SOTY 2013 Contender #4: Ben Raybourn

Ben Raybourn came out swinging this year. Early on, he closed out the Bones Video New Ground (his part above) with a bang. From the gnarliest terrain to some of the heshest tranny and bowl tricks, Raybourn pretty much defines thrashing. His ability to boost airs out of even the smallest transitions and at the same time land in the tightest transitions in pools and whatnot is just insane. I still cannot comprehend his ender for the New Ground. And if putting out a banging part wasn't enough, Ben came out with The Raybourn Identity just to show how much thrashing he's actually been doing, including dropping in from trees.
Two heavy video parts and Ben still is getting loads of coverage from sequences to little ads to handling tasks for KOTR. Outside of Thrasher, Ben had a very ripping Rip Clip for the Skateboard Mag, just to show that he just doesn't stop skating and that he is at that level where he can consistently put out quality footage. What's also peaked my interest is that the Rip Clip caption mentioned something about another Raybourn part coming out through The Mag later this year. If that's the case, Ben's run for SOTY is very, very strong.

(Time constraints prevent me from delving into Ben's video parts and ridiculous tricks, which is unfortunate because he absolutely kills it!)