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the weeks that followed, Poppen tinkered—and his girls tested—several design variations. On March 17, 1966, he filed the Snurfer idea and name with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, describing his invention as relating “to a snow ski, and more particularly to a surf-type snow ski which is adapted to support both feet of a skier and to be easily maneuvered therefore without foot bindings, thereby providing a new snow sport which incorporates features of certain summer pastimes, namely surfboarding, [and] skateboarding. . . .” Poppen had just foretold the future of an entire subculture of recreationalists, athletes, professionals, and world champions—most of whom hadn’t even been born yet.
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Eric Blehm (The Darkest White: A Mountain Legend and the Avalanche That Took Him)