Four years ago, surf/skate company Volcom put a $10,000 bounty up for grabs to the first surfer to ever land a kickflip and document it on video. WTF’ is a kickflip? Glad you asked. It’s a staple trick of street skateboarding (invented by freestyle pioneer Rodney Mullen in 1983) and not something one would ever consider feasible on a surfboard. Why? Because it takes about 300 tries to land one for the first time on a skateboard. With so much money on the line it was amazing that it took four years. Everyone knew it would happen eventually (not unlike the 900), and late last week it did. Zoltan Torkos of Santa Cruz landed a lovely one clean and on camera to the HOLY SHIT! of every person who has ever stepped on a board. But the powers that be remain unconvinced…

Last Friday, March 4th, 2011, Zoltan Torkos from Santa Cruz, CA technically pulled the first documented kickflip on a surfboard. Everyone at Volcom is thrilled to see Zoltan’s efforts and consider him to be leading the pack in the race for the $10,000 prize.

Rule #3 of the Kickflipoff contest states: “The kickflip must be a real air ‘above the lip’ – No backwash, No chop hops, or anything in the flats or below the lip of the wave.”

With that said, Zoltan’s kickflip is clearly below the lip and not a real air. Zoltan has pulled the first kickflip on a surfboard, but the $10,000 still remains up for grabs. We called Zoltan with our decision and he replied, “I’m not here to argue against your decision, but I am here to revolutionize surfing.”

We are stoked on Zoltan and his reaction to our call. He wants to dedicate his kickflip to the memory of his lost friend Carl Reimer, and he says the money is his and he will keep trying for the $10K. Making a kickflip on a surfboard IS possible, Zoltan proved it. We anticipate seeing the winning kickflip in the near future.

Lame (but still so rad).