Yesterday’s Snow Skate post with Archie was so unpopular that I decided to follow it up with more research just to spite you, the reading audience. These snow/ski/skateboard patents started showing up as applications in 1977. Curiously, I couldn’t find anything going back earlier that had a skateboard as the foundation. I would have expected something to show up around 1965 but no dice. We’re focused on snow, leaving ice for a later post. At least two of the patents I found are so similar to the finished products in yesterday’s post that they must have been filed by the inventor or manufacturers of those products. One surprise was finding a 1977 patent for the modern day snow skate, the kind with a skateboard deck attached to one small ski.

The cover of Archie #270 (published in April of 1978) features Archie predicting the invention of the Snow Skate, a product that would first be announced in 1979! I’ve seen ads for the 70’s version snow skates before, and I keep looking for them on my hard drive and online like it’s Groundhog Day. I wasted a good 30 minutes just now doing the same until, hold on, what’s this under a pile of crap on my desk? Oh yes, the February 1978 issue of Skateboarder Magazine, complete with an ad for the Snow Skate. That’s the one in the middle. The black and white version comes from Cal Streets. This post is going to cover some of the snow skates over the ages with the exception of the ones that are just a regular board, and those that have one ski mounted to the bottom.

Here’s two winter board sports products from the April/May 1979 issue of Skate magazine. Surprisingly, there were no ads for these products in this issue, just the product announcements. First up is a Snowboard from Elite. It’s 1979 and this is a far cry from what was right around the corner in the snowboarding industry, say 1982. This one looks like a Snurfer with the addition of a couple of very shallow surfboard-style fins on the bottom. Meanwhile, the Snow Skate is a set of 4 skis that strap on to your wheels.

Blades for skateboarding on ice were invented back in 1966, and you used to see some advertised in the 70’s and 80’s as we have covered extensively before. In 1996 Iceman Products, Inc out of Sonora, California filled a trademark for Iceman Blades. I’m guessing these were probably advertised in the skate mags too. How well did they sell? Probably not too well if there’s a guy in Arizona who allegedly has 1000 units left, which can be yours for around $22 each. If you want something more upscale, you can get Xtreme Ice Blades for $130 (!) – Thanks to Quee for the tip.

The Air Borne Freeskate was born in 1984 as a cheaper alternative to sailing in ice boats.  The reason this is on Skate and Annoy is because it appears that early models of the Freeskate may have been outfit with Indy  216’s. The sport is still going these days, but they don’t use skateboard trucks in commercial rigs anymore, although some DIY types have built there own using those extended mountain board trucks with the springs. I’ve seen videos of later model Freeskates that no longer used skateboard trucks as well.  This model is not a fluke however, as there appear to be several out there with this truck setup.  It’s kind of hard to find information about this board, as google turns up a lot of ice skating links. There are various groups that were at one time devoted to it, but most of the links seem to be defunct. These photos come from a guy asking $350 for his set up on Craigslist, Cape Cod. I pulled the date of the invention of the Freeskate from a February 12, 1984 New York Times article that unfortunately does not include archived photos. Freeskate appears to have become an all encompassing name for similar devices, in the same way that…

Costco has skateboards, and not just some schleppy pile on the shelves, they’ve got a nice display of Jaseboards, a brand from Hawaii that only appears to be available the website or at Costco for the time being. And because it’s winter time, they’re also carrying those snow runner wheel replacements. (See Railz) For the summertime they’ve got LED light up wheels from Puka, a brand that I can’t seem to find an online presence for. – Thanks to Stephen B for the photos.

Day 4 of 5 Days of Ohio (for no particular reason.) Public Square Group is part skateboard/skatepark advocacy, part community outreach, and part skateboarding support group. They are named after the Cleveland’s public plaza, a not-built-for-skateboarding spot that has a history in the scene dating back to the 80’s. They also run the Skate Kitchen, which until this year had been in an actual physical location with an indoor miniramp. The non-profit membership based model (with public hours) seems to have been replaced with pop up skate events while they look for a new space. Grindline recently finished Cleveland’s Crooked River Skatepark on the riverfront. Opening day was snowed in, Meanwhile, Broadway Skatepark in the Slavic Village neighborhood of Cleveland has already gone through early design presentations. Public Square Group is acting as the conduit for feedback. – Thanks to Dan Overfield for the tip. [Video Still: Share the River]

Two bits of reader mail, both from people with the intellect of a 12 year old, only one is actually from a kid and one is an adult. First up, this cartoon from Patrick, whom I think might be Grover’s nephew. The second allegedly comes from the holder of U.S. patent #5161810. For some reason he thinks I design and/or manufacture iceboards. He had this to say: Yo Wats up with you dis-n my iceskateboard! You should first know what the heck you are talking about before you comment negatively on another design. Or at least learn how to read a patent and understand mechanisms (oh thats right I forgot, you only like the pictures). These trucks are not at all like Stoker trucks, and they in no way behave like them either. Of course, I could tell you the differences, but why bother. I made ice blades similar to yours before I made mine, And I can guarantee that your design is lame during turns comparatively. John DeCesare Craftek Design LLC PS. you suk at photoshop What’s he talking about? I compared iceboard technologies and mentioned that his 1992 patent had trucks that were reminiscent of Stroker trucks. I…

It’s the Ice Surfer, the invention of Willard Gebien from Libertyvlle, Illinois. Debra Fischler sent in a picture of the device from 1966. An auction for a mint condition Ice Surfer showed up about a month ago, I sent it to Neil but I guess he forgot or wasn’t interested. I believe it went for about $150, I was tempted but I just don’t have the extra cash floating around. I’d never seen close up pictures of the actual Ice Surfer board before then, but when it rains, it pours. There’s another one on eBay right now. It’s well worn and slightly damaged, so the opening bid of $149 is pretty steep considering the condition. Peep some pics of the pristine version after the jump.

Yeah, that’s right. I read Woman’s Day all the time. I like to brush up on my jello recipes, kick-knacks and diets. You know, keeping it real. Imagine my joy and delight when I perused 8 Incredible Ice Sculptures, which included this photograph from Eugenio Franchi. There are skateboards made out of ice, and then there are skateboards made for riding on the ice. Almost a year ago I did a little digging around on the history of ice-boards. The daughter of Willard Gebien, one of the inventors wrote in to let us know she first ice-boarded in 1964. Debra Fischler had this to say: The winter of 1964 I was iceskate boarding. It was fun! My father is Willard Gebien… I only have one still picture on hand -1966 my dog riding the skate board, however my cousins may have home movies and pictures in their attic. Also, I remember the Ice Capades in Chicago used the board in their clown act. Catch the picture after the jump.