Family Life 

Ty Page grew up in Hermosa Beach, 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 6 and won the national title in 1970. He was only 12 years old when he won first place at the U.S. Surfing Championships at Huntington Beach, California. 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.[3] 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.[4]

Skateboarding

Ty was given a skateboard at the age of 4 by Greg when he received 3 boards one Christmas.[3] 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."[5] He skated basic surf style with kick-turns and round-house slides as far back as 1964, 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.[8] 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.[10]

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.[8] However, in 1975, he was a contest veteran and placed second in the junior men’s freestyle division. Ty took first place at the Santa Barbara Skateboard Championships with long nose wheelies, headstands, and 360s.[4] 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."[8]

Ty was always attempting new stunts and going bigger and faster each time. He would make up 4 new tricks per show. He is credited with inventing over 50 new moves, including the Ty Slide, Ty Hop (also called a Pop Shove-It), Half-Hop, Pay Hop, Daffy (also called a Yeah Right Manual), Head Spinner (also called 360 Headstand), Foot Spin, Foot-Spin 360, Toe Spin, Toe-Spin 360, and almost every backwards footwork maneuver.[8]

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. [4] 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 board.[11] Some argue that the Makaha team was the best skateboard team ever assembled.[4] Ty later signed with California Free Former, the world's largest skateboard manufacturer.[12]

The Big Time

At the age of 17, Ty signed with Bill Riordan, an international sports promoter. In just a few short 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.[6] Of the 200 professional skateboarders in the circuit, only a few had that level of success. 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.[7]

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 in 1977, Ty was featured as the centerfold in the German November/December issue of Skateboard, the first U.S. skater to be so honored.[13]

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 on May 19. Ty's half-pipe skating was highlighted on the cover of Wild World of Skateboarding Magazine in July 1978.[9]

The Legend

Ty Page was a leader in the 1970s skateboard world, "the golden era" of skateboarding. He was a true professional with a genuine interest in promoting the sport in a positive manner. In 1998, he was inducted into the Thrasher Skateboard Hall of Fame.

Ty Page now lives with wife and three sons in a ski town in the West. He snowboards once in a while and surfs in Hawaii. He still rips... the bigger the better.

References:

[1] Phillips, Steve. The Park Record, "One laugh at a time, Kim Page tickles people's funny spot," March 3, 2007.
[2] Caffrey, Jim. The Sun, "Riordan finds new protégé," May 2, 1976.
[3] Krikorian, Greg. The Dailey Breeze, "Skateboard artists talk safety on whirlwind tour," May 31, 1976.
[4] Purpus, Mike. Easy Reader, "Skate Town."
[5] Zagoriski, Edward J. Read Magazine, "Skateboarding is back for fast fun and frolic on wheels," March 31, 1976.
[6] McMillian, Penelope. Los Angeles Times. "Top Skateboarders Spin Their Slicks," Oct. 16, 1977.
[7] Gustkey, Earl. Los Angeles Times, "Skateboarding May Be Kids' Stuff, But it Pays," July 10, 1977.
[8] Bolster, Warren. SkateBoarder, "SkateBoarder Interview: Ty Page," Sept. 1977.
[9] Du Pre, Peter. Wild World of Skateboarding, "A Rock Music and Skateboarding Extravaganza!" July 1978.
[10] Wild World of Skateboarding, "'Mr. Incredible' Ty Page talks about what it takes to be one of the world's top ten skateboarders," Feb. 1978.
[11] Makaha website, www.makahaskateboards.com.
[12] Hunt, Dave. Easy Reader, "Bones are on the board with wheels," Sept. 22, 1977.
[13] California Free Former Ty Page biography, 1978.