It was located on the corner of 13th and College, adjacent to the University of Colorado campus. The shop carried surf boards, sex wax, board shorts, surfer magazines, and other surfing gear. The shop was a huge success, and they were very instrumental in sport promotion including, sponsoring teams for skateboarding and BMX trick riding, as well as a variety of other activities.

While becoming acquainted with the "in-land" surfer crowd, Richard mingled with the local skateboarders and became introduced to a sport he had never heard of before - snowboarding. At this time, snowboarders were banned from every slope imaginable. Richard found snowboarding incredibly exciting, and was entertained in its potential.

During this time, skateboard contests were frequent, however his customers started looking for something extra as a winter sport. Skateboarders started showing up with crudely manufactured, and in some cases home made, "snowboards". He thought that a contest would help the fledgling sport.

In 1981, Richard Christiansen made the unthinkable possible as he organized and produced the FIRST EVER snowboarding contest. Since snowboarding was seen as a joke and an invitation for trouble, Richard and the contest were shunned from virtually every mountain in Colorado. Finally, a small ski area in Leadville Colorado called Ski Cooper accepted this event and became the first to allow snowboarders on their slopes. The contest was named "King of the Mountain," and welcomed some of the most influential people in the sport, Jake Burton and Tom Sims. The contest was a huge success.

Richard then went on to produce action sport videos. The most well known documented the first snowboarding contest in history. The video is fittingly called "'Snowboarding's Holy Grail". This vintage footage captures the personalities and the beginning of what became a mainstream sport. No longer are snowboarders banned from the lift lines at "ski" resorts. Richard Christiansen, a man who brought the Pacific Ocean to the college streets of Boulder, Colorado also helped bring the excitement and thrills of snowboarding to the entire world.

After 25 years plus, Richard is still going strong. First On Board has produced not only a feature DVD about that first snowboard contest, but also "Curb Dogs" volume one and two have been remastered and released on DVD with bonus features not available on the original VHS format. Additionally, this past summer has seen the release of Richard's latest release, "Skateboardings Crown Jewel" which contains 1979 Hester Series contest footage from the Hi Roller Skatepark, in Boulder Colorado.

On this site you will find information about First On Board Products as well as projects that are in the works. If you have "Old School" footage of skateboarding, snow boarding, or BMX, or, if you participated in any of the events described here, we want to hear from you!

Please go to the contact page and drop us a line. If we like what you have, we may be able to include it in future projects.

We at First On Board know you'll enjoy watching our programs!

Jake Burton founder of Burton Snowboard CO with Richard Christiansen founder of the first snowboard competition