It’s only been about 9 years since I first became aware of the Ski Skate, and now at long last, I can add a second post on this ancient relic. Check out this promotional flyer from the toy company that made it. I say toy company, but they seemed to split their product line into the categories of subpar sports-training and unofficial Star Wars glom-on products like the Force Beam and the Force Missile. One is essentially a light saber, and the other is a pneumatically launched rocket that looks vaguely like a TIE Fighter with “The Force” grafted onto the product name. If they love skiing, skateboarding and surfing, they’ll love the Ski Skate™! Trust them, they are from LA.

When I saw this on eBay I knew I had to have it. I have never seen this before. Sure, I have seen other ski trainers made from skateboard parts, but I can remember seeing ads for those things back in the day. The Ski Skate is something that just doesn’t show up anywhere on the Interwebs™. Maybe it does, but I haven’t been able to strain through all the pages of more current non-related athletic gear with the same name. The patent was filed in 1974. I have to imagine it took a few years to bring this to market. The trucks have multiple mounting hole patterns in a style that definitely points to the 70’s, and the injection molded plastic reached it’s peak in the mid to late 70’s – (or 010’s if you look around today) and the wheels and trucks certainly have a 70’s vibe to them. They do appear on the Skircle, after all. So it’s a pretty safe assumption that this is from the mid to late 70’s. The bearings are sealed though. I don’t know when that became commonplace. If anyone has any information on this, please come forth. I’m still waiting to hear back from the original owner. It actually rides nicely, and is sturdier than you might imagine. A few of the bearings have seized up, so it’s really slow, even on an incline. Now get ready for way too many pictures. The sun was setting and it creates some hot spots on the edges as well as making the sidewalk look the surface of the moon, but I couldn’t wait to take pictures. Enjoy, and thanks to Matthijs for letting me know about this. UPDATE: See Part 2