Snowboarding Community Celebrates Burton Founder & Underberg

Rheinberg, 10 March 2023 It's an unusual partnership, one that very few creative marketing brains might have dreamt up – and yet it's entirely authentic. During his many trips to Europe in the 1980s, Jake Burton Carpenter came to know and love the herbal bitter Underberg. To pay tribute to this passion of the legendary Burton founder, the world’s leading snowboard company from Vermont, approached the long-standing Rheinberg company to be a partner for an exclusive Burton “MINE77xUnderberg” snowboard that will be available for purchase on Burton.com on March 16th, 2023.

Just over 500 boards were produced of this limited-edition snowboard design from the premium line “MINE77” which Jake Burton Carpenter created himself before he passed away in 2019 and commemorates the Burton founding year 1977. The graphics on both sides of the Burton “MINE77xUNDERBERG” snowboard feature the iconic single portion Underberg bottle, the legendary herb truck and the green bottle tops – in homage to the visionary founder's love of Underberg. 

“Mine 77 is a brand within Burton that was Jake’s creative outlet in the later years of his life,” says George Burton Carpenter, Jake’s oldest son. “We continue to make products under the Mine 77 umbrella that honor his legacy. We collaborated with Underberg to make an extremely limited snowboard graphic because it was Jake’s favorite [digestif] to have after snowboarding. Those who rode with him were often treated to an Underberg after a long hike or a fun day on the hill.”

This shared [moment] grew in popularity throughout the Burton community over the years. And so this Underberg moment is one of the highlights on “A Day for Jake”: once a year, this year on 11th of March, the snowboarding community comes together to honor the “Godfather of Snowboarding”, who helped the sport gain acceptance at winter resorts and played a major role in making snowboarding an Olympic sport since 1998. Under the hashtag #RideOnJake, the legacy of Jake Burton Carpenter will be celebrated in around 50 locations in North America, Europe and Asia – and will be accompanied by an Underberg [moment].

The snowboard pioneer was a passionate “caps collector”

Jake was not only a fan of the Rheinberg herbal digestif, he also loved participating in Underberg`s “Tops & More” loyalty program where customers send in the bottle-tops of Underberg and trade them in for rewards. The exclusive snowboard is being offered as an exceptional prize. It will be given to seven collectors who send in a total of 1977 tops by March 31, 2023. “By adding a Burton board to the Underberg loyalty program a dream of Jake's come true. That's what the Burton team has assured us many times,” says Vera Donner-Sander, Brand Director at Semper idem Underberg AG.  

Recently, the President of the Board of Directors of Underberg and member of the Supervisory Board of Semper idem Underberg Dr Hubertine Underberg-Ruder talked to George Carpenter, who remembers his father's passion for collecting, during a double interview at the end of February. “The program “Tops&More” was definitely a part of his connection to Underberg. “Jake would invite a small group of people to go snowboarding with him. At the end of the day, he would share an Underberg with them and say, now ‘give me the caps back,” says George. When my dad passed away and we were going through his stuff, we found a big bag full of caps. So I think he could have gotten more souvenirs.”

Underberg-Ruder: Family business in the best sense of the word

Burton and Underberg – though it's an unusual combination at first glance, Hubertine Underberg-Ruder believes it's a natural fit. “Both companies have a way of following their convictions and not being swayed by the mainstream. We bring people together, make sure they have a good time. And we don't add any sugar to Underberg – that's something exceptional. What's more, both partners are family businesses in the best sense of the word. As a family, we have a pronounced sense of responsibility – for the company, for our products and for the whole Underberg team.”

These are values that Jake Burton Carpenter also stood for and his name continues to represent them to this day. That's one major reason why “A Day for Jake” enjoys great popularity year after year. When asked what Jake would’ve thought about the tradition of ‘A Day for Jake’, George said,  “My dad would’ve loved the fact that so many members of the snowboarding community come together every year in March to ride and have a good time. But he was also really humble, so I think he would’ve said, ‘Don't make a big deal about it,’ But we are anyways.” 

“Cheers for Jake!”: #RideOnJake

The full interview with Dr Hubertine Underberg-Ruder and George Carpenter is available here . The limited edition Burton “MINE77xUNDERBERG" snowboard and bindings can be ordered on burton.com starting March 16th, 2023.  

For more information on ‘A Day for Jake’ taking place on March 11, 2023, head to adayforjake.com.