{"id":54490,"date":"2015-09-07T09:00:29","date_gmt":"2015-09-07T16:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/?p=54490"},"modified":"2017-08-31T15:25:31","modified_gmt":"2017-08-31T22:25:31","slug":"omahoney-monday-signal-hill-1975-the-first-x-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/omahoney-monday-signal-hill-1975-the-first-x-game\/","title":{"rendered":"O’Mahoney Monday: Signal Hill 1975… The First X-Game"},"content":{"rendered":"

Signal Hill – The First X-Game – October 17, 1975.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Words by James O’Mahoney<\/strong><\/p>\n

1975… The U.S.S.A. was up and running and we were swamped. The whole world had just discovered the new magic rolling board and wanted to get on. Yes, this was another rad California-based sport. The world is paved and now they can wheelie in Ohio too. We got a call from the ABC David Frost TV show “Guinness Book of World Records”. They wanted in and wanted to know what we could provide. The obvious first was a World Skateboard Speed Record and I knew just where to go, to\u00a0the steepest hill in Long Beach, Signal Hill. Signal Hill had been used for another speed event, “The Model T Hill Climb”. This event lasted a quarter of a century with people coming from all over the country to race up Signal Hill in their Model T Fords. Now we were going to race down the hill and establish a world skateboard speed record. I contacted all the skateboard manufacturers and gave them an invite. We didn’t know what to expect because this was way beyond a freestyle and slalom gig. This was a serious drop down a steep hill. I went to Signal\u00a0Hill every day to figure out what we needed for this first time speed event. We got a few quiz calls, but the entry list was at zero. There were no speed racers. Nobody was really ready to take the big drop. I went and obtained the permits, insurance and necessary amount of required police to do traffic control for the event. The clock was ticking and we had a couple of entries, but it was obvious that the hill was tweaking everyone. We got reports of night riders doing beer runs down the hill and breaking stuff.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0327\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The day came, October 17, 1975 and we had two real competitors show up, the Hitchcock brothers, Skitch and Gary, with their Stinger Bullett, which was a knee rider longboard with a little fairing on the nose to break the wind. The other competitor Guy Grundy came with his blue and white Bates motorcycle leathers, star-spangled helmet and a custom 5-foot Infinity gun skateboard. He looked real pro and he was going to ride traditional stand up. With ABC TV in position, we were ready to roll. Gary took his first run in the Stinger from half way up the hill. He made it to the flat and through the intersection where he hit a bump, did a wob, spun to the left and rolled like a wet dish rag. He laid there for a minute and then got up to continue, this time from the top. Everything went fine until he entered the intersection where he did the same spin and roll and hurt his collarbone. Now it was up to Guy, who cruised to the top roll in, feet together and arms stretched out like a crucifixion. When the hill dropped away, so did he, and he got into a perfect aerodynamic egg position and stayed true to his line with 47 MPH for the first run. The second run was it. More speed on the entry, early tuck and tighter egg: 50.2 MPH. The first official Skateboard World Speed Record was set and watched by millions on ABC television. This was the first X-Game!<\/p>\n

\"DSC_2846\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n