In 1963, skateboarding hit a popularity peak and big companies such as Jack's and Makaha started holding competitions, but these were mainly freestyle or downhill. At the time Danny Berer and Torger Johnson were famous skaters but their kind of freestyle was more like ice skating or dancing ballet, on a skateboard, and was very different to what is practiced today. Two years later, in 1965, skateboarding seemed to have died out, the companies closed down and the few people who still wanted to skate had to build their boards by hand and from scratch. Clay wheels, which were very dangerous and hard to control, were used and the parts for the skateboards were hard to find. Finally in 1972 new interest sparked amongst surfers and young people when Frank Nasworthy invented urethane skateboard wheels. The spring of 1975 saw a skateboarding revolution as the Zephyr team showed the world what skateboarding could be when they took part in a slalom and freestyle contest and rode their skateboards like no one had ever seen before. They were low, smooth and mainly made from fiberglass and from then on skateboarding became something serious and exciting rather than just a hobby.
In 1978 the first skateboard jump was invented and named after Alan “ollie” Gelfand and is the base of most jumping tricks. A few years later another skater, Rodney Mullen, added on to the ollie thus creating tricks such as the kickflip, impossible, heel-flip, darkslides, 50-50 sidewinders and many more.
As time went by skateboarding became more popular, despite another popularity crash in the late 1970's. Gradually skateboarding started to shape into the common sport we have today, with new tricks and stunts still developing. Along the years even skateboards changed in shape and are found in sizes suitable for anyone wishing to ride. Many people choose skating as a method of transportation and it is also a popular sport amongst boys and girls, 85% of whom are under the age of 18 and 74% of whom are male. During the 1990's skateboarding was also used by the United-States Marine Corps for maneuvering inside buildings to detect tripwires and sniper fire.
