In 1986, on a plaza of granite ledges and brick gaps in front of the Embarcadero in San Francisco, Mark Gonzales ollied across a gap that no contest had a category for. There was no judging panel, no coping, no transition — just a flat run-up, a tap of the tail, and a jump cleared over a stretch of pavement that office …

In 1991, Mark Gonzales walked away from Vision Skateboards — the company that had given him one of the most influential pro models of the decade — and put his name on a deck stamped with a brand whose title was a pointed insult to his former sponsor. Blind Skateboards, launched under Steve Rocco's World Industries …