Tom Sims RIP

On September 12 Tom Sims passed away of a heart attack at the age of 61. If you are not familiar with Tom or the Sims name he conceived of and created the first snowboard at the young age of just 13.

In 1969, he made an improved Snurfer due to his interest in surfing. He recounts this date and story in an interview in Surfer magazine in the 1970s.

Sims was the primary snowboarding stunt double for “007″ (Roger Moore) in the 1985 James Bond film A View to a Kill, although he does not appear in the final cut of the film which features another stunt rider. [ 2] Since 2006, the Sims Snowboards brand has been managed by Collective Licensing International, though Tom Sims is still very active in the company. Tom continues to be personally involved in the design and testing of the new snowboard and skateboard equipment being developed under the Sims brand.

Sims is credited with many of the most important innovations in both snowboarding and skateboarding including the first metal edged snowboard, the first snowboarding Half Pipe, the first freestyle snowboard, the first pro-model snowboard. Also Sims was credited with building and marketing the world’s first longboards for skateboarding in 1975. Not surprisingly, a young Tony Hawk rode Sims skateboards in the 1970s.

Thanks Tom.