Jay Adams

The Z-boys changed skating forever.

In the early 1970′s, surfing and skateboarding were a far cry from the multi-billion dollar industries they are today. They were the realm of drop-outs and deadbeats, frowned upon by the establishment, and receiving scant attention from the media. It was against this backdrop that a group of boys, lead by surfboard manufacturers Jeff Ho and Skip Engblom, emerged from the surf in front of the rundown Pacific Ocean Amusement Park, commonly referred to as “Dogtown”, to change the face of skating forever.

In 1975, Jay Adams, Stacy Peralta, Tony Alva and the other members of the Jeff Ho Zephyr team, asked their benefactor to create a parallel skateboarding crew. The team trained relentlessly together in preparation for the Del Mar Nationals, the first major skateboarding competition to be held since the 1960′s. The Z-boys dominated the field, blowing away the competition with their revolutionary style, largely based on surfing techniques, and were rewarded with multiple podium spots.

The Z-boys had announced themselves, and took their style to the streets and schools of West Hollywood. During the LA drought for much of the 1970′s, there were an abundance of empty swimming pools. The Z-boys honed their surf-based skating style, riding the curved sides of the pools. They attracted a dedicated following – partying, trespassing, and gaining fame and notoriety amongst the skating media. They were heavily publicized by photo-journalist Craig Stecyk, who launched the crew to a wide audience through his articles in Skateboarder magazine.

It was in these drained pools of Los Angeles that the Z-boys invented their revolutionary aerial style. Tony Alva is credited as being the first of the crew to take his board airborne, far above the lip of the pool, and thereby changing skating forever. Their impact is still felt today; with the aerial style they developed still being the dominant form in skateboarding and surfing.

A young Tony Alva

As the fame and appeal of the Z-boys grew, it became increasingly difficult to keep them together. Ho and Engblom desperately searched for sponsors to keep their Zephyr team competitive, but failed in their efforts. Alva and Adams left for the rival Logan Earth Ski team, and one by one the crew disintegrated, until Zephyr disbanded altogether in 1976, a year after they had rocketed to stardom.

Founding Z-boy Tony Alva went on to become Professional Skateboarding’s first World Champion in 1977. He shunned corporate deals and opened his own skateboard company, being the first to develop a layered maple deck. He has since opened 2 skate shops in LA, and maintains his popularity to this day. Alva still holds pool sessions on a daily basis.

Stacy Peralta left the Z-boys to join rival sponsor Gordon and Smith. By age 19, he was the highest ranked Professional Skateboarder in the world. Stacy joined forces with Powell to form Powell-Peralta which developed the famous Bones Brigade. The Bones Brigade included “Tony Hawk”, “Christian Hosoi” and other future skateboarding superstars. He has since gone on to successful career directing films and television. His most notable efforts include the documentary “Dogtown and Z-boys”, chronicling the adventures of his skate crew. He also directed the big-wave surfing documentary, “Riding Giants”. Most recently Stacy completed “Bloods & Crips” A documentary of the LA gang scene.

Craig Stecyk and Stacy Peralta

Jay Adams is probably known as one of the most influential skaters of all time. But, Jay fell onto hard legal times. In 1982 he was convicted of assault for his part in the beating to death of a gay man. He served a prison sentence, and has struggled with drug problems in the decades since. He recently served a two year sentence for selling crystal meth. Jay was released during 2008 and has now married and appears to be putting his life back in order again.

the Zig

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