Godfather of snowboarding Tom Sims dies at 61

London: Hailed as the godfather of snowboarding, Tom Sims who even stunt-doubled as James Bond on the slopes, passed away on Wednesday. He was 61.

According to his sister Margie Sims Kilinger, Sims died from a heart attack at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, California, the Daily Mail reported. Sims was a pioneer in both skateboarding and snowboarding, helping bring the latter to the masses by pushing ski resorts to embrace the little known sport in the 1980s. “He was the godfather of all board sports,” Michael Brooke, publisher of Concrete Wave Magazine, told the Los Angeles Times. “He literally helped build the professional skate industry, and he was one of the giants in the history of snowboarding,” he added. Sims is largely credited with inventing the first snowboard in 1963 during seventh grade wood shop class. Though he named it the “Skiboard.” He later went on to found Sims Skateboards in 1976 and a few years later Sims Snowboards. He also was the main snowboarding stunt double for Roger Moore in the 1985 Bond flick ‘A View to a Kill.’ ANI