OMS and Smith Optics Know Your History: Todd Richards

Last season, the OMS coaching staff decided that it was time for the kids to gain some proper knowledge on the legends of our sport who bootpacked the trail for the snowboarding and made it what it is today.  We deemed it “Know your History.”  In year two, we’re collaborating with Smith Optics and have left it up to their infamous TM Nate Farrell to dish out some og’er names for our kids to research, grow to know, and to ultimately develop a deeper and richer appreciation for the sport they all love. First up, Todd Richards written by OMS Snowboarder Bryce Langille (14')

Todd Richards was a snowboarder extraordinaire was born on December 28, 1969. He was born just in time, or he would be considered a 70’s kid. Todd Richards was born and raised in Paxton, Massachusetts.  He started snowboarding in 1986. He considers his second home to be Breckenridge, Colorado, where he started his snowboarding career. Todd Richards had started his snowboarding in 1986-87 season. By the time Todd Richards started riding in Compton he was a halfpipe rider. Todd Richard had won five out of seven half pipe competitions he entered. Todd Richards is most known for that he was the pioneer of the trick, “The Wet Cat. “ The Wet Cat is basically a mcwist 900 in the pipe that Richards came up with and was one of the raddest tricks at the time.  Knowing that you know he had a strong impact on the snowboarding movement.  He won his first big competition in 1997 where he won silver for Snowboard Half pipe World Championships where the event was held at Heavenly Mountain Resort. By this time, Todd Richards had a pro model from head to toe- just completely setup..

In 1998, he was a member of the US Olympic Half pipe Team and this was a part of his career that was a was a big upset and a even bigger upset. He was so favored in Half pipe and every odd was in his favor to win gold, but instead he fished in 16th place. After the 1998 Olympics he had an auto-biography called P3: Parks, Pipes, and Powder in 2003. Todd’s next big movement in snowboarding was when he started his own company, O-Matic. His two partners in the company were Snowboarders Andreas Wiig and Tara Dakides in the 2006-2007 Snowboarding Season. He then went on to have snowboarding webisodes that he called, “Todcasts,” for Quicksilver. He competes in the Winter X-Games and his last contribution to snowboarding is a movie called, “Me, Myself, and I.” It was released in 2009.  Todd continues to be the voice of the Xgames and other major snowboard events where he announces and his legacy and character in snowboarding will never be forgotten!