days. The photo itself does not look epic, but it certainly is. At a first glimpse, a couple of random snowboarders buckling up for a ride and some skiers watching from the side. 40 years ago.

It’s said that a picture is worth more than a thousand words

In this case, no. To grasp the multitude of this one, we need at least a thousand words.

Let’s take a closer look at this picture. This is January 1986. Taken in Tottbacken, Åre. Five old school snowboarders, all with fresh out-of-the-box Burton’s on their feet.

Sitting in front, two guys fully dressed in Burton gear. The boards under their feet are the legendary Cruiser 165.

This is the first generation Burton board with highback bindings, P-tex base and full steel edges.

Manufactured at Keil ski factory in Uttendorf Austria. Three other boards are also shown, Burton Performer Elite 150 from the same origin. Old School snowboard indeed.

The white snowboard boots are actually just Sorel winter boots with an alpine ski boot liner inside. With the Burton brand sewn on.

Who are these guys? And why was this picture even taken?

The photographer, Mats Paulsson, just happened to pass by on his skis at this very moment.

Mats, who had just picked up backcountry snowboarding, was surprised to find a bunch of snowboarders on the slope. As this was unknown in Åre until that day. The snowboarding he knew was strictly backcountry.

You know, homemade fishtail boards, a footstrap as a binding and no steel edges.

Impossible to ride in the slopes

Mats, carrying his camera with him, had the presence of mind enough to catch the moment in front of him. Without knowing it, he documented snowboard history.

Sitting on the right in the blue Rocky mountain jacket is Vilhem Boberg. “Ville”, born and raised in the nearby ski resort, Trillevallen. He was one of the pioneers of backcountry snowboarding in Sweden at that time.

He constructed his own snowboards at the workshop back home.

The skier in front of “Ville” in the red Rocky Mountain is his older brother, Fredrik Boberg. He is all up-to-date with legendary orange Lange XLR ski boots, mandatory duct-taped over the toes to prevent snow spraying in. + it looked professional to do so.

Noteworthy is that Fredrik is wearing full zipped ski pants. A sign to others that he is an initiated skier, as good as a pro.

Also present, another backcountry snowboarding pioneer, Fredrik Rosengren. He did also build his own boards, and he sold one of those to Mats. Shown in the left picture below.

The very last snowboard out of Fredrik’s production line is the one he rides in the picture below to the right. It had P-tex and steel edges. Still with the same fishtail shape. Meant for backcountry snowboarding only.

But why are these snowboarders in the Slope?

Well, the story is that a guy named Stefan Ekwall had a wholesale skateboard company called Two wheel service at this time. In 1985, he saw an advertisement for Burton snowboards in a skateboard magazine and contacted the owner, Jake Burton Carpenter.

Stefan with his company became the Swedish agency for Burton the same autumn.

Jake and his wife Donna, who had relocated from Vermont to Austria in 1985, decided to go to Sweden and Åre for a promotion tour. Stefan picked them up at the airport together with their team rider Mark Heingartner and drew them to Åre. The Burton’s are the ones all dressed up in red.

How do I know all this?

I was there, standing on the far right in the picture.

Ville Boberg, Fredrik Rosengren, and I, being the locals. We were asked to host them and show them around the mountain. And we did.

After showing them all the secret spots rideable with our homemade gear, the Burton’s were impressed not only by the snowboard terrain in Åre, but also with our homemade gear and riding as well. In the afternoon it was time for a demonstration, showing what a modern snowboard could do on a ski slope.

Jake and the team sat a slalom course and lent us their gear. And that is what’s going on in this picture. We are on-slope with snowboards for the very first time. No wonder there was a curiosity among the skiers. Riding snowboards with steel edges and high backs made for on-slope was a whole new ballgame for us.

Old school snowboards were strictly made for powder

Our normal riding style was much influenced by wave surfing. Leaning backwards, hang loose style. Until this day slopes were for skiers only. Not only did this kind of riding require a new type of gear. It required a different technic as well.

More weight on the front foot.

Sliding your back foot back and forth to turn.

We did not like it at first, it was not surf as we know it. So we kept on with our fishtails for another year. But this was the future of snowboarding. And the start of the global snowboard business as we know it. After this day, snowboarding exploded.

It was also the end of my ski racing carrier.

After this year, I was an all in snowboarder for the next 10 years. I did my first snowboard competition in 1989, winning the Swedish and Norwegian championships in 1990. I became a professional snowboarder. Traveling the world, being a part of developing the goods, gear and business that came along with this new sport. That’s another story to be told.