What the thing is
A snowboard manufacturer founded in 1977. Not a sport, not a lifestyle brand, not a movement—first and foremost a maker of boards and bindings.
Burton is a privately owned manufacturer founded by Jake Burton Carpenter, making snowboards, bindings, boots, outerwear and accessories. He owned it until his death in 2019; his wife Donna Carpenter, active in the business since 1983, was named president in 2011 and CEO in 2015.
Where it came from
Londonderry, Vermont. A garage. Handmade. Polyurethane applied because proper equipment was unaffordable.
Dimitrije Milovich, an East Coast surfer and founder of the snowboard company Winterstick, was a co-founder, and their boards were inspired by the Snurfer, created in 1965 by Sherman Poppen. In 1978 the company moved to Manchester, Vermont.
What it gets right
It solved binding instability with the BB1’s rope-and-handle system. It made snowboarding physically possible on existing slopes.
Jake Burton campaigned for local ski resorts to open their lifts to riders. In 1982 Suicide Six, now Saskadena Six, in Pomfret, Vermont, was reportedly the first mountain to permit snowboarders, followed by Stratton Mountain and later Jay Peak and Stowe. When resorts began allowing snowboarders on lifts the public followed, and Burton became one of the main suppliers. In 1982 it marketed its product at the National Snowboarding Championships held at Suicide Six; in 1985 the event moved to Stratton and became the U.S. Open Snowboarding Championships, owned and operated by Burton, which helped legitimize the sport.
What it gets wrong
It displaced early snowboarders’ improvisational culture with standardised, proprietary hardware. Its later global expansion sidestepped accountability in supply chains.
Burton has also faced controversy. In 2008 Burton drew complaints over boards illustrated with self-mutilation and Playboy bunnies, and the Burton Love model was discontinued for the 2012 line. In 2010 it announced it would stop manufacturing in Vermont and move production to Austria, and it has since moved some production to China. In 2022 BBC News reported on its expansion in China and promotion of Xinjiang; its China lead said the company did not want to abandon the region despite allegations of human rights abuse.
Why it matters now
Because its 1982 campaign opened Suicide Six to snowboarders—the first documented resort access—and proved institutional gatekeeping could be broken by persistent, local pressure.
Burton is the second-largest snowboard manufacturer in the US, with products in over 4,348 stores worldwide. In 2013 Donna Carpenter estimated that it held 40 to 45% of a snowboarding market worth $236 million.
Is it worth your time
Yes—if you care how a garage-built prototype forced ski resorts to change their rules.
