I think we live in an amazing age for action sports and outdoor adventure, but I’m also fascinated by what it was like during the dawn of these sports when they really became lifestyles and forms of self-expression. It’s no wonder so many non-endemic brands strive to engage and be identified with these inventive, boundary and trend setting lifestyles. Rather than innovate, taking the sport and lifestyle to new levels, which is what we do today, what was it like to invent the sport in the first place? This morning I decided to explore my theory that these sports came into being around ‘65 – ‘75. Couple that with the crazy shit happening in music and film, you have think…to be in your prime then, and in California… wow… You have to wonder what that scene was like and if they even knew what was happening. For those of you thinking it all started in the 90’s. Sorry. I’d love to get some feedback from people who remember.
Surfing was first recorded back in the 18th century, but it blew up in the US during the 60’s as the first movies came out and the Beach Boy’s started singing about it on ‘surfin safari’. It was also the advent of the shortboard in the late 60s which introduced the modern form of the sport. 
Motorcross was getting popular already in Europe around the 30s with the first world championships in ‘59. It was introduced to the US in 1966 and took off in 1972 with the first stadium event in the LA Coliseum.
Skateboarding was started by surfers looking to recreate the experience when waves were flat around 1950. It hit the mainstream when Skateboarder Magazine launched and international championships were broadcast on national television in 1965. Technology-wise urethane wheels got popular in early 70s.
BMX begins with a single bicycle: the Schwinn Stingray, invented in 1963 to emulate the motocross experience. The Bicycle United Motocross Society was formed in 1970 and by the late 70s, the BMX Action Trick Team was being formed.
Climbing got really interesting with the advent of Free Climbing which didn’t use any artificial aids in the 60s. This is when the biggest climbing brands got their start. Most notably, Yvon Chouinard, the founder of what is now Black Diamond and Patagonia (and team) climbed the North American Wall on El Capitan. In 1968, Royal Robbins would solo the Muir Wall on El Capita.
Windsurfing was created in 1964 with Windsurfing International being formed as the first industry brand
Mountainbiking was started in the late 60s by Gary Fisher in the US on the hills of Marin County using the earliest form of mountain bike, called a “klunkerz,” with races starting around ‘75.
Skiing slammed into the popularity as two friends with the coolest names in sports, Spider Sabich and Billy Kid, placed 5th in the ‘68 Olympics, inspiring the film Downhill Racer with Robert Redford before turning pro in 1970. To all you ski film innovators, did you know Warren Miller by ‘69 Warren Miller was on his 22nd ski film, “any snow, any mountain” and was hitting full stride? If your not into the racing or film side of skiing, freestyle skiing was legit already by 1965 through pioneers like Bob Burns. In 1976 the World Freestyle Championships were held and ABC Wide World of Sports televised the event.
Snowboarding came into begin with the Snurfer in 1966, but was mainly used by kids. The first “adult” boards were being made by 1969 by Dimitrije Molovich and called the “winter stick” as covered in a variety of magazines, such as Powder and Newsweek. However it was the advent of bindings that allowed athletes to take it to a new level by Jake Burton and Tom Sims in 1977.
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