Jake McFarlin adjusts his iPod’s earphones and secures the straps of his helmet. With one foot secure on the board he takes a glance over his shoulder, making a final check for oncoming traffic.

Returning his gaze forward, McFarlin pushes off and begins to roll down Union Drive. As he effortlessly slides over the pavement he begins to pick up speed, as well as an audience. Two cyclists stop their ride to watch, and, impressed exchange remarks on the scene. The passengers in a car look on in curiosity and turn as the boarder moves past them. No skateboard gets this much attention.

Lukas Schroeder, junior in open option-Liberal Arts and Sciences, stops McFarlin, sophomore in pre-business, on his way back up the hill to ask what he was riding. McFalin holds up the board and explains he was freebording.

At first glance, it looks like a skateboard, but no skateboard could curve the way McFarlin’s did. A few more questions are answered; the cyclists continue their ride, and so does the freebord club.

Backtrack a few months to the origins of the ISU Freebord Club. Being an avid snowboarder, McFarlin dealt with the challenge of participating in a winter only sport. Spring through autumn left him with only two options: Pick up another sport, or sit around and wait for the first big snow of the season. After growing tired of waiting, McFarlan started to search for the perfect off-season ride. A magazine ad led him to freebording, and yes, that’s how you spell it.

Based out of San Fransisco, Freebord Manufacturing is a growing business in the extreme sport market. Freebording combines the smooth ride of a snowboard with the wheels of a skateboard. A freebord incorporates the basic design of a skateboard with few additions. Along the center of each wheel’s axle a third wheel, know as the caster, sits slightly lower than the front and back outside wheels. With the ability to fully spin around, the caster, gives the freebord the ability to slide sideways unlike a skateboard.

“Freebording is as close to snowboarding without snow as you will ever find. It looks like a skateboard but rides like a snowboard,” said John Eaton, freshman in pre-business.

It only took a few videos of the sport, from www.freebord.com, to attract McFarlan’s attention, which soon spread to Eaton, his roommate. Together the two continued their research, only to be discouraged to find they were regionally isolated in their interest. Through more research the two eventually found a blog dedicated to the extreme sport, but only to find one other rider in the Midwest. But that was about to change.

The ISU Freebord Club began forming this past spring semester. At that point, two members strong, the challenge of recruitment posed the first challenge.

“From what we’ve heard, people don’t even know it exists,” McFarlin said. ”When you’re starting a club and nobody knows what it is, it’s hard to get people to commit.”

Freebording’s lack of exposure left the club at another disadvantage: finding a sponsor. After failed attempts to locate a sponsor, discouragement set in.

“We were scraping the bottom of the barrel. Thankfully, we talked to Student Activities at the MU,” Eaton said. The answer was simple: “Reach out to the similar clubs.”

The Skateboarding Club provided the necessary boost and the club was lead to Jim Coppoc, lecturer of English.

“I was approached a couple weeks ago and asked if I was interested in advising the club. I felt like the club was worthwhile, so I signed on. I’d heard the term and had a vague idea how the boards were set up, but beyond that I was completely inexperienced,” Coppoc said.

With their sponsor secured, the ISU Freebord Club finally began to take shape, and in the process became the nation’s first freebord club at the collegiate level. Currently, funding is being set up with the Government of the Student Body.

Recruitment has continued with the club hitting the streets, literally. Posters were made, but according to the group the best way to publicize is to go out and “bord” around campus. That ideology is seeing results.

“I saw a poster on campus and didn’t know what it was. I watched some videos and had to come check it out,” said Alton Smith, sophomore in pre-business. On his second day of riding, Smith was already carving down hills like a veteran, drawing an, “I can see that being a little tough,” from a passerby.

Another student, Joe McCulley, sophomore in art and design, also joined the club on its Saturday ride.

“I heard about freebording during the summer,” he said. “Never tried it.” Once given a board, McCulley was quickly picking up on the tricks of freebording.

ISU students aren’t the only ones taking notice of the club.

“We’re stoked that Jake and his friends have the initiative to start their own Freebording Club. It’s riders like them that are helping to spread the word and make a positive impact on the freebord community,” said Jessica Waight of Freebording Manufacturing.

Back at the Memorial Union, the freeborders are finishing up the day of successful riding, along with a greater success — just three hours of riding familiarized dozens of onlookers to freebording, fulfilling the biggest goal of the group.

“We get a lot of funny looks from people when they see what we’re doing,” McFarlin said. “If we stay near campus we may stumble across one person who likes what we’re doing.”

From those funny looks, the word is spreading and freebording has built a new unlikely demographic of central Iowans.