Aug. 19, 1977 cover story: Skateboarding

 

Hot pursuit of the next Gusto cover story leads to another amusement park.  

Aug. 19, 1977

Skateboarding 

          All it takes to slide into America’s latest craze is to live in close proximity to someone too young in body or spirit to have any respect for the laws of gravity. Give them a piece of pavement and off they go, riding a device that for all practical purposes is a suicide machine. They make it look so simple.

          It’s estimated that 20 million have become hooked on the precarious joys of skateboarding since the boom began in California two years ago. That state is now paved over with skateboard parks, all full of rolling daredevils. There’s even talk of giving skateboarders observer status at the next Olympic Games.

          The components have been around for a long time. The Hawaiians fashioned the first surfboards in the 12th Century. An Englishman, Joseph Nerlin, came up with the original roller skate in 1760. The California surfers are credited with putting the two of them together a little more than a decade ago.

          That happy union inspired the nation’s first skateboard mania. Millions of them were sold, but all suffered from one fatal flaw. Roller skate wheels just didn’t stand up to the rigors of the street. Many a ‘60s skateboarder kissed the concrete because the steel wheels scrunched on a pebble or because the hard clay ones disintegrated on a turn.

          An enthusiast from California named Frank Nasworth revolutionized the pastime by attaching flexible polyurethane wheels to the boards four years ago. The plastic wheels made all the difference. They could maneuver. They didn’t break. And they didn’t stumble over stray bits of gravel.

          Before long, California kids were performing wild acts of bravado on San Francisco’s plunging hills and careening along on the endless flash flood viaducts around Los Angeles. San Diego passed ordinances forbidding skateboards on certain streets.

          In 1975, there were 150 skateboard manufacturers and their sales totaled $100 million. There were also 27,000 skateboard injuries that year. Scraped elbows and knees were the most common, but the casualty count also included broken arms, concussions and cracked skulls.

          “Last year was the first year it really caught on around here,” says Mike Pole, who sells skateboards ranging in price from $32 to $80 at the Ski Rack in Williamsville. “This year it’s just gone way out of sight. I ordered one $100 board and it didn’t come in. There’s so much demand that it’s hard to get stuff.”

          The ski shop sells skateboards for the same reason it sells bicycles and tennis equipment – skiers use them to stay in shape when the snow isn’t flying. Many of the techniques are the same, like turning by shifting weight from side to side.

          A skateboard can be acquired fully assembled or in parts. The board itself can be aluminum, plywood, solid wood or fiberglass, and measures 24, 27 or 30 inches in length. It also should flex. The wheels, which can run from $5 to $10 apiece, should be nothing else but urethane. And the steel and rubber-gasket suspension mechanism – the truck – should be chosen according to the weight, skill and ambitions of the rider.

          For simplicity’s sake, this reporter acquired a fully-assembled, ready-to-roll model – a bright yellow $45 plywood and fiberglass Hobie Hustler with racy striping and red plastic wheels. A good board, according to half a dozen youthful experts at Skateboard Park in Snyder’s Darien Lake.

          The skateboard course opened July 1 and aside from a similar setup in New Jersey, it’s the only one in the Northeast. Four hours on its 14 blacktop runs and concrete bowls can be had for $3 any time it isn’t raining. Wet pavement means the course is closed. It makes the board aquaplane.

          If the skateboarders look different at Snyder’s Darien Lake than they do on your street, it’s because they have to wear safety gear. It’s mandatory and it costs $1 to rent the full outfit – basketball knee and elbow pads, a plastic hockey helmet and a pair of leather gloves with reinforced palms. The footwear? Sneakers.

          Free skateboard lessons are given Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings and a class of about 10 grade-school boys are testing their new skills in the novice area as two of the four instructors return to the pro shop.

          Bruce Heine, 17, from Williamsville, was a ski instructor last winter at Kissing Bridge. Mark Michel, 16, is from Lancaster and has mastered that classic California stunt – wheeling down an empty swimming pool, careening up the wall on the deep end and giving a last-minute kick-turn to save himself from sailing straight into the trees. The kick-turn is what separates the beginners from the experts.

          “We’ve got some teams that come in here,” Bruce says, “and they’re really great. The Wee Willie Winkie team from Canada – they build their own jump-ramps and stuff – and they’ve got one guy who jumps five shopping carts.”

          Mark puts in that Bruce Walker, a Florida skateboard whiz who did demonstrations at Snyder’s Darien Lake earlier this summer, can jump a Volkswagen. The new issue of SkateBoarder magazine reports the development of elastic suspenders that hold the board to the feet during stunts, an advancement that will allow skateboarders to do practically every crazy thing a hot-dog skier can do.

          But first comes learning how to stay on the thing. To begin, Bruce advises, put the left foot over the front wheels and push the board around to get the feel of it. Sure, you can lead with your right foot, but those who do are called “goofyfooters.”

          Next comes the first ride. Down a slight incline. A couple tries ought to get both feet on the board. A couple more tries and both feet are almost in the proper parallel position. Balance counts too. Too much weight to the rear and it’s hello asphalt, goodbye skin. Or at least it would be if it wasn’t for the gloves and the pads.

          After that, it’s a matter of learning how to turn. Lean left to turn left, lean right to turn right. Once that’s mastered, you can go looking for someplace to celebrate that glorious feeling of freedom and flight that skateboarders are forever rhapsodizing about.

          Trouble is, the Buffalo area is short on hills and long on potholes. Spectacular runs are few and far between.

          The best location Bruce has found is somewhere in Cattaraugus County en route to Allegany State Park. It’s a little-traveled hillside, nice smooth blacktop and, best of all, it’s 2½ miles long. “It’s so long,” Bruce says, “that we have to have an extra guy to drive the car down to the bottom to pick us up.”

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IN THE PHOTO: The Gusto cover.

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FOOTNOTE: Still the early days of Darien Lake, before it became Fun Country with roller coasters, water slides and that huge Ferris wheel from the 1982 World’s Fair in Knoxville, Tenn. Meanwhile, I have not taken another ride on my skateboard, but if I ever get the notion, it's waiting in the attic.