Ty Page

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.” 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.

He began bank riding in 1969 and almost all of his freestyle maneuvers were original tricks.

Ty, along with fellow Makaha skateboarder Rusty Henderson, were also members of the Wave Trek Surf Team during the early 1970s.

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.

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.

Ty was given a skateboard at the age of 4 by Greg when he received 3 boards one Christmas.

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.” At first, he skated basic surf style, attempting anything that he and Bruce Logan made up.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Ty took first place at the Santa Barbara Skateboard Championships with long nose wheelies, headstands, and 360s.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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."

Ty later signed with California Free Former, the world's largest skateboard manufacturer.