Downhill racing skateboard used by George Orton

This black composite, downhill skateboard with black grip tape on the entire top surface was used by George Orton and designed by Richard Landingham. This is a prototype board with a bullnose front and a carbon fiber and urethane bumper. It was specifically made flat for speed. The Randall trucks have bearings and a floating axle which takes away the friction because it spins as the board goes faster. Orton says, "The board doesn't turn worth a damn but it can handle the speed with less board wobble. At 58 mph the dynamics of the board change and it begins to wobble. This board allowed for greater speed with less wobble." Orton used this board in Utah on very smooth, closed pour asphalt. The original wheels were Kryptonics.

Orton began skateboarding in the early 1970s and is credited with assisting Tony Alva in creating the front side air, the first vertical aerial move in pool skating which paved the way for new tricks to develop above the coping ledge of the pool. Orton had a successful career as a pool and half pipe skater but retired from skateboarding in the early 1980s. He returned in the late 1990s to begin his career as a street luge and downhill skater. Since his entrance into luge and downhill he has made a name for himself as the wearer of colorful helmets with his “eyeball” downhill helmet and his “shark” street luge helmet. He competed in the 1997 X-Games in San Diego as well as winning medals at the 2000 Gravity Games, the 1999 St. George Grand Prix and the 2000 Grand Prix X-Mass Luge.

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