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Ty Scott Page (May 30, 1958 - June 1, 2017) was a professional skateboarder and a leader in the skateboarding scene during "the golden era" of skateboarding in the early 1970s.
Ty Page grew up in Hermosa Beach, California, a frisbee throw away from the breakwater. Ty's sister, Kim, described the family's "endless summer" life: "My dad was a huge surfer so we grew up on boards. Sometimes when the surf was good he’d say, 'Don't go to school today. I'll write you a note and we'll go surfing.' I really believed there was no life east of the Pacific Coast Highway." [1] Every summer the family lived in a camper at San Onofre Surf Club, just south of San Clemente. Life was very active and outdoors, and Ty had natural athletic ability. His mother, Donna, has said that Ty could walk two city blocks on his hands at 4 years old. [2]
Ty began surfing at age 3 and won the national title in 1972. He was only 15 years old when he won second place at the U.S. Surfing Championships at Huntington Beach. Ty, along with fellow Makaha skateboarder Rusty Henderson, were also members of the Wave Trek Surf Team during the early 1970s. [3] Ty and his brother, Greg, both were active in aquatics at Redondo Union High School and both worked as lifeguards at the San Clemente beach. [4] When the Redondo breakwater was good, some say it was one of the best surfing locations in the South Bay. Ty and Greg were both avid surfers and displayed true talent when the breakwater was over eight feet. [5]
Ty was given a skateboard at the age of 4 by Greg when he received 3 boards one Christmas. [4] Ty later said, "I'm a surfer, and I guess I like skateboarding so much because it's very close to surfing. Surfing is harder than skateboarding, though. Every wave is different, and you have to start out fresh on each wave. With skateboarding, a hard surface is a hard surface. Once you get your balance on solid ground, you can go from there." [6] At first, he skated basic surf style, attempting anything that he and Bruce Logan made up. He began bank riding in 1969 and almost all of his freestyle maneuvers were original tricks. [7] After the introduction of the urethane wheel in 1972, Ty saw real potential in the sport as a career, so he focused primarily on skateboarding. [8]
He entered his first skateboarding competition in 1973 at the first Del Mar nationals. He says he was really nervous and couldn't eat for days before the competition. [7] However, in 1975, he was a contest veteran and placed second in the junior men's freestyle division. It was at this competition that the Z-Boys debuted on the skating circuit. This competition was highlighted in "Lords of Dogtown" in which Hollywood rewrote history according to Stacy Peralta's 2001 film about Santa Monica’s "Dogtown and Z-Boys." The movie suggested that Ty tried to change his skate style from freestyle to a more surf style, similar to the Z-Boys; however, Ty and Bruce Logan had been skating surf style with kick-turns and round-house slides as far back as 1964, before the Z-Boys began skating. [7]
Ty took first place at the Santa Barbara Skateboard Championships with long nose wheelies, headstands, and 360s. [5] He continued to push limits and went on to win many national competitions. He said, "One thing I'm into is I don't like to do anything that's easy. In all the tricks that I do, I don't do anything that’s easy. It's just boring; it's not a challenge. I'm just into the challenge of things." [7]
Ty was always attempting new stunts, aiming to go bigger and faster each time. He would create four new tricks for each show. Ty is credited with inventing over 50 new moves, including the Ty Slide, Ty Hop, Half-Hop, Pay Hop, Daffy (also known as a Yeah Right Manual), Head Spinner (also known as a 360 Headstand), Foot Spin, Foot-Spin 360, Toe Spin, Toe-Spin 360, and almost every backwards footwork maneuver. [7]
Unity Surfskate in Hermosa Beach made the first skateboard push by sponsoring Ty Page and putting out a popular, wooden kick-tail skateboard called the Ty Stix. [5] The second generation Makaha team of Ty Page, Bruce Logan, Rusty Henderson, Mike Purpus, and Torger Johnson was put together to promote the invention that changed skateboarding forever – the kicktail and double kicktail boards. [9] Some say the Makaha team was the best skateboarding team ever assembled. Mike Purpus said, "The reason the Z-Boys got more recognition was because they were loud and obnoxious, while the Makaha Team just skated great and went on quietly winning contests." [5] Ty later signed with California Free Former, the world's largest skateboard manufacturer. [10]
"Mr. Incredible," as he was known, placed first in dozens of major skateboarding competitions and has been the holder of numerous surfing and skateboarding titles. He was known not only as a freestyler, but also as a capable skateracer, bowl rider, pool rider, and as a giant and straight slalom skater.
Ty's multi-faceted, rapid-fire technique and footwork were nothing short of incredible. After trying many times to photograph his footwork, SkateBoarder magazine was forced to purchase a new $3,000 high-speed camera to catch him on film to publish in the August and September 1977 issues. [7] He appeared on the cover of many national and international magazines and was frequently featured in skateboarding magazines and journals as well as Newsweek and Sports Illustrated .
In addition, his line of skateboards was revolutionary in performance. The Ty Page Professional Skateboards were designed by Ty himself to be different from all other boards. The boards and Ty Page Black Gold wheels were heavily promoted by Blammo Gum and California Free Formers in every major newspaper in the country.
At the age of 17, Ty signed with Bill Riordan, an international sports promoter. In just a few years, Ty was earning over $100,000 a year on the skateboarding circuit. In the 1970s, skateboarding was the fastest growing sport in the country as evidenced by the 40 million skateboards sold and the multimillion-dollar support industry of protective gear and equipment that emerged. [11] Of the 200 professional skateboarders, only a few had that kind of success; he was a true superstar. In addition to prize money from competitions, Ty had major endorsement deals. Ty was paid $1 for every Ty Page Professional Skateboard that was sold, and he was paid for appearances, commercials, movie appearances, and to test new model boards. By the time he was 19 years old, he had an oceanfront apartment and a new Alfa Romeo Spider. [12]
In 1976, Ty performed in New York, and his exhibition attracted the kind of media coverage usually reserved for Muhammad Ali. Ty starred in several commercials, including Sunny Delight, Wendy's, and MG cars, and appeared in several movies. Ty was a U.S. Goodwill Ambassador and traveled around the world performing in exhibitions and safety demonstrations. In 1977, he was awarded the key to the city of New Orleans by the mayor. He was huge in Japan and went there two or three times, and he was also famous in Europe, especially Germany, Spain, France, and Italy. After two spectacular tours through Germany, Ty was featured as the centerfold in the November/December 1977 German issue of Skateboard, the first U.S. skater to be so honored.
In March 1978, the California Free Former team was featured in Cal Jam 2, skating to Aerosmith, Heart, Ted Nugent and others. Ty skated to the Latin rhythms of "Black Magic Woman" as Carlos Santana performed on stage. The show set a new record for the largest audience in the history of skateboarding – an estimated 300,000 – and was aired nationally on ABC. Ty's half-pipe skating was highlighted on the cover of Wild World of Skateboarding Magazine in July 1978. [13]
Ty Page was a leader in the 1970s skateboard world. He was a true professional with a genuine interest in promoting the sport in a positive manner. He performed at safety demonstrations and consistently recommended the use of safety equipment and emphasized not riding in the streets regardless of traffic. [4] He brought integrity to the sport and upheld an image that was good for skateboarding. [7] In 1998, he was inducted into the Thrasher Skateboard Hall of Fame. On May 13, 2016, Ty Page was inducted into the IASC Skateboarding Hall of Fame.
In 2015 Ty Page announced that he had brain cancer, an astrocytoma of a frontal lobe. He underwent chemotherapy and radiation, as well as alternative therapies. He died June 1, 2017. [14] He lived with his wife and three sons in Park City, Utah. He skateboarded and snowboarded once in a while, and surfed in Hawaii.
Skateboarding is an action sport that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry job, and a method of transportation. Originating in the United States, skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by many skateboarders throughout the years. A 2009 report found that the skateboarding market is worth an estimated $4.8 billion in annual revenue, with 11.08 million active skateboarders in the world. In 2016, it was announced that skateboarding would be represented at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, for both male and female teams.
Boardsports are active outdoor sports that are played with some sort of board as the primary equipment. These sports take place on a variety of terrains, from paved flat-ground and snow-covered hills to water and air. Most boardsports are considered action sports or extreme sports, and thus often appeal to youth. Some board sports were marginalized in the past. However, many board sports are gaining mainstream recognition, and with this recognition, they have enjoyed wider broadcast, sponsorship and inclusion in institutional sporting events, including the Olympic Games.
Dogtown and Z-Boys is a 2001 documentary film produced by Agi Orsi and directed by Stacy Peralta. The documentary explores the pioneering of the Zephyr skateboard team in the 1970s and the evolving sport of skateboarding. Using a mix of film of the Zephyr skateboard team (Z-Boys) shot in the 1970s by Craig Stecyk, along with contemporary interviews, the documentary tells the story of a group of teenage surfer/skateboarders and their influence on the history of skateboarding culture.
Stacy Douglas Peralta is an American film director and entrepreneur. He was previously a professional skateboarder and surfer with the Zephyr Competition Team, also known as the Z-Boys, from Venice, California.
Tony Alva is an American skateboarder, entrepreneur, and musician. He was a pioneer of vertical skateboarding and one of the original members of the Zephyr Competition Skateboarding Team, also known as the Z-Boys. The Transworld Skateboarding Magazine ranked him eighth in its list of the "30 Most Influential skateboarders" of all time.
Jay J. Adams was an American skateboarder. As a teen, he was the youngest member of the Zephyr Competition Skateboarding Team (Z-Boys). His spontaneous freestyle skateboarding style, inspired by ocean surfing, helped innovate and popularize modern skateboarding. His aggressive vertical tricks make him one of skateboarding's most influential stylists.
The Zephyr Competition Team were a group of American skateboarders in the mid-1970s from Santa Monica and Venice, California. Originally consisting of 12 members, the Z-boys were originally sponsored by the Jeff Ho Surfboards and Zephyr Productions surf and skate shop. Their innovative surfing-based style and aerial moves formed the foundations of contemporary vert and transition skateboarding. The story of the Z-Boys and the Zephyr shop have been popularized in feature films such as Lords of Dogtown and Dogtown and Z-Boys.
Lords of Dogtown is a 2005 American biographical drama film that captures the rise of skateboarding culture in 1970s Santa Monica and Venice, California. Directed by Catherine Hardwicke and written by Stacy Peralta, a key figure in the skateboarding community, the film chronicles the lives of the Z-Boys, a group of young skateboarders who revolutionized the sport with their aggressive style and innovative tricks. The story focuses on the lives of three of these skateboarders: Tony Alva, Stacy Peralta, and Jay Adams, as they navigate fame, rivalry, and personal challenges. The film explores the impact of commercialization on the sport and the lives of its practitioners. Despite mixed reviews and underperforming at the box office, it has gained a cult following and is recognized for its authentic portrayal of skateboarding culture and history.
Richard Lawrence "Larry" Stevenson was the inventor of the kicktail, the bent-upwards end of a skateboard, which made most of today's skateboarding tricks possible and essentially revolutionized the sport.
Craig R. Stecyk III is an American artist, writer, photojournalist, and filmmaker who has documented and influenced the surf, skate, and snowboarding cultures.
Riding Giants is a 2004 documentary film produced by Agi Orsi and directed and narrated by Stacy Peralta, a famous skater/surfer. The movie traces the origins of surfing and specifically focuses on the art of big wave riding. Some of the featured surfers are Greg Noll, Laird Hamilton, and Jeff Clark, and surfing pioneers such as Mickey Munoz.
Warren Edward Bolster was an American skateboard photographer during the mid-1970s rebirth of skateboarding.
A freestyle skateboarding trick is a trick performed with a skateboard while freestyle skateboarding. Some of these tricks are done in a stationary position, unlike many other skateboarding tricks. The keys to a good freestyle contest run are variety, difficulty, fluidity, and creativity. This is an incomplete list, which includes most notable tricks.
Peggy E. Oki is an American skateboarder, surfer, artist, and environmental activist. She was an original member of the Z-Boys and competed with the Zephyr Competition Team in the 1970s. She was the only female member of the Z-Boys.
Skip Engblom is an American entrepreneur and one of the co-founders of the Jeff Ho Surfboards and Zephyr Productions Surf Shop in Santa Monica, California. He also helped to create the Zephyr Surf Team and the Zephyr Competition Team, a.k.a. Z-Boys. Engblom was never a remarkable skateboarder himself but was a big influence to the Zephyr team.
Russell Wayne Howell is a professional skateboarder. While working towards his degree in physical education, Howell competed and won many freestyle skateboarding competitions throughout his skating career.
California Free Former was the world's largest skateboard manufacturer during the 1970s. From 1970 to 1981, it was owned by Rick Smith of ALS Industries with a business partner. They also held several licenses from Walt Disney, manufacturing roller skates and other Disney brand consumer products.
Juice Magazine, founded in 1993 in Wilmington, North Carolina, is a skateboarding, surfing and music publication, edited, owned and published by Terri Craft. It includes interviews by skate editor, Jim Murphy, and features editors: Steve Olson, Jay Adams, Dave Duncan, Christian Hosoi, Jim O'Mahoney, and surf editors Jeff Ho, Herbie Fletcher and Dibi Fletcher. The staff includes Terri Craft, editor and Dan Levy, assistant editor. Other interviewers include Jason Jessee, Jeff Ament, Chuck Dukowski, Bill Danforth and Chris Mearkle. There are currently 76 issues of the magazine. Juice Magazine headquarters is located in the birthplace of modern-day skateboarding, Venice, California.
Allen Sarlo is an American surfer, most prominently known as one of the original members of the Z-Boys surf and skateboarding team. Surfing Magazine recognized him as the first to "kill" a wave. The aggressive and slashing style of surfing he pioneered during the 1970's earned him the nickname "Wave Killer". He is considered by many as "The King of Malibu".
Reginald Barnes Jr., aka Reggie Barnes is a retired American professional freestyle skateboarder and the founder/CEO of Eastern Skateboard Supply, the largest skateboard wholesale company in North America. Known as a "virtuoso" teen amateur, Barnes skated professionally from 1980 to 1991, with the Pepsi-Cola Pro Skateboard Team, Walker Skateboards, and Dogtown Skateboards. By 1986, Barnes was one of the top five American freestyle skateboarders in the United States and was featured demonstrator at Expo 86, the world's fair held in Vancouver, Canada. He placed third in freestyle at the World Cup in 1987.
