Roller Skating history

We are really excited to open this new history section. This is where we slow things down and look back. Stories, videos, photos, and half-forgotten moments from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00s. Decades that didn’t just influence modern skating, they built it from scraped knees, backyard ramps, roller rinks, parking lots, and a lot of trial and error.

Knowing where skating came from helps us understand where we’re going, and who helped clear the path. We couldn’t start this section with anyone else but Kenny Means.

Before “park skating” was even a thing, Kenny was already there. He was the first roller skater to ride ramps and skateparks on quad skates, showing what was possible long before there was language for it.

Kenny’s skating sits at the crossroads of skateboarding and roller skating history. His story reminds us that quads have always belonged everywhere wheels roll. This is where our history section begins, with someone who showed up early and set the path for the rest of us.

Kenny Means banking on shoe skates. The skates' dual pivot points allow for transversing radically differing terrain.

Skateboarder Magazine Vol. 2 No 2. 1975

Photo © C. R. Stecyk III