Timeline
1980 Skydivers in Southern California first experiment with styrofoam boogie boards during freefall. Lying flat on the board, they grip the side rails and call this new adventure "air surfing."
1987 In France, Joel Cruciani makes the first freefall jumps while standing on a board in the traditional surfing position. For the film "Hibernator," he repeats this move by using a standard size surfboard custom fitted with snowboard boot bindings.
1988 French skydiver Laurent Bouquet experiments with a skateboard-size board strapped to his feet. Later that year, Patrick de Gayardon begins using one of Bouquet's smaller boards on a regular basis.
1989 In the spring, de Gayardon perfects a soft binding and cutaway system which can easily release the board in case of emergency.
1990 Several European jumpers began experimenting withstanding upright on boards during freefall. Now officially deemed "skysurfing," its leading proponents are veteran divers such as Bouquet, de Gayardon, Bruno Gouvy, Eric Fradet, Philippe Vallaud, Sjarel Boons and Peter Schafer.
Jerry Loftis later becomes the first American to skysurf. In the fall, the first World Freestyle Championships are held in Texas. This marks the first competition use of the team video sport concept designed by Pete McKeeman. Consisting of a freestyle performer and a camera flyer, the teams are judged on the ground by their recorded video for best overall presentation.
1991 The idea of skysurfing is first introduced to the skydiving and general American public through a "Life is Short, Play Hard" Reebok commercial featuring de Gayardon, cinematographer Patrick Passe, and director Didier LaFond. In November, the second Freestyle World Championships take place in Florida.
1992 Early in the year, the Federation Francaise de Parachutisme is the first to recognize skysurfing as a sport. Jeremy Loftis starts Surflite, an American company dedicated to making skyboards through the use of lightweight honeycomb aluminum with graphite/Kevlar composites. In November, the first competitive skysurfing demonstration is part of the World Freestyle Championships.
1993 In April, the first skysurfing competition takes place in Eloy, Arizona. Featuring eight teams with competitors such as de Gayardon and Fradet, it uses the team video sport concept. The World Freestyle Federation stages the first Skysurfing World Championships in Spain as part of the fourth Freestyle World Championships. American Gus Wing teams with de Gayardon of France to win the gold medal. Other regional skysurfing events are held in California, France, and Illinois.
1994 The opening ceremonies for the 1994 Winter Olympics feature a four man skysurfing demonstration. Belgium is added to the regional event schedule, joining the same three sites from 1993. A women's division is paired with the men's for the world championships in Eloy in October. Rob Harris and Joe Jennings of the U.S. and Gaudenzie Martinengo and Jerome Erlich of Italy and France, respectively, win the two gold medals. Sony features American Amy Baylie-Haass as the first woman skysurfer in a televis ion commercial.
1995 At the inaugural ESPN Extreme Games, 10 skysurfing teams vie for a $20,000 purse. In the unisex competition, Harris/Jennings finish first, followed by Fradet and Werner Norenberg of France and Bob Greiner and Cliff Burch of the United States. The WFF World Championships are held in Ampfing, Germany with Harris/Jennings repeating their gold medal performance and Viviane Wegrath and Sjarel Boons of Switzerland and Belgium, respectively, winning the women's gold. The number of regional events increase s to 11 and features venues in the United Kingdom, Italy, and Austria. On December 14, Rob Harris is killed in a skydiving accident while filming a television commercial in Canada for Mountain Dew. His partner Joe Jennings was jumping and videotaping him at the time.
1996 Newport, Rhode Island will be the site for this year's Extreme Games, which have since been renamed the X Games. Leading up to the games, competitions have been scheduled for Sebastian, Florida and Spain. The X Games are slated for June 24-30.