Tony Alva Skateboard Setup (2026)

Tony Alva is an American professional skateboarder, musician, and entrepreneur from Santa Monica, California, born September 2, 1957, of Dutch and Mexican-American descent. He joined the Zephyr Competition Team (the Z-Boys) in the mid-1970s alongside Jay Adams and Stacy Peralta, where his surf-influenced pool skating and aggressive aerial approach helped define the Dogtown style that transformed modern skateboarding. He is credited with inventing the frontside air. In 1977, at 19, he won the Men's World Professional Skateboard Championship and founded Alva Skates, the first company owned and operated by a professional skateboarder, which was also among the first to use layered Canadian maple plywood in deck construction. His relationship with Vans dates to 1974. He was inducted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame in 2009.