Profile: Alan Gelfand

I remember the first time I saw Alan Gelfand skate. It was around 1979 during the Gold Cup Series contest, at the Big O skatepark, in Orange, California. I was taking photos of my favorite Pro skaters and filming the event, with my little Super 8 film camera.
What I saw that day changed my life forever, as I witnessed Alan Gelfand perform a "no hands" aerial across the capsule pool channel. It was incredible! The crowd of spectators went crazy as he continued to jump the channel over and over again, getting higher as the evening moved on! We had never seen anything like it!
A few weeks later, when I received my film back from processing, I popped it into my movie projector and there it was! I had successfully captured one of the most significant moments in skateboarding history. Alan Gelfand had perfected his new trick "The Ollie" and changed the face of skateboarding forever! I'll never forget that day! Now, MANY years later, I'm honored to be presenting this Skate Legend to you!... - Lynn Cooper

The following information has been donated by Alan himself:

1974: Alan’s father bought him his first skateboard.

1975: Won every local skateboard contest

1976: Won many South Florida Skateboard Championships

1978: Invented the “OLLIE,” the maneuver from which most skateboard tricks are based on.

Alan_OLLIE_Gelfand_79.jpg (102658 bytes)

1978: Professional skaters traveling across the country started to show up and say, “I never saw anybody skate like him.” Word started to get around and photographers from California traveled to Florida to take pictures of “the little 80 pound kid flying threw the air with no hands.”

1979: Went to California and skated, participated in many photo shoots. On the cover and centerfold of most of the prominent skateboard magazines.

1979: Toured throughout Europe and South America. Profiled and appeared in television interviews and magazines that promoted skating as a healthy lifestyle that included no drugs and no drinking.

1979: Competed and won the 1979 World Skateboard Championships televised on CBS Sports.

1980: Competed and won most of the major skateboard contests. When the skateboard industry got weak in 1981, Alan “OLLIE” Gelfand pursued and became a national champion in motor sports racing.

2000: Started WWW.OLLIEAIR.COM as a way to communicate with the skating public.

2001: Invited as a VIP guest at the 2001 Old School Skate Jam, in Simi Valley California.