Steve Olson: The Skater Who Turned Pools Into Battlegrounds | Hester Series

Steve Olson talks winning the first ever profession skateboarding circuit The Hester Series. In 1978, Olson didn’t just win the Hester Series (formerly the Hester-ISA Pro Bowl Series) he showed the world what competitive vertical skateboarding would become. This era marked the death of “sidewalk surfing” and the birth of skateboarding as a professional, high-stakes sport. Olson’s dominance wasn’t about trick counts or choreography. It was about speed, height, aggression, and control. While other skaters recycled rehearsed runs, Olson attacked concrete with raw velocity, blasting the channel, carving gnarlier lines, and never repeating the same run twice. According to Stacy Peralta, Olson’s edge was psychological as much as physical. He practiced in the shadows, never revealing his full hand until the actual contest. When it mattered, his runs were fresh, unpredictable, and impossible to ignore, locking judges in and rattling competitors...and he rarely fell. This approach earned Olson the Overall Hester Series Championship in 1978, and directly led to his crowning as Skateboarder Magazine’s Skater of the Year, a milestone that cemented him as the first true vertical skateboarding champion. This video breaks down: How Steve Olson dominated the Hester Series Why his punk-rock mindset changed contest skating forever The moment skateboarding became a real professional sport If you care about skate history, vert skating, pools, or the roots of modern contest skating, this one’s mandatory viewing. #realskatestories #SteveOlson #SkateboardingHistory #VertSkateboarding #HesterSeries #PoolSkating #OldSchoolSkate #SkateLegends #SkateCulture #SOTY #ConcreteSurfing