Tom Sims
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Tom Sims, Born 1950, is a former World Snowboarding Champion (1983), World Champion Skateboarder (1975) and founder of Sims Snowboards and Sims Skateboards. He has been living in Santa Barbara, California since 1971.
In 1963, he made what he called a "Skiboard," for his seventh grade wood-shop class by combining his two favorite sports at that time, skiing and skateboarding, while in junior high at Haddonfield Central School in New Jersey.[1]
Sims was the primary snowboarding stunt double for "007" (Roger Moore) in the 1985 James Bond release, A View to a Kill.[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 pair of high-back bindings, the first snowboarding Half Pipe, the first freestyle snowboard, the first pro-model snowboard, the first women's 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.
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[edit] Team
The list of Sims team riders over the years is a who's who of boarding;
[edit] Sims Skateboard professional team
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[edit] Sims Snowboard professional team
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[edit] References
- ^ Atkin, Ross. A Man Who Helped Skiers Get on the Snowboard, Christian Science Monitor, February 11, 1998.
- ^ "Snowboarders Finally in Olympics, But Are Conforming Grudgingly", Salt Lake Tribune, February 8, 1998.
