About
BURTON

History of snowboard and BURTON

Snowboarding started in 1960s.It was first inveted for surfers and saketers to enjoy boardsports in the snowy maountain. Actually, it was called “snow surfing”for a while when it started. In 1977, Jake Burton established Burton Boards, which is now known as BURTON. This was the big event and snowboarding became a well-known sports all over the world.

In 1983, Japan SnowBoarding Association was established. Snowboaring became a popular sports because of several events, such as the bubble economy and the great hit of the movie “Take Me out to the Snowland”. In 1990s, more people enjoy snowboarding. Especially at the Nagano Olympics in 1998 was a turning point as snowboarding became an official Olympic sports. Jake, the history of snowboard, was born in New York, 1954. He enjoyed skiing and surfing. In 1977, he thought, “People can also enjoy surfing in the snowy mountains”. He made prototypes and try them in the snowy mountain again and again. And finally, he established “Burton Boards”. In 1990s, because the snowboarding became popular all over the world, BURTON also developed rapidly.

Since then, he made Step On™, anon, and many other products. He kept making products as a pioneer of snowboarding. After he passed away November 20th, 2019, BURTON releases innovate items, and the his passion for snowboarding still lives on.

Jake’s Berief and BURTON’s Purpose

Jake Burton was a “gear” geek, so he mostly try new gears by himeself. He checked the products and tried the products on the slope, and inproved the products again and again. He always released the products which he was satisfied with. Including the time he spent for checking, he went snowboarding 100 days a year. This is why snowboarders all over the world say, “BURTON has everything we need”. Even after Jake passed away, his passion has been passed on to the next generation.

Jake was a humorous person. He sent a message on the Halloween day, attached a picture he wore Halloween costume. He also sent unique presents to the staffs all over the world. Giving the finger means insult, but at BURTON, it is used just a frank greeting. We should never forget that Jake respected poeple, the planet, and sport. The purpose set in 2019 shows his respect.
FOR THE PEOPLE
FOR THE PLANET
FOR THE SPORT
It is normal to take childcare leave for staff in BURTON, which gradually become normal in Japan. From 2000s, BURTON started to achieve gende equality, and now half of the staff members are women. Of course, you cannot see any hiearachy, the staffs actively exchnage their opinion. This is the key to produce innovative products.

We actively participate in environmental preservation activities. To preserve snowy mountains, we have been re-evluated the materials or how to produce our products long before the word sustainable becomes a important idea. To develop carbon neutral and renewable energy, we make action towards political leaders, especially lobbying is active in the US. In addition, we promote snowboarding. We support snowboarders, also partner with free schools to fascinate people who never snowboard before. Our aim is not just for profit but also for people or environment. We want to preserve the planet, we want to improve working environment for our staffs, and we want to fascinate more people how wonderful snowboarding is. BURTON is attractive not just because our product but our company’s philosophy.

BURTON’s Eco-friendly Craftmanship

“No snowing.” Many of ski resorts have this problem. Climate chanage and the rising amount of carbon dioxide are some of the causes. And it will not stop if we do not care about it. If the global warming continues, we will be forced to give up our “playgrounds”. To save our precious places, BURTON has been continuing to work for eco-friendly craftmanship. Our aim is to be climate positive (to make the amount of grenhouse gas reduction larger than emission) by 2025. The clear goal is to cut 42% carbon dioxide emission from our company, and cut 55% carbon dioxide emmission from supply chain per product. Additionally, we use 100% of renewable energy for our facility in the US.

We also committed to the material we use. The cotton is pesticide-free and 100% organic. The wool and down are assured that no animals are unnecessarily harmed. Now, BURTON is surly achieving the human-, animal-, and eco-friendly craftmanship. We can be the one who encourage climate change, but at the same time we can be the one who make sustainable future. Choose BURTON’s eco-friendly products and enjoy eco-friendly snowboarding!