<Tr> <Th> Paralympic </Th> <Td> 2014 </Td> </Tr> <P> Snowboarding is a recreational activity and Olympic and Paralympic sport that involves descending a snow - covered slope while standing on a snowboard attached to a rider's feet . </P> <P> The development of snowboarding was inspired by skateboarding, sledding, surfing and skiing . It was developed in the United States in the 1960s, became a Winter Olympic Sport at Nagano in 1998 and first featured in the Winter Paralympics at Sochi in 2014 . Its popularity (as measured by equipment sales) in the United States peaked in 2007 and has been in a decline since . </P> <P> Modern snowboarding began in 1965 when Sherman Poppen, an engineer in Muskegon, Michigan, invented a toy for his daughters by fastening two skis together and attaching a rope to one end so he would have some control as they stood on the board and glided downhill . Dubbed the "snurfer" (combining snow and surfer) by his wife Nancy, the toy proved so popular among his daughters' friends that Poppen licensed the idea to a manufacturer, Brunswick Corporation, that sold about a million snurfers over the next decade . And, in 1966 alone over half a million snurfers were sold . </P>

When did snow boarding become a olympic sport