nature led him to become a professionally sponsored skateboarder.

In 1974, he joined the Zephyr Skateboard team along with Jay Adams and Stacy Peralta. Alva and the other Z-Boys (also all surfers), were among the first to bring the dangerous art of skating empty swimming pools into the mainstream. Alva is considered an originator of vertical skating and is credited as the first skateboarder to successfully pull a Frontside Air.