Flatland skimboarding

With homemade skimboards made of plywood, fiberglass and resin, skimmers used sandbars along the American and Sacramento rivers to practice.

The freestyle aspects of inland skimboarding were pioneered in the early 1980s by two Sacramento locals: Launie Porteous and Mark Robinson.

In the late 1980s, skimmers advanced to building better rails and jumps and adapting more technical skateboard tricks, but still used props from their environment like shopping carts, road cones, and trash cans as obstacles.

In the late 1970s and early 80s, companies such as J-Gordon and Victoria manufactured wood skimboards for local California surf and skateboard shops.

Inland skimmers encounter obstacles including countless rocks, sticks, logs, clam shells, railsliders, run-away boards, and so on, which will eventually destroy any foam board, so wood is still the preferred material for most inland skimmers.