Jake Burton Carpenter, the godfather of snowboarding, has died from testicular cancer. After beating it in 2011, he told the Burton staff that his cancer had returned earlier this month.
Burton co-CEO John Lacy observed Carpenter’s passing in an email to the staff.
“It is with a very heavy heart that I share the news that Jake passed away peacefully last night surrounded by his family and loved ones as a result of complications from recurring cancer. He was our founder, the soul of snowboarding, the one who gave us the sport we all love so much.”
The CEO told employees that the best way to honor Carpenter’s life was by snowboarding.
“As a start of our celebration of Jake’s life, I’d encourage everyone to do what Jake would be doing tomorrow, and that’s riding. It’s opening day at Stowe, so consider taking some turns together, in celebration of Jake” he said.
Formed in 1977, Carpenter started Burton to help promote snowboarding and turn it into a global phenomenon. To date, Snowboarding has become so popular that it is now an Olympic sport.
“I had a vision there was a sport there, that it was more than just a sledding thing, which is all it was then,” Burton said in 2010. “We’re doing something that’s going to last here. It’s not like just hitting the lottery one day.”
