Craig’s Prototype Facility: The Birthplace of Snowboard Research & Development

Craig’s Prototype Facility is a 10,000-square-foot building that houses the best of Burton’s high-end, custom-built snowboard manufacturing machinery. Located on the Burton Snowboards campus in Burlington, Vermont, Craig’s Prototype Facility represents Burton’s continuing dedication to snowboard innovation, research, and development. Named after snowboarding legend Craig Kelly, the label is a nod to Craig’s skills, commitment, and passion.

Often referred to as the “Michael Jordan of Snowboarding,” Craig Kelly remains one of the most influential riders in the sport, even after his untimely death in an avalanche in January 2003. To ensure that Craig's memory lives on for future generations of riders, Jake Burton Carpenter named the facility after him when it first opened on January 13th, 2011.

In April 2024, Craig’s Prototype Facility celebrated its 13th anniversary. As part of the celebration, we sat down with some of the board builders who worked alongside Craig over the years and compiled everything that we could about the inner workings of the facility. Drop in and learn more about Craig, explore his deep connection to Burton, and take an inside look at the impact he has forever made on snowboard R&D.

Craig Kelly & Jake Burton Carpenter: A Match Made in Snowboarding Heaven

It’s impossible to talk about Craig’s Prototype Facility without first mentioning the friendship between Jake and Craig. Because truth be told, these two visionaries are inextricably connected to the birth of snowboard R&D and were drawn to one another because of their unwavering love for the sport.

It all started in 1977, when Jake founded Burton Snowboards out of his barn in Londonderry, Vermont. But Jake wasn’t just making snowboards at that time, he was also working to transform snowboarding from a backyard hobby to a world-class sport. At the time, Jake wore all the hats in the business: building snowboards, making sales calls, delivering boards to shops, and much more.

Fast-forward to the mid-1980s and snowboarding was steadily gaining legitimacy on slopes across North America. It was around this time that up-and-comer Craig Kelly competed in his first snowboarding competition, the Legendary Banked Slalom at Mount Baker. Craig’s smooth riding got the attention of Tom Sims and subsequently earned Craig a sponsorship with Sims Snowboards.

But where Craig’s initial deal with Sims arose from his success in competition, his eventual transition to Burton was largely influenced by Jake’s willingness to bring him into the fold as an innovator and collaborator. At Burton, Craig could be more than a team rider, his feedback would directly influence the development of snowboards, snowboard boots, and snowboard bindings. It’s important to note that a major part of Craig’s desire to provide feedback and help steer product design was rooted in his formal education as an engineer at the University of Washington.

After racking up four snowboarding world championship titles, Craig left the world of competition and followed his heart into the backcountry, where his pursuit was no longer the podium, but something more ethereal: powder. With Burton’s continued support, Craig charged into splitboarding and freeriding, working to become the first fully-certified Canadian Mountain Guide on a snowboard. He was also simultaneously laying the groundwork for professional big mountain riding, something that previously didn’t exist in the world of snowboarding. Tragically, while the backcountry let Craig live life to the fullest, it also led to his death in an avalanche in British Columbia, in 2003.

Today, we attribute much of Burton’s rider-driven product development strategy to Jake and Craig. And to honor Craig’s legacy of innovation and pursuit of the pure joy of riding, Jake chose to name Burton’s snowboard R&D lab after him. Craig’s Prototype Facility is an enduring monument to one of the greatest snowboarders to ever live. Ride on, Craig.

Pro tip: Want to learn more about Craig and how he shaped the sport of snowboarding? Check out Eric Blehm's book, The Darkest White.

A Brief History of Craig’s Prototyping Facility

Through the early 90's, Burton’s prototyping and Vermont-based snowboard manufacturing operated out of two entirely different locations, across town from each other. To increase productivity and streamline rider feedback integration, Jake saw a clear need to consolidate operations together under one roof. In 2009, that’s what we did. We combined and relocated these two separate departments into a single 10,000 square-foot building at the Burton Snowboards Global Headquarters in Burlington, Vermont.

When Jake sat down to figure out what to call the new facility, he looked back at Burton’s history of driving product development via rider feedback, which was a practice that Craig Kelly heavily influenced, and it only seemed right to put his name on the building.

Since 2009, Burton designers, engineers, and builders have worked together in the same building, using state-of-the-art machinery to innovate new snowboard technology and advance the sport that we all love. But perhaps the most incredible byproduct of Craig’s Prototype Facility is the speed at which snowboards come to life: it is now possible to hand-build an entire snowboard from scratch and get it on snow in under 24 hours for immediate testing.

Craig’s Prototype Facility: Departments & Staff

What does it take to manufacture the best snowboards and shape the future of our sport? At Craig’s, it’s a thoughtful combination of dedicated experts and purpose-built custom equipment. With a collective tenure of over 100 years designing and building snowboards, the Craig’s team knows how to git ‘er done.

Every part of the manufacturing process is accomplished in-house at Craig’s, from assembling the wood cores to printing the final graphics on the topsheets. And each department has a critical role in bringing your Burton gear to life.

Tooling/CNC/Machine Department: No matter what snowboard is being built at Craig’s, everything begins in the tooling/CNC/machine shop. It’s where parts are built, like snowboard molds and cavities for compressing laid-up parts. This department also assembles and shapes wood cores, bends sidewalls, makes spacers, steel edges, and anything else that's needed. CNC is also responsible for a whole range of other processes, like routing, sanding, and installing The Channel mounting hardware.

Layup/Press Department: Our snowboard builders masterfully assemble the various parts of Burton snowboards in the press department in a process that is referred to as lay-up. But this is much more involved than just following a set of instructions. Our experts must make sure that the tooling (molds and fixtures) is aligned correctly with the appropriate cavities that produce our various snowboard bends. They do this by interpreting the designer blueprint to set the tooling up properly. Once laid up, boards are placed into one of three heated pneumatic snowboard presses. Heat and pressure are applied, curing the epoxy that binds all of the layers together. After removing compressed snowboards from their molds, a rough trim is performed, and the snowboards can move on to our finishing department.

Finishing Department: Rough-trimmed snowboards come into the finishing department to get all the final touches needed to make them ready for riding. This includes grinding the tops and bases, as well as shaping, polishing, and prepping the board for any clear coating. The finishing department also utilizes a CNC bed mill to open up The Channel mounting system.

Graphics Department: The graphics department is where we manufacture the “skins” of the snowboard, including topsheets and bases. For example, Burton technicians transfer graphics using screen printing, assemble graphic die-cut bases, and even print directly on hardglass and other materials using a large format digital UV printer.

Rapid Prototyping Department: The rapid prototyping department is found inside Craig’s, but this team is primarily focused on developing other hardgoods, like snowboard bindings, ski & snowboard goggles, and helmets. Additionally, rapid prototyping supports snowboard manufacturing by producing custom parts for other machinery in the building. With multiple specialty 3D printers including SLA, SLS, FDM, Polyjet, and a variety of Lulzbot Taz printers, technicians can produce parts from a wide variety of materials that can then be taken on snow for testing as soon as they are completed.

Pro tip: We keep a stash of 3D printed souvenirs on-hand for tour groups.

Book a Tour of Craig’s Prototype Facility and See How Snowboards are Made

Reading about Craig’s is not nearly as interesting as seeing it in real life. Fortunately, Burton believes in sharing Craig’s with the world. With that said, in-person tours of Craig’s Prototype Facility are offered Monday through Thursday at 2pm ET, all week, all year. Have a full class of second-graders you want to bring in? Want to show your grandparents how snowboard building works? Just rolling solo and want to drop in? We’d love to have you.

Book a Tour of Craig’s Prototype Facility and see how Burton continues to innovate and bring rider-driven snowboarding to life every day.

Note that closed-toe shoes are required to tour Craig’s Prototype Facility.

Pro tip: Tour availability is based on several factors. If you’re planning to visit the area, please book your tour in advance to ensure that we’ve got a tour guide for you. Because you never know, we might be out riding.

What to Expect During a Tour of Craig’s Prototype Facility

Visitors who tour Craig’s Prototype Facility will begin their journey with a review of Burton’s history, vividly illustrated by our in-house museum of one-of-a-kind snowboarding memorabilia. Then, tours meander through the different departments of Craig’s, allowing visitors to get an up close and personal look at Burton’s snowboard building process. If you’re lucky, you can see expert builders working on soon-to-be-released snowboards.

Finally, no tour of Craig’s would be complete without stopping into the Burton Burlington Headquarters Flagship Store to see the latest and greatest gear Burton has to offer. Scoop up something small like a t-shirt or hat to remember your visit or go big and snag a new snowboard for the upcoming season.