Anyone old enough to have ever thought “gorrilla gripping” a skateboard was cool remembers the barefoot stylings of Skitch Hitchcock. He was jumping up and over obstacles well before the era of Alan Gelfand’s Ollie.
Apparently, we’re not the only one’s wondering why their story hasn’t been part of the retro skateboarding revolution. The OC Weekly’s Vickie Chang checked in with Hitchcock and the rest of the Salt Creek Beach crew to bring everyone up-to-date:
Smith, Garrison and Skitch belong to an elite group of surfer/skaters who claimed Salt Creek as theirs in the 1970s. They’re just one slice of an immensely talented crew who went on to make names for themselves in the burgeoning sport of professional skateboarding, skating for the Hobie team. Skitch pushed standards to experimental levels and blazed at the forefront of the sport with tricks, ramps, trucks and boards, while Smith was the first to set skate routines to music and was the brains behind modern safety equipment as we know it, allowing for greater confidence and bigger, better tricks. Garrison had the first skate car and was among the first Signal Hill competitors—focusing on getting downhill and downhill fast.
Yes, this is one for the old guys. But check it out if you’re in the mood for a little skate history lesson, because these skaters were the real deal, not to mention it’s a good reminder regarding the downside of taking a too much acid.
While Saturday might turn out to be a fine day for big-wave surfing at Mavericks, the odds of it being too fickle over the course of a whole day gave pause to Clark and many of the invited 24 surfers tracking the swell’s every move online for the better part of a week.
Guess we’ll all just have to wait and see if he’s right.
Seems like all our friends are being interviewed these days. Check this with ace image capture master Tim Zimmerman and remember, it’s only part one (part 2 after the jump). Side note: this also reminds us why we’d rather read an interview than have to “watch” it on video.
Kr3w’s party photos (by Shad [click the link for Lizard’s broken nose photos]) from the Zumiez $100k at Keystone, Colorado would suggest that no matter what else may be going on, the Zumiez kids are still selling a shit-load of product. . . and the girls are still stoked on Lizard King and TK.
When Jacksonville, Florida surfboard shaper Clay Bennett closed up his shop two years ago to move to Texas he reportedly owed close to $30,000 in boards and cash to his customers. Now he’s back in town and some aren’t to happy about it according to a story on Jacksonville.com.
Bennett riled some surfboard customers in 2007 because he owed them boards that had been paid for when he moved to Galveston, Texas, where he continued shaping boards. Bennett said he always intended to settle his debts, but when he was providing boards for prizes at a Gulf Coast surf contest, Florida surf Internet sites such as Fluidgroove and Surf Station lit up with criticism from some of Bennett’s former customers. Others offered support for him, praising his skills and surfboard designs.
For one more reminder that talented, well-meaning shapers are often bad businessmen, click the link.
Don’t think for a minute that the crew at Active is simply sitting back talking about how terrible the economy is. They’re drawing crowds the old fashion way: Hollywood stars.
Come one, come all! Active Pro Paul Rodriguez will be signing autographs for everyone on Saturday February 7th, 2009 at 2pm. Active Temecula will play host to the P Rod signing this time around. Make sure you’re there. All Plan B Decks at Active Temecula on 2/7 $34.99.
It’s rare that we get to read interviews with the people who make the magazines. And one of the longest lasting editors in all snowboard media is Snowboarder Magazine’s Pat Bridges (we never thought we’d say that). ESPN correspondent Colin Whyte checks in and get gems like this:
I’ve gotta say I am tired of people wanting to grow snowboarding via exposure. Seriously, who hasn’t already seen snowboarding? We are creeping up on our fourth Olympics and have had over a dozen X-Games. Recently a new tour has been hyped and touted as “helping to grow snowboarding.” It is doing no more than anything else on Network TV has done to grow snowboarding. It is growing the amount of money that Viacom is making off of snowboarding for sure. I must admit that watching the event live on the tube was convenient except that it was on a Sunday which kept me and however many other weekend warriors off the hill.
Amen, brother. Follow the link for the rest of the interview with one of snowboarding’s most original voices.
There really is no amount of money on Earth that could compensate the guys for the risks they take out there at Mavericks,” Keir Beadling, CEO of Mavericks Surf Ventures, wrote in an e-mail, “and I honestly believe they’d surf in the contest with no prize purse. Many of them have said as much. . . . “But, we are extraordinarily proud of the fact that — even in the teeth of the worst recession in generations — we were able to pull together and put on the contest, and even make some more history in the process.”
Wonder if this has anything to do with the approaching “swell of the winter” this weekend?
This is exactly why we don’t think snowmobiles nor cats should not be allowed on the mountain during the day (except for emergency use).
A Park City snowboarder was in intensive care Tuesday after he was struck Friday by a snowmobile a resort employee was operating at The Canyons, an attorney for the victim said. . . . The accident, which occurred near the bottom of the Golden Eagle chairlift, critically injured Snyderville Basin resident John Everett.
We don’t know about The Canyons, but we’ve see employees zipping all over the place on mountains when they really shouldn’t be and it’s especially bad when they are going against traffic.
With “urban snowboarding” on the up, something like this was bound to happen.
Cattaraugus County Sheriff Dennis John says the teen was snowboarding down Burt road heading toward Miller Hill road when he was struck by a car driven by 20- year-old Nathan Green of Friendship.
Adam O’Neill, 19, died from the injuries sustained in this crash. His mother spoke to reporters from WKBW. Click the link for the rest of the story. [Link: WIKB.com]
Anyone old enough to have ever thought “gorrilla gripping” a skateboard was cool remembers the barefoot stylings of Skitch Hitchcock. He was jumping up and over obstacles well before the era of Alan Gelfand’s Ollie.
