Scroll down to see more
SNDCT Archive
The roots of skateboarding in the USSR go back further, to the late 1970s. Boards were imported into the country in small quantities, while the press often ran brief items on this new outlandish hobby practised by Western youngsters.
Stanislav Mironenko
Magazines even published drawings for making a homemade board, known as the "asphalt surfer."
SNDCT Archive
For people who had no money to buy a new board, a self-made board was the only chance to be a part of this street culture.
Stanislav Mironenko
The skateboarding craze hit the Baltic republics first: in Estonia skaters began making their own boards in 1979.
SNDCT Archive
From the mid-1980s till the collapse of the Soviet Union, boards on rollers were produced in many cities across the country.
SNDCT Archive
In the late 1980s two foreign movies about American skaters "Gleaming the Cube" and "Thrashin'" were shown to Soviet young people. These two films were extremely influential.
SNDCT Archive
The movement was gaining popularity and had become a sport in its own right: a skateboard club opened in Moscow, while Saratov, Vilnius, Leningrad, and other cities held major competitions.
Natalia Lapina
The most popular places for meetups in Moscow were VDNKh, Alexandrovsky Garden, the Lenin monument on Oktyabryaskaya Street, and later the Marx monument, Luzhniki Stadium, and the then undeveloped Victory Park.
SNDCT Archive
Saratov hosted the biggest competitions. Skaters from all over the Soviet Union would descend on the city. The tournament usually lasted for 3 hectic days.
SNDCT Archive
It is interesting to note that skaters back then considered slalom to be hip. It was the main - and most spectacular - competition style.
SNDCT Archive
Street style and freestyle were also popular among Soviet skaters.
SNDCT Archive
As for clothes, street style was in vogue, but many just wore what was most comfortable for skating: large T-shirts, baggy pants, slacks, mostly second-hand. Before 1992, special skateboard shoes simply did not exist.
.jpg)
