Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Achenbach, Ken
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Description area
Dates of existence
1960s
History
Ken Achenbach is widely considered as one of the forefathers of snowboarding. He grew up skateboarding and riding BMX, eventually turning attentions to the young sport of snowboarding. In the early 1980s, as a 16-year-old, he founded The Snoboard Shop in Calgary, Alberta, the first snowboard retail space in Canada. In the 1980s he rode for Barfoot, helping design the first twin tip snowboard along with Neil Daffern. He was a key contributor to International Snowboard Magazine (ISM), the world's first snowboarding magazine, and inspired the younger Whistler rider Devun Walsh. Along with others, he played a central role in establishing an organization providing qualifications to teach snowboarding, the Canadian Snowboard Instructors Alliance, first given the opportunity to teach at Sunshine Village resort in Alberta, then Lake Louise, then Norquay. Achenbach ran Camp of Champions on the Blackcomb Glacier in Whistler for 25 years, its last season being 2017. Camp of Champions graduates have nearly swept the podiums at the X-Games and each Winter Olympics since freestyle snowboarding was brought in as a sport. He also runs Powder Mountain Cat Skiing in Whistler.
Places
Calgary, AB
Sunshine Village, AB
Norquay, AB
Lake Louise, AB
Whistler, BC
Blackcomb Glacier
Legal status
Functions, occupations and activities
Professional Snowboarder
Snowboard Coach
Founder
Mandates/sources of authority
Internal structures/genealogy
General context
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Control area
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Dates of creation, revision and deletion
Revised November 2017.