EXTREME SPORTS LEARN TO RIDE

Skateboarding was first started in
the 1950s, when all across Califor-
nia surfers got the idea of trying
to surf the streets. No one really
knows who made the first board -
- instead, it seems that several
people came up with similar ideas
at the same time. Several people
have claimed to have invented
the skateboard first, but nothing
can be proved, and skateboarding
remains a strange spontaneous
creation.
SKATE
These first skateboarders started
with wooden boxes or boards
with roller skate wheels slapped
on the bottom. Like you might
imagine, a lot of people got hurt
in skateboarding's early years! It
was a sport just being born and
discovered, so anything went. The
boxes turned into planks, and
eventually companies were pro-
ducing decks of pressed layers of
wood -- similar to the skateboard
decks of today. During this time,
1
skateboarding was seen as some-
thing to do for fun after surfing.
In 1963, skateboarding was at a
peak of popularity, and compa-
nies like Jack's, Hobie and Ma-
kaha started holding
skateboarding competitions. At
this time, skateboarding was
mostly either downhill slalom or
freestyle.
With the evolution of skateparks
and ramp skating, the skateboard
began to change. Early skate
tricks had consisted mainly of
two-dimensional freestyle mano-
euvres like riding on only two
wheels ("wheelie" or "manual"),
spinning only on the back wheels
(a "pivot"), high jumping over a
bar and landing on the board
again, also known as a "hippie
jump", long jumping from one
board to another, (often over
small barrels or fearless teena-
gers), or slalom. Another popular
trick was the Bertlemann slide,
named after Larry Bertelemann's
surfing manoeuvres.