Alva travel guide

Tony Alva (born September 2, 1957) is one of the original Z-Boys and is considered to be one of the most influential skateboarders of all time.
He was born in Santa Monica, California and comes from a Mexican American family. The level of aggression with which Alva skated was in stark contrast to the traditional style of the era which was still based around tricks formulated in the 1960s. Alva and the other Z-Boys were among the first to bring skating empty pools into the mainstream. In these early days, it was noted that Alva was hitting the lip so hard that he was actually taking off, hence Alva is often credited for the first recorded aerials, a frontside air, although Alva himself claimed that George Orton was the first to perform aerials (Skateboarder magazine, July, 1978).
In 1977, at age nineteen, Alva shunned the major skate companies to form his own skateboard company, Alva Skates. Alva's company was the first company ever run and owned by a skateboarder as well as being one of the first to use layered maple plywood for the skate decks. The same year he was voted 'skateboarder of the year' in Skateboarder Magazine's readers' poll and he set the Guinness World Record for barrel jumping.
Alva is featured in the documentary on Venice Beach skate culture Dogtown and Z-Boys which was fictionalized into the 2005 feature film Lords of Dogtown. He also played the role of Tony Bluetile in the 1978 film, Skateboard: The Movie.
Tony Alva recently signed a three year deal with Vans shoes and his new pro model high top was released in 2006. He is also sponsored by Independent Trucks and Vestal Watches. Tony also played bass in the band The Skoundrelz, which featured ex-Suicidal Tendencies members Mike Dunnigan and Mike Ball as well as ex-member of Wasted Youth Dave Hurricane. (...) more....