Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
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Keith McCord ReportingThe sport of snowboarding is very well known and accepted these days. It was a popular and exciting event once again at the Torino Olympics. But snowboarders had to earn their keep. Not long ago, they weren't even allowed on the ski hills.
It's amazing how high they can fly; the tricks they can do; and how fast they'll go-- all on a snowboard! Boarding became a medal event for the first time during the Salt Lake Olympics, and new events -- such as the Snowboard Cross -- were added in Torino. Boarding has certainly become mainstream!
But, we remembered a story we did 17-years ago, when the sport was in its infancy. Most ski resorts didn't allow boarders, so Chris Houston and Doug Longman -- high school seniors in 1989 - would climb a couple thousand feet up the mountainside across from Alta, through knee-deep snow, just to take a five-minute ride! They did it three or four times a week!
Chris Houston, Snowboarder: "We'd get out of school and throw our stuff in the back of a truck and head up the canyon, and see if we could get one run in before dark."
We tracked Chris Houston down recently. Now in his mid 30's, with three kids and one on the way, he still rides. He avidly watched the recent Olympic competition and attended the boarding events in 2002. He says he always knew that snowboarding would eventually catch on.
Chris Houston, Snowboarder: "We were excited about it because we were back there in the day when you riding basically on a plank of wood going down the hill. There wasn't much to the equipment."
Ski resorts were wary about boarders back then. Only a few would allow them on the slopes, and only on a few runs when they did.
Chris Houston: "We'd have to certify to show that we could control ourselves, that we could turn and stop."
Things have certainly changed! Chris is thrilled that he doesn't have to hoof-it up a steep hill anymore to take a ride, and, I won't either. Yep, to do that story 17-years ago, we had to hike up with them.
Chris says he's now teaching his six-year old son how to snowboard-- he's really glad they can now ride a chairlift.
