Culture

In 1971, Jeff Ho, Craig Stecyk III and Skip Englblom opened up a surf shop in Santa Monica. There was a heavy local surf contingent that didn’t mess around… the dilapidated
crumbling Pacific Ocean Park jutted out of the ocean and was a dangerous and heady place to surf. Nathan Pratt, Allen Sarlo, Jay Adams, Tony Alva, Stacy Peralta and Chris Cahill were on the surf team before a skate team existed. The wooden pilings of the pier were gnarly and the Zephyr Team surfers would spend the mornings tearing the place apart. It was not for the weak at heart. In the afternoons or on flat days, the surfers would skate around, do errands for the shop and hang out with each other. As skateboarding began to explode in popularity, the Zephyr Team began riding in contests. In 1975, the team expanded. Bob Biniak, Wentzle Ruml, Paul Constantineau, Jim Muir, Shogo Kubo and Peggy Oki were added to the roster and the Zephyr Team would be complete.

In 1975, the Del Mar Nationals took place. This skateboarding competition would show the world its first glimpse of a completely different type of skateboarding. Participants were doing 360 turns and handstands. When the Zephyr Team rode, people had no idea what they were doing. The skaters were pulling low turns and surf style cutbacks on the banked walls. They rode with a controlled cruelty that hadn’t been seen before. In the end, many of the Zephyr Team ended up on top. The world of tight shorts, 360s and headstands was quickly replaced by the Zephyr low slung surf style of that day.

As time marched on, everyone wanted a piece of the action. Money began to spill into the raw naked chasm that opened up around the Zephyr Team. Tony Alva went his own way and formed Alva Skates. Jay Adams had his Z-Flex model along, Stacy Peralta went with Gordon & Smith and ultimately ended the seventies by forming another influential team at Powell Peralta. Jim Muir and Paul Constantineau would form Dog Town Skates and Shogo Kubo had a model there as well. Bob Biniak spent time at Logan Earth Ski and carved out a solid reputation there. Zephyr exploded on the scene, changed everything and scattered to the four winds.