Skateboarding is initially very basic and made up of small surfboards and metal wheels without bearings!
Therefore reserved for initiates who have a sense of balance
A business that goes well...!
It was in 1959 that Roller Derby released the first skateboard with technical innovations allowing enthusiasts to develop new movements and tricks.
Skateboarding continued its journey in the 1960s and became more and more popular on the east and west coasts of the United States until it became an object industrialized by the Patterson Forbes company.
The first ads appeared and the clothing industry became passionate about skateboarding and saw the birth of iconic brands like Vans in 1966 for example.
Another big step is the development of new board formats with Larry Stevenson, in particular, who invented the “kicktail”. A super versatile board with curved tips that offers new riding possibilities.
Beyond that, the first events and demonstrations of slalom and freestyle became more popular, attracting the first sponsors.
...But the bottom of the wave arrives quickly and skateboarding will remain chaotic for a long time!
At the end of the 60s, beginning of the 70s and shortly after the construction of the first skatepark in Arizona, skateboarding experienced a small death.
Indeed, the almost non-existent level of equipment and the poor quality of the wheels make it a fairly dangerous discipline that many cities prohibit. Only a few dedicated skateboarders keep the sport alive.
The evolution of equipment (Frank Nasworth's notably invented urethane wheels in 1972), the arrival of the discipline in Germany in the mid-70s and the Ollie (figure invented by Alan Gelfand in 1978) will relaunch skateboarding end of the 70s and give birth to street skateboarding.
In the mid-80s, and after another period of oblivion, skateboarding came back into the game!
A few skateboarders manage to earn a decent living and international competitions are set up. The video (in VHS of course ) also plays a major role and the discipline is established in the streets in which prominent skateboarders become as much in the media as baseball and football stars.
The 80s also saw the commercialization of everything related to the world of skateboarding. Entire stores are created and dedicated to skateboarding. Video cassettes, books, accessories, clothing, skateboarding is becoming a real way of life!
And it’s also the film Back to the Future and the famous skateboard of young Marty Mc Fly! Name of Zeus ;-)
In the 90s, the growing success of the hip-hop movement allowed skateboarding to experience a popular revival: very great skateboarders contributed to this notoriety like Tony Hawk, Mark Gonzales and Spike Jones.
Skateboarding is becoming more popular, skate lessons are starting to develop here and elsewhere, dozens of new tricks have been identified in just a few years and experimented with in the streets and skateparks.
Modern skateboarding is born!
Its appearance changed slightly with, in the 2000s, smaller or even tiny wheels. The boards are now called matches that skateboarders light on fire during big world events like “Street League”!
Everyone has their own style and the advent of the Internet helps to strengthen a community of enthusiasts who spend hours on the web watching trick videos.
Today the practice of skateboarding has expanded and transcribes a certain way of living, even of moving.
It is not uncommon to see people in street clothes strolling on a skateboard to go to work.
This democratization of skateboarding and its entry as an Olympic discipline in 2016 have deeply divided the skateboarding community. However, the market is growing again and innovations have multiplied in recent years!
There is no doubt that the history of skateboarding will experience new twists and turns! Let’s Ride!