Top Old School Skaters Who Pioneered the Sport

Skateboarding started out in the late 50’s as a kid’s fad. A skateboard then was looked at as nothing but a kid’s toy like a yo-yo. They had clay wheels on them that made them more dangerous and a lot harder to ride. Any little crack could send you flying. Like any fad, the first wave of skateboarding was short-lived. No one skateboarded after it wasn’t cool anymore, it would be like if you still played with your old Bop-It. People would look at you funny.

Then came the 70’s. Surfing had stood the test of time but it was an outcast sport now. If you surfed in the 70’s, you were looked at as poor, uneducated and antisocial. Many of them were. It was an aggressive and territorial sport. You couldn’t just go surf wherever you wanted, the local surfers would probably beat you up.

In 1972, in a poor section of Los Angeles called Dogtown, two surfers, Jeff ho and Skip Engblom, opened up a surf shop that would be the hub to all the surfers in the area. They made and shaped their own boards, pioneering the modern innovative designs of surfboards we see today. Skip added aggressive graphics, inspired by local graffiti, not rainbows and soft colors on the mainstream surfboards at the time. They also started a surf team of all the best kids who grew up surfing everyday of their lives. These kids, known as the Zephyr Team, would go down in history.

The Zephyr team would surf in the mornings and then skateboard during the day when the waves were flat. The made their own skateboards out of plywood and old roller-skates. The would cut their decks into the shapes of mini surfboards and skate the concrete in the style and technique they would surf the waves. Just by doing this they were driving the sport forward. It was no longer a kid thing to do twirls on. It was now an aggressive activity you could get hurt on, and with those clay wheels, they always did.

But all of that changed in the early 70’s, when they started making skateboard wheels out of urethane (what they are made out of today). Now, people didn’t hit the pavement every time they rolled over a crack. It revolutionized the sport. It allowed the Z-boys to take skateboarding to the next level. They started the Zephyr Skate team and blew up the sport. It became massively popular again in America and around the world. Most of the Zephyr went on to fame and fortune paving the way for the next generation of skaters who took the sport even further. The list below is of the top old school skaters who pioneered the sport into what we see today.

Tony Alva

It’s argued that Tony Alva was the most talented skater on the Zephyr team. If he wasn’t the best he was most certainly the best looking/ ladies man of the group. He was the first of the team to reach mainstream success and he loved it. Alva started skateboarding and surfing when he was 10 years old. He was influenced by the hard aggressive surfing techniques that came out of Hawaii. Alva, along with the other Z-boys started skateboarding empty pools during a really bad drought in LA. Alva was the first skater of all time to do a frontside air, which is to jump out of the edge to the pool using your board. They got the amazing feat on a photograph and it’s said that this moment was the birth of modern skateboarding. Alva then went on to become a very talented vert skater (with many Z-boys) and was among the first skaters to get sponsorships and make a very good living off the sport. Alva became a superstar to say the least. In 1974, Alva designed the first Vans Off the Wall original skate shoe. In 1977, sick of being tied down to corporate companies, Alva went on to start his own skate company called Alva Skates and started making his own skateboard decks. The Transworld Skateboard Magazine ranked Alva as 8th on their list of “30 Most Influential Skateboarders of All Time.”

Stacy Peralta

Stacy Peralta was also one of the top dogs of the Zephyr Skate team. While most skateboarders were seen as partiers and rebels, Peralta was nice, clean cut and responsible. Maybe this had something to do with him being one of the older guys of the group. This led him to being easily the most entrepreneurial and financial successful out of the group. Peralta paved the way for how successful a skateboarder could become. He was just as talented at business as he was skating and surfing.

Peralta joined the Z-Boys when he was 15 years old and started going to competitions with them. When the competitions turned into vert ramp competitions, Peralta’s talent thrived. At the age of 19, he was the highest ranked professional skateboarder in the world.

He started a skate gear company with George Powell called Powell-Peralta, that became one of the premier skate companies. Peralta then started the Bones Brigade in 1978. It was a team of the best skaters of the next generation. This included Tony Hawk, Rodney Mullen, Steve Caballero, Danny Way, Lance Mountain, Bucky Lasek and many more. All of whom revolutionized the sport even more.

Peralta also became a filmmaker and started shooting “skate-videos” of the Bones Brigade. Skate videos would go onto become a staple for skate companies. Peralta also directed the documentaries; Dogtown and Z-boys, which is about the history of the Zephyr team, Riding Giants, which is about big wave surfing and Bones Brigade, An Autobiography, which is about the history of the Bones Brigade.

Jay Adams

Jay Adams was the youngest member of the Z-Boys but he is credited to having the most style. Adams was the main driving force in changing the skateboarding technique into a low, aggressive, surfing style, rather than an upright, gymnastics style. Adams was influenced greatly by the professional surfer Larry Bertlemann, who would drag his hands on the waves as he rode them. Adams was the reason the Z-Boys started a team. When he found out about the Bahne-Cadillac Del Mar Nationals in 1975, Adams was the first to sign up for the skate competition. Then all the other Z-Boys followed suit and they decided to join as a team. Adams ended up winning second place in the junior men’s competition, blowing the judges away with his new style, while everyone else was doing something totally different.

Like the other Z-Boys, Adams went professional. During his career he was sponsored by Nixon, Hurley, Black Flys, Abec 11 wheels, Z-Flex and Osiris shoes. Stacy Peralta once described Adams as “probably not the greatest skater of all time, But I can say without fear of being wrong that he is clearly the archetype of modern-day skateboarding.”

Adams struggled with dug abuse issues as he got older and was in and out of jail. When the documentary, Dogtown and Z-Boys came out in the early 2000’s, it boosted Adam’s profile and got him sponsorships again. In 2012, he was inducted into the skateboarding Hall of Fame. On August 15, 2014, Adams died of a heart attack. His funeral service was held at Venice Beach, surfers and skateboarders came across the world to pay their respects.

Christian Hosoi

Christian Hosoi starting skateboarding at 7 years old. He would skate at the Marina Del Rey skatepark with the old skate veterans; Shogo Kubo, Tony Alva, Stacy Peralta and Jay Adams. He became like a little brother to them. Christian’s father became the manager at the skatepark and allowed Christian to quit school and just work on his skateboard skills. When Christian was 13 he was sponsored by Powell-Peralta. They wouldn’t let him go pro because they felt he was too young. So, Christian left them and joined Dogtown Skateboards. But that company went out of business so finally Christian was able to go pro through Sims Skateboards at just 14 years old.

Christian Hosoi’s skating career took off and he became one of the best at competing in the vertical skateboarding competitions. This was where the skaters would ride half pipes and do huge tricks in the air. Christian was so good he got the nickname “Christ.” He invented the iconic tricks, the Christ Air and the Rocket Air. In 1984, he started his own company called Hosoi Skates and was on top of the world. He was regarded as one of the best vert skateboarders. He and Tony Hawk became rivals in the competitions. Most people like Hosoi more for his style and finesse. When street skating competitions began to become more popular in the late 1980’s, Christian excelled at that as well.

By the early 1990’s new street skaters were becoming the most popular skaters in the world. Christian’s fame started to dwindle. Big vert names like him were not getting the coverage they use to get in the 80’s. A recession hit the economy also and Christian was in financial trouble. He faced bankruptcy because he started a lot of companies that went bust. He also was growing addicted to drugs. In 2000, Christian was sent to prison for four years for having a large quantity of meth. He became a born-again Christian in prison and when he got out he joined a skateboarding Christian youth ministry. Now he is a pastor but still skates.

Steve Caballero

Steve Caballero is a 55 year old professional skateboarder and musician. He is known for pioneering and driving forward vertical skateboarding by inventing many complicated tricks. Steve began skating at 12 and competing by age 14. His first sponsor was the Campbell Skate Park. He entered the national skate competition in Escondido and place 5th in 1979. Stacy Peralta was at that same competition and asked Steve is he wanted to get sponsored by his company Powell-Peralta. Steve said yes and the next year he was officially a pro skater at 16 years old. The first innovative trick Steve invented was called the “caballerial”, which is fakie 360 aerial. It would be the first of many. He also invented the frontside boardslide, which has since become a classic trick.

By the late 80’s, Steve was winning both vert and street competitions. In 1987, he set the world record for highest jump out of a half pipe, which was 11 feet. Ten years later, a skater named Danny Way would beat that record. In 1999, Steve set the record for longest board slide down a 44 step handrail. Steve joined the Bones Brigade when they formed. His sponsors in his career include; Powell-Peralta, Bones Bearings, Bones Wheels, Vans, Independent Trucks, Protec helmets, Skullcandy, Tracker Trucks, Standard Trucks and Red Dragon. Steve is also a musician and has played in many punk bands, including; Odd Man Out, The Faction, Shovelhead and Soda. He plays bass and guitar.

Tony Hawk

Tony Hawk is a 51 year old professional skateboarder. He is considered by many experts to be the best skater that ever lived due to his talent. He is probably the most successful skateboarder to ever lived, having been featured in Hollywood movies, had 18 video games made based on him, even had rides in amusement parks inspired by his legacy. Hawk is best known for being one of the main pioneers and premiere vertical skateboarders in the sport. Hawk also thrived in street skateboarding but he was best at vert. Hawk went pro at just 14 years old, joined the Bones Brigade, then made his own skate company called Birdhouse. He was one of the top names in skateboarding merchandise and was the national championship for 12 years straight.

Hawk is also known for landing the first ever 900. A trick where the skater spins two and a half times. It was thought impossible then Hawk landed it in 1999. Since then others have done it and Hawk did it 2 more times. Also in ’99, the video game, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was released. It was so successful they went on to make 17 more for a franchise. In 2011, Transworld Skateboarding magazine labeled Tony Hawk as the second most influential skateboarder of all time.

Rodney Mullen

Rodney Mullen is a 53 year old professional skater, entrepreneur and public speaker. Rodney’s nickname is the “Godfather of Street Skateboarding,” due to his influential style and trick inventions to the sport. He is credited to inventing the kick flip, heel flip, impossible, 360 flip and above all the flat-ground ollie. He didn’t invent the ollie, which was invented in vert skating, he took it and modified it for flat ground.

Rodney began skateboarding when he was ten. His father didn’t like the sport so Rodney told him he’d quit after his first serious injury. Thankfully, that never occurred. Rodney was a bit shy and a recluse as a kid so he would just practice for hours a day skating in his garage. Since he was only practicing skating on the flat ground, Rodney gravitated towards free style skateboarding. At age 12, Rodney placed 5th in the free style competition at the US Open Championships in 1978. He got offered his first sponsorship there by Walker Skateboards. Two years later Rodney won the Oasis Pro competition. He met a young Tony Hawk there, before anyone had sponsored him. Rodney and Tony became really good friends and would later join Bones Brigade together. During the 80’s Rodney won 34 out of 35 pro competitions, becoming one of the best free style skaters alive.

As street skateboarding became the most popular event in skating, Rodney transitioned to it and brought his skills from free style. Rodney invented the flat ground ollie and most of the ollie and flip tricks everyone uses today. Rodney is credited having invented over 50 skateboard tricks. In 2011, Transworld magazine named him the 3rd most influential skateboarder of all time.

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