Burton snowboards

Burton Snowboards is a private snowboard-manufacturing company that was founded by Jake Burton Carpenter in 1977.The company specializes in products aimed at snowboarders, such as snowboards, bindings, boots, outerwear, and accessories. The company, whose flagship store is in Burlington, Vermont,is privately owned: by Jake Burton Carpenter (also known as Jake Burton), until his death in 2019, and by his wife, Donna Carpenter, who has been active in the business since 1983

Burton's first snowboard was the BB1, a narrow board consisting of bindings with a single webbing, rope, and handle attached to the nose.

The company began using a single channel mounting system on its 2008 models. In 2009, this system was installed on other snowboard lines. With this system, a binding system was created that was designed to give the rider more control and better board feel. This binding system, called EST® (Extra Sensory Technology), reduces weight by attaching the bindings to the board at the sides of the binding instead of in the middle, eliminating the middle base plate. The binding can be adjusted forward and backward according to the user's specific preferences.

WHERE IT ALL STARTED

There was a turning point in the history of our favorite sport, when Jake Burton went out on the slope with a strange projectile called a snurfer, unsuccessfully pitched, fell, broke his finger and decided that the design of the board, to put it mildly, was not perfect and it was urgent to take it into his own hands. . For understanding: then it was the 70th year. Freddie Mercury just met the members of the future Queen group, détente frowned in the Cold War, and in the northern states of America, all teenagers discovered a love to ride on snow-covered hills, standing on something remotely resembling a sled without skids.

Among those young men was Burton, a young student. Having lived for a long time on the Atlantic coast and moved with his family to Vermont, Jake dreamed of surfing. However, his parents did not take their son's hobby seriously and did not buy him a full-fledged surfboard. Jake had to limit himself to simple old “logs”, on which you could only catch waves while lying down. Along with this, young Burton was madly in love with snow and was a big fan of adventure (which, in fact, snowboarding is still).We don’t know what Burton was wrong with his studies, but he was expelled from senior years and he got a job. His duties included meeting with entrepreneurs, evaluating their business, and compiling reports for potential buyers. After some time, Jake, who was not distinguished by great diligence and perseverance, left this occupation as well. However, he had gained good experience and was already able to weigh the risks of starting his own business. So, using his grandmother's legacy, skills and an unstoppable idea to bring snurf to mind, in 1977 Jake Burton founded his own company.

For the first time, Burton releases boards with water ski bindings for about $40 each. Well, today, almost half a century later, Jake is still at the helm of Burton Snowboards, whose annual turnover is estimated at $ 250 million.

BURTON PRIVATE TECHNOLOGIES: DEFLECTIONS, CORE, EMBEDDING SYSTEM

Since the brand's inception, Burton and his new team have been playing with the shape and feel of the board. They keep changing curves and shapes, edges and cores. Sometimes, as a result of such experiments, the model is discontinued, and sometimes it lives for many years.

Burton now has six main types of camber that are used in different snowboard series: Camber and variations on the Camber + Rocker theme.

The classic Camber is the camber for Burton freestyle boards. Camber allows you to distribute your weight along the entire length of the edge, due to which the board “bites” into the slope better and “obeys” even on hard, icy sections. Camber also gives the board a powerful click (the ollie will be sky high!).

There is, however, a nuance. Camber requires a good level of riding from the rider - for beginners, the likelihood of falling due to too much board cutting into the snow is very high.

Burton is now the second largest snowboard manufacturer in the US and sells its products worldwide in more than 4,348 stores, 1,536 of which are in the US. In 2003, Burton allowed several Internet companies to sell Burton products over the Internet. For many years, Burton products were only available in local stores; but the company believed that an online presence would allow shoppers to have an alternative way to buy Burton products instead of turning to another brand.

Marketing and promotion

To attract rider interest, Burton Snowboards sponsors professional riders and events. The Burton-sponsored professional snowboard team includes Taylor Gold, Sean White, Jeremy Jones, Kazuhiro Kokubo, Terje Haakonsen, Ellery Hollingsworth, Kelly Clarke, Hanna Teter and Kevin Pearce. Burton avoids full sponsorship with Burton/Burton sister brands. For example, Nicholas Muller rides Burton bindings/boards with Nike boots/outerwear. Burton has been criticized for its choices regarding team members such as removing David Carrier Porcheron and other riders in 2008.

Burton sponsored the creation of organic terrain parks from rocks, stumps, and logs. These parks, known as "Stash", can be found in Northstar, California; Truckee, California; Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Killington Ski Resort, Vermont; Avoriaz, France; and The Remarkables, New Zealand.

Burton created the Chill program in 1995 to give children the opportunity to learn how to snowboard. The Chill worked with youth programs in the inner city to take children and teenagers to the local mountains to learn how to ride for six weeks. Burton Snowboards provides everything you need to get started: gear, lift tickets and instructions. Since its inception, Chill has provided more than 12,000 underprivileged children with the opportunity to learn how to snowboard. Due to controversy over the 2008 schedule and concerns about its impact on youth, the local beneficiary severed ties with Burton.

Burton created the Learn to Ride program in 1998. It was the only snowboard company that focused on teaching methods and equipment for beginners. Its goal was to give novice snowboarders the best possible initial snowboarding experience so they can continue snowboarding. Burton has partnered with the American Snowboard Instructors Association, the Canadian Snowboard Instructors Association and major resorts around the world.

In December 2016, Burton opened a pop-up store on Newbury Street in Boston.

Controversy

In January 2022, BBC News reported on Burton's expansion into China and highlighted the company's role in promoting Xinjiang as a winter sports destination (ahead of China's hosting the Winter Olympics). Craig Smith, the boss of the company's China subsidiary, told the BBC Burton didn't want to "divorce" itself from the region by refusing to do business there, despite allegations of human rights abuse, including genocide of the Uyghurs.

Allegations that the local Uyghur population of Xinjiang have been used as forced labor to pick cotton has also been observed to be at odds with Burton's membership of the Better Cotton Initiative - an industry body that aims to ensure the global cotton supply chain is free of forced labor.