Skitch Hitchcock And The Salt Creek Crew

Anyone old enough to have ever thought “gorrilla gripping” a skateboard was cool remembers the barefoot stylings of Skitch Hitchcock. He was jumping up and over obstacles well before the era of Alan Gelfand’s Ollie.

Apparently, we’re not the only one’s wondering why their story hasn’t been part of the retro skateboarding revolution. The OC Weekly’s Vickie Chang checked in with Hitchcock and the rest of the Salt Creek Beach crew to bring everyone up-to-date:

Smith, Garrison and Skitch belong to an elite group of surfer/skaters who claimed Salt Creek as theirs in the 1970s. They’re just one slice of an immensely talented crew who went on to make names for themselves in the burgeoning sport of professional skateboarding, skating for the Hobie team. Skitch pushed standards to experimental levels and blazed at the forefront of the sport with tricks, ramps, trucks and boards, while Smith was the first to set skate routines to music and was the brains behind modern safety equipment as we know it, allowing for greater confidence and bigger, better tricks. Garrison had the first skate car and was among the first Signal Hill competitors—focusing on getting downhill and downhill fast.

Yes, this is one for the old guys. But check it out if you’re in the mood for a little skate history lesson, because these skaters were the real deal, not to mention it’s a good reminder regarding the downside of taking a too much acid.

[Link: OC Weekly]