Jay Adams

 The Z-Boys became a skate team when they were informed of the Bahne-Cadillac Del Mar Nationals in 1975.Adams was the first member to participate in the event held in Del Mar, California, winning second place in the Junior Men's Freestyle. The Z-Boys style was defined by Adams' high-energy and bold, surfer-like moves. They were in stark contrast to the more traditional style, which was still based on 1960s-style gymnastic tricks. [2] Adams' ability to turn near-disasters into never-before-seen feats of style and agility was termed "an athletic stream-of-consciousness" by the 2001 documentary about the team, Dogtown and Z-Boys.Much of Adams' and the rest of the Zephyr team's fame is due to photo-journalist and writer Craig Stecyk's "Dogtown Chronicles" in the 1975 relaunch of Skateboarder Magazine. The series of magazine stories chronicled the exploits of the Z-Boys, who skated in empty pools throughout Southern California over a two-year period, which laid the groundwork for vertical skating. Skateboarding was a viable profession due to Stecyk's Dogtown articles and sponsorship from the skateboard industry. [6] Adams, aged 15, was the first person to "catching air" (time in the air after jumping) above the pool's edge.