Tom Sims

Tom Sims was an American athlete, inventor and entrepreneur who helped turn the snowboard from a backyard experiment into an industry. Born on December 6, 1950, he grew up in Haddonfield, New Jersey, where in seventh-grade wood shop in 1963 he and John Murray built what they called a skiboard, combining their two favorite sports, skiing and skateboarding. He became World Champion Skateboarder in 1975 and World Snowboarding Champion in 1983, and he founded SIMS Snowboards and SIMS Skateboards. He lived in Santa Barbara, California, from 1971 until his death, and he was the main snowboarding stunt double for Roger Moore in the 1985 James Bond film A View to a Kill. He died on September 12, 2012, at the age of 61.