Bank over Fence Tricks

A video posted by @skateboardinghighfives on Nov 16, 2015 at 8:34pm PST

With the #CraziestFrontsideFlip in question, it's worth revisiting the high five tricks powerfully floated over what shouldn't be but now is a very tall fence spot.

1. Anthony Schultz - ollie - Pro Part for Slave (2011)

Starting it all off with what seemed to be jaw-droppingly impossible, Anthony Schultz clears this beast to cap off a terrific going pro part (4:14).

2. Dolan Stearns - frontside 180 - Lurkville's Meet The Lurkers (2013)

Dolan Stearns put out one of the best parts in the last few years with this video and shocked me way too many times with his gnarliness and speed. When a frontside 180 over this behemoth of a gap is in the middle of your part, you know you're doing something right (3:30).

3. Jordan Hoffart - kickflip - Stereophonic Sound Vol. 14 (2014)

So at this point, an ollie and a 180 are somewhat acceptable, in terms of possibility. The board stays under your feet the whole time, you just need an insane amount of power and speed. Still ridiculously gnarly. But who else than Jordan Hoffart to up the ante and truly make this a "spot" by kickflipping over this tall fence (2:37)? (Side note, Jordan has "upped the ante" on plenty of spots over the course of many years in his parts. I still don't know why he's not at some legendary status by now...)

4/5. Jordan Hoffart - frontside kickflip - Berrics part (2015)

A video posted by The Berrics (@berrics) on Nov 6, 2015 at 10:51am PST

How can Jordan one-up himself on what shouldn't even be a spot?! This dude knows how to go fast and big really really well.

4/5. Collin Provost - frontside kickflip - Instagram footage (2015)

A video posted by Collin Provost (@the__provider) on Nov 15, 2015 at 11:49am PST

A video posted by Collin Provost (@the__provider) on Nov 15, 2015 at 3:59pm PST

So when the Berrics presented Jordan's video part, they accompanied his insane ender by offering an Instagram contest for one's #CraziestFrontsideFlip. It just so happened that Collin Provost (who has already MADE one of the craziest frontside flips ever) had filmed a frontside flip over the exact same fence! The question on everyone's minds: who did it first? Jordan's video part was released before Collin's Instagram proof, yet some sleuthing with Jordan's reaction to the footage implies that Collin actually filmed his trick first. Regardless, both are beyond impressive and will go down together in skate history.


UPDATE: It seems like Collin Provost had a little something to prove to Jordan Hoffart, and he most definitely proves it in his short but oh-so-sweet part in Emerica's Made Chapter Two, closing off the part with a stunning hardflip over this same fence [complete with a skate-nerd-satisfyingly inadvertent tail tap on the fence]. Victory: Provost.

Best of BATB

After finally getting through all of the battles from the past 7 years of BATB, here are my top 5 favorite battles:
(Coming so late in the week, it felt more appropriate to consolidate the High Five into one post.)

5. BATB 6 Round 2 - Morgan Smith vs. Eric Koston

Koston's T-to-nothing comeback is amazing. Everyone knows that Eric is always pretty light-hearted when it comes to his skating, never taking things too seriously, while still being one of the best skaters alive. So messing up 4 tricks that you know he has is not the most uplifting for the viewers. But for the same reason he missed those, you can never count him out just because he's always got surprises. After Morgan also misses a couple of unlucky ones, Koston pulls out the half cab late shove and switch laser to change the game to sudden death. Soon after that there's a string of tricks by Morgan (starting with a nollie big heel) that could get anyone out. But Koston matches every single one of them, all while the game is at T-T. Along with The Chief's reactions, this is the portion of the game that builds the excitement to make the game so great. When Koston messes up the first fakie big heel and says, "Hold on, I can finish that," you know he's found his groove at this point. A missed frontside cab heel by Morgan and a fakie laser by Koston later, and the crazy game comes to a finish.

4. BATB 1 Semifinals - Mike Mo Capaldi vs. Billy Marks

I first started checking out the Berrics sometime either in Round 2 or 3 of BATB1. By the time Finals night rolled around, I was already checking the site daily and keeping up with everything to do with BATB. At the time, this battle was absolutely unreal to watch, and it's still pretty nutty today. Seeing Billy match the fakie bigger flip, the cab big flip, and the nollie laser (flawlessly) was not expected 7 years ago. And also watching Billy find out Mo's multiple flip weakness (though Mo was so close on that triple flip!) and pulling out the old school half heel late back foot flip was pretty bonkers. At the end when it was T-T, seeing the nollie back heel 360 as a finisher was certainly crazy, but seeing Billy come so close and just slip out on the trick was even harder to believe. Needless to say, this game holds a beloved place in the top battles of BATB history. 

3. BATB 7 Championship - Cody Cepeda vs. Luan Oliveira

The concept of Pros vs. Joes alone was pretty intriguing, especially to see how these Joes could handle the pressure of a broadcasted and heavily watched game of skate. It's pretty clear that there are tons of "Joes" out there with the tricks to take down any pro, but to bring them to a stage like The Berrics is a whole different story. Enter Cody Cepeda. From the moment he opened up the whole contest for the interweb playing Trent McClung, it was pretty easy to tell that he had nerves of steel and a determination like no other. Of course he has all the "basic" tricks too, which he brought out later in defeating Shane and Tom, but he has double/triple flip variations for days along with some other flatground bangers as well. So when he led the underdog story to the Championship at BATB7, it was truly a sight to behold. Whether it was the live webcast and stoked crowd, the touching dedication to the Romano family, having his Recruit premiere just before the final match, or the fact that he shutout Luan Oliveira, everything contributed to the breathtaking vibes of that special Championship battle. And it's not just Cody's whole story that made this such a memorable battle, the skating was sick too! I doubt anyone expected Luan to match all those double flip variations that Cody threw at him. It's hard not to explode in joy just like the crowd when Luan somehow pulled out the pressure heelflip and the nollie back double heel to keep the game going. Even Cody was super stoked to see that! But in the end, there can only be one winner...

2. BATB 6 Championship -  PJ Ladd vs. Paul Rodriguez 

What can I say about this game? It's super long, always good. It covers almost all the "basic" tricks you can think of, always good. It has some pretty epic matched tricks, always good. It's just straight up one of the most solid games in every which way. Being handled by two teammates to decide the winner between Regular vs. Goofy also helps make the occasion precious. Then throw in the fact that these two met in the BATB3 Championship as well, where P-Rod got PJ on tricks like the big spin heelflip, the laser flip, and the nollie late front foot flip to win the game. What makes this game so epic is that PJ matches those with no problem here, along with some of P-Rod's new ones like a frontside nollie double kickflip. But P-Rod's varial double heelflip? Now that's a sure letter and a pretty insane trick when you think about it. (Props to Chris Chann for knocking out Chris Cole with the switch version of the trick!) On the other side, P-Rod matches some of PJ's crazy tricks like the 540 flip, the frontside cab heelflip (with pop!), and especially the the fakie 540 flip on the second try to keep the game alive. That moment is a pretty definitive feeling of elation for watching a spectacular match. After P-Rod tries to make history and finish the game with a backside nollie late front foot flip, PJ seals the deal with fakie big spin inward heelflip. All in all, just an incredible battle.

1. BATB 6 Round 3 - Moose vs. PJ Ladd

Just like the BATB 6 Championship, this is a long game filled with all the basic tricks and even some miraculous ones as well. Now there are a few reasons why this game is my favorite one ever. First of all, it's pretty comical how Moose got letters on the 4 inward heelflips and a fakie big spin inward heel. Moose landed just about every other trick possible in the game, so it's very interesting to see his very concise weakness. But it's nearly impossible to be mad at that because of how the rest of the game plays out. Secondly, the frontside heelflip 360. The trick alone is worth so much to the BATB. Not only am I pretty sure that it was the only one ever done in BATB, but it was done against PJ Ladd himself. That's like trying to get The Boss a letter on a frontside flip or Jason Lee on a 360 flip. And lastly, what I'd like to call the caballerial section starting around 3:42 in the above video. While the front heel 360 is included in here, here are the tricks Moose sets: cab double flip, cab big spin, fakie bigger flip, cab big flip, nollie big flip, nollie bigger flip, nollie double heelflip, frontside cab kickflip, nollie back heel 360, and a little bit later a triple kickflip. PJ LANDS THEM ALL. And even after that, Moose matches PJ on a cab heelflip while on the brink of elimination. These are the gnarliest tricks in a game of skate, done back to back to back by both dudes. If that doesn't warrant this game getting praise for decades to come, I don't know what would. 

Best of BATB: Honorable Mention

It's so hard to create a High Five for all of the BATB games, so I had no choice but to create a list of battles worthy of Honorable Mention.

For starters, here are just some of my favorite moments from all the battles:
-Chris Roberts vs. Steve Berra in BATB1: Mikey and Eric as the siamese refs with some priceless opening theatrics
-Peter Ramondetta vs. Cory Kennedy in BATB2: Peter nailing two of Cory's absurd tricks to stay alive
-Cory Kennedy vs. Torey Pudwill in BATB2 for 3rd place: Cory easily had the most cutting edge group of 5 circus tricks to sweep Torey (fs nollie late flip, nollie heel spinout, switch backside double flip, triple flip, nollie big flip 360), but Torey came ridiculously close to them all and even landed the other super hard ones in between
-Felipe Gustavo vs. Jimmy Carlin in BATB4: Felipe's insane steeze will always be remembered
-Dennis Busenitz vs. Eric Koston in BATB4: Dennis's reaction to fakie inward heel is great, then proceeds to do it like it's nothing
-Torey Pudwill vs. Luan Oliveira in BATB4: without a doubt the most POPular game ever. Geoff says it at the start, "...must pop his trick. I don't think these guys are gonna have that problem."
-Davis Torgerson's surprise come up in BATB 4 against Sewa, Shane, and Ronnie won't be forgotten anytime soon.
-Jimmy Carlin's T-to-nothing comeback against Sebo Walker in BATB5, fakie big heels in both directions included, was pretty epic.

Now for just some lengthy, solid overall games of skate, with some haymaker tricks as well:
-Ishod Wair vs. Shane O'Neill in BATB4: seeing Shane nail the switch frontside bigger spin, the switch big heel, and the laser flip (and half cab heel) to stay alive were terrific.
-Tom Asta vs. Alex Mizurov in BATB4: the switch laser match was awesome.
-Morgan Smith vs. Alex Mizurov in BATB: Morgan staying alive (before winning the whole thing) on that backside double flip and nollie back heel 360 after two tries each was pretty awesome
-PJ Ladd vs. Trent McClung  in BATB 5: super long game with Trent somehow staying alive on the nollie bigger flip
-Chris Cole vs. Billy Marks in BATB 5: the triple flip, half heelflip late back foot kickflip, and the 360 underflip were all matched between these two
-Chris Cole vs. Dennis Busenitz in BATB2: Dennis landing the cab big flip, the blizzard flip (with Reda's priceless reaction), and nollie bs flip 360 were sweet, not to mention Cole's nice comeback as well.

And while the Rematch between Koston and Donovan Strain along with the very original pre-BATB game between Koston and Mike Mo are both unsanctioned, they're both legendary games at this point.

Just about every single game from a BATB Finals night has the crowd's bustling energy and some crazy tricks to make it fun to watch, but there are just too many to list. However, I need to give a special recognition to the BATB 2 Finals, Chris Cole vs. Paul Rodriguez. The moment when Chris Cole has his second try on the fakie inward heel and then proceeds to comeback with 3 straight tricks to win just helps to depict his relentlessness and legendary status. And P-Rod's smile after barely missing the back 360 kickflip is a perfect representation of his pure excitement of almost landing a hard trick and his gracious acceptance of defeat in a well-skated championship.

Next Week: Best of BATB

With BATB 7 Finals night just going down on Friday, and the Berrics including a nostalgic and well-placed Top 10 moments in BATB history during the live event, I felt that a High Five of the best battles is due. As of right now, there are certain battles in mind that will definitely make the cut, but I am going through every battle I can (from all 7 BATB) before posting the High Five. So even though I probably won't be posting tomorrow, all I can say is that before the end of the week, there will be 5 posts for the greatest battles from BATB history - and probably some honorable mentions as well.

In the meantime, with a pretty epic Pros vs. Joes concept behind BATB 7, it doesn't hurt to go back through some of this year's battles, especially the recent activity from finals night: Koston vs. Luan, Sewa vs. Cody Cepeda, and the Third Place Battle. Hopefully the final will be permanently posted tomorrow...
UPDATE: ...and it was! Along with some other fun moments from Finals night.

Switch 360 Flip Lipslide #3: Blake Carpenter

Blake Carpenter is on one of the most prominent come ups in skating. From being one of the Floridian Daylando homies to now getting hooked up by Tum Yeto, it's safe to say he's here to stay. And with as good of style as he has, mixed with above-par switch skills, it's no wonder why every part he's come out with is highly coveted. Blake's switch 360 flip is also a key component in making his video parts both memorable and stunningly awesome. Being able to switch tre into 50-50s and 5-0s (0:27 in his bangin) and even willy grinds on accident (1:40 in his gram yo selfie), of course Blake can switch tre lip with no problem. I first saw him nail this crazy trick down a thin handrail in his Daylando part (4:33 above), so it only makes sense that when he returned to his home-state with the AYC squad that he did it again down a thicker, rougher handrail just to show his versatility with the trick. At this point, Blake's got this one-of-a-kind banger down to it being just another demo trick. To have such an exclusive trick on lock is pretty incredible.

Video of the Week: Bobby Worrest - Hometown Turf Killer

Filming a part in one location is rarely something you can watch over and over and over...and over again. It gets to a point where the static scenery makes the clips feel repetitive, which is a key reason why I don't watch vert skating or even skatepark parts as much as I do street skating. With so many impressive skaters out today, the tricks get repetitive really quickly, so often times it takes a unique style or a special spot selection to make a video part interesting. However, Bobby Worrest provides an exception to this concept by coming out with a part filmed entirely at Pulaski park in DC. Bobby explores every corner of the park and maintains his unexpectedness with every clip. Not only is it great to get another part from Bobby, but to come through with high quality footage for a legitimate full part strictly in his hometown, he really mixed all the right ingredients for an awesome video. Oh, and that switch tre at 0:39!

Almost celebrated its 10th year in skateboarding at The Berrics with a nostalgic highlights video, an epic and fun-filled session at the park itself, and then an in-depth interview with Rodney Mullen that you're not going to find anything close to from any other skater. I could go on for a while about Almost: how I started skateboarding just after Round 3 dropped, how I would study every one of their parts in the video, how inspirational a guy like Rodney really is, how incredibly talented and creative all the team riders are, etc. Almost is one of my favorites without a doubt and it's terrific to see them going strong after 10 years.
-RIP Lewis Marnell-

Dave Vaughn's part in Find the Air showed how sometimes you don't need the absolute craziest tricks to have a ripping part (even though he throws in some serious bangers and solid lines), you can just have a style that makes skateboarding look good.
Chase Webb, despite conjuring up plenty of discussions related to Nyjah, the typical Californian handrail skater, etc., dropped a part through Transworld that is too gnarly to not appreciate.

Now the next few videos are all super awesome in their own way, but I'm keeping them for the end because they all have a good deal of older footage that is just remixed:
Tony Durao is one of my favorite up-and-coming East Coast shredders right now, and Quartersnacks masterfully remixed his TWS Check Out footage, his welcome part to Waters and Army, and some new footage for a part that should be talked about for years to come. (Massive switch boneless at 4:33!)
Mark Suciu's part in Search the Horizon was an instant classic and has been remixed with the same vibes you'd expect in a Habitat video, along with some cool footage I don't remember ever seeing from Mark.
Same thing pretty much for Brandon Westgate's part in MADE. This time it's been remixed with some of his older parts as well, which makes this Westgate compilation a true testament to his place in skateboarding.
And finally, this recap video from the Berrics' 2UP contest is actually quite worthy of a few views, especially when you have the blend of manual masters that you do for this contest.

Video of the Week: Taylor Smith - Shep Dawgs Tape Deck

Some dudes are just natural at skateboarding. Taylor Smith aka T-Spliff is definitely one of them. Now I always love some raw, uncut, behind the scenes footage, so 16 minutes of Taylor getting gnarly without even showing it is just priceless. His make-everything-look-easy style is too enjoyable and the fact that he hits up some of the scariest rails is the reason why he needs to be looked out for this year and years to come. I first learned about him through his WTF part, which was a sick first big part for him, and his Shep Dawgs 3 part (where most of these BTS clips are from) solidified my liking for him. Just look at the 14 minute mark in the uncut clips: Taylor boardslides a super sketchy high rail like it's nothing, and throws in a downhill kickflip because he's got it like that. Then, in prime Shep Dawg fashion, he figures the sketchy boardslide isn't enough, so he kickflips into it and rolls away without flinching once again. Seeing raw skate talent like this never gets old.

Also from this week, in keeping with the "Random Teams" theme, sml Wheels released an awesome 13 minute compilation of their whole team from the past year, including some footage I haven't seen before. sml is another one of those pretty stacked teams so this half-length video is something to get psyched on.

Now I already expressed how Luan's part in Chronicles was a bit disappointing and I think I finally know why. The hype for the video was so big that I was expecting some totally stunning NBDs from Luan (kind of like Shane pulled out), but in actuality he shredded in his usual precise fashion, but without anything completely mindblowing. Luan's new Strike and Destroy part, on the other hand, was described to be a short trip to Brazil to film in the area and came out without crazy anticipation. Couple that with the fact that Luan didn't skate lightly at all and this part is in my opinion much more exciting and entertaining than his Chronicles part. From the not-seen-too-frequently Brazilian streets to Luan's flawless style to his well-picked tricks, and especially to his downhill lines, this part has all the right ingredients to be very tasteful.

In other skate news from the past week:
-John Gardner and Nik Stain both released heavy East Coast video parts for Skate Jawn. Thrasher was totally right in seeing the similarities between John and Zered Bassett...
-One of my new favorite contests in skateboarding, The Berrics and Matix's 2UP contest is amazing so far.
-Brandon Nguyen kills it in his Video Check Out.
-Andrew Norris skates with a solid style and makes some difficult spots look easy in his Mag Minute.
-The lineup alone for Outliers is enough to be stoked on, but the trailer made it all official with Marius Syvanen unexpectedly filling in the last spot.

Name Changers #1: Boo Johnson

Even though Transworld had an interview with Boo Johnson a few years ago regarding his name, I didn't realize that his first name was Jakel until his latest New Jack interview in The Skateboard Mag. Again, just another one of those names that stuck when he was young. Keeping Jakel would've been interesting for the alliterative full name, but Boo is definitely one of those "nicknames"/name changes that is bound to catch someone's ear. And it makes sense: he's definitely well-known and enlisted by a heavy collection of sponsors. Obviously he kills it on his board, but there's no way a catchy name like Boo isn't going to help with his status in the industry too.

Watch Boo whip out some crazy tricks with effortless style in his Recruit part above!

Video of the Week: Phil Zwijsen's Time Chase

Click here: Phil Zwijsen's Time Chase

The European skate scene has so much incredible talent and style that often times us Americans overlook some of the gnarliest parts that come out. Luckily I saw Phil Zwijsen's latest part because it really is one of the more exhilarating parts so far this year. Super fast skating at some pretty wild spots combine for one enjoyable ride of a video part. Definitely get ready to go skate after this one.

Now I missed it last week but Nate Greenwood dropped one heck of an East Coast banger with his part in Theory's Chump Change. I never realized he was a Bang Yo Self finalist when his Stereophonic Sound part came out because the name didn't jump out at me right away. But that part certainly sealed the deal. I was a fan since then and his latest part doesn't disappoint one bit. He brings some gnarly West Coast tricks to the East and has a huge bag of tricks to do so. Adding on a fun style with the East Coast aesthetics and this part is a very big standout from the past couple weeks. 

Continuing to back the onslaught of East Coasters this year, Tony Durao had a really sick Video Check Out for Transworld and the Mountain Dew squad shredded the Big Apple with some famous skaters and spots. 

Vince Duran SURPRISED us all with his great fakie skills in his introductory part.

Sebo Walker is indeed a Turf Killer and is finally given the official Krooked welcome.

Chaz Ortiz has loads of tricks to display in his Battle Commander, including some steezy tech ones.

A unique crew goes Trippin through Europe and gathers some sick tricks in the process.

This Miami edit from Transworld captures the great spots at night that really can't be replicated anywhere else.

I'm normally not a fan of huge montages of skaters I don't know, but Vox nailed it with their Backin Texas video because the tricks and spots are simply awesome. 

Neal Wood, Danny Leon, and Max Taylor all came through as well with solid parts this week that were likely overlooked. 

Video of the Week: Eric Thomas - Paradise in the Plains

This might be the first week in a while without some huge name video part release, but it was still full of really solid skating. Last Sunday, Paradise Wheels welcomed Eric Thomas to their team with this super fun video above. Probably flying under the radar for most people, this video really stuck out to me for the spot selection. From some of the coolest looking ditches to literally middle of nowhere spots to some pretty tall rooftop drops, Eric covers a wide variety of aesthetically pleasing and unique locations. The other thing that stuck out was that for the most part, the skating was rather slow. Now usually slow skating is a big turnoff and boring to watch, but Eric used it cleverly with the spots and creative tricks to keep me wanting more. It's definitely not your typical video part by these days' standards in any way, but it was thoroughly entertaining.

In other news:
-European legend Florentin Marfaing had a quick interview over at Red Bull and reminded us that he's still super sick.
-Brandon Taylor mixes really gnarly tricks with creativity for one of the better Mag Minutes in recent memory. The huge caveman is nuts!
-The Ollie Crew rolls deep and is featured skating some rad street spots in Vancouver and San Francisco (2/3 of San Vanelona...)
-Nate Lacoste came out with a new video part, shared with a few friends, for Roger Skateboards and it's definitely worth the watch.
-The Tilt Mode crew is stacked and this Archives video is full of sweet footage from the likes of Daryl Angel, Jon Nguyen, Zack Wallin, and Peter Raffin.
-Manolos Tapes is probably the best source for remixed videos in skateboarding. Once again it doesn't disappoint on remixing Parental Advisory with less acting and more street shredding.
-I've been a fan of James Espinoza and his buttery style, surprising amount of pop, crazy manual tricks, and fakie inward heelflips for a while, so it was great to see a short VX part from him.
-The latest Tum Yeto recruit, Tre Williams, silently destroys a bunch of California spots as if he was sleeping.
-Though it came out a little more than a week ago, I cannot neglect the latest part from Italo Romano. It's not only inspiring but it's full of really crazy tricks too!
-After Shane O'Neill's part in Chronicles 2 was released last week, more parts from the ripping video were released this week: Donovan Piscopo, Theotis Beasley, Luan Oliveira, and Ishod Wair.

Along with this, I have to give credit to the Berrics for coming out with the Populist. It's cool to get another source of major recognition in the skate industry on top of the big mags, such as Thrasher's SOTY or the TWS Awards. And my favorite part is that they basically compiled the best skaters' video parts from 2013 all on one page for a good day's worth of awesome skate video watching.

Video of the Week: Yoshi Tanenbaum

Yoshi Tanenbaum's skill is surreal. The fact that the flick on his laser was perfect nearly every single try and he stuck all but maybe two attempts is incomprehensible. Making something so gnarly look easy enough to just run up and go for it like Yoshi did is beyond impressive, and then landing it twice in a row (what was wrong with the first one?) takes the cake for me.

For time constraints I will just list some other sweet videos from this past week:
Chaz Ortiz and his insanely consistent and buttery backside flips at the Berrics
The Expedition flow bros are extremely skilled
Always enjoy some new Josh Anderson footage, in this case via his Mag Minute
The ever-beautiful varial heelflips and variations from Willow in this Etnies feature
Moose's first pro truck via Thunder Trucks
Sweet new part from Aussie Jack Fardell
Always love some raw VX footage from one of my favorites, Walker Ryan
Connor Champion skating very poppy with this Quartersnacks remixed part
Loving the New Balance team lately, especially with edits like The Second Narrows
Waters and Army welcomes Marek Zaprazny with this awesome video part (fakie nosegrind switch tre!)
Introduction to Zero's Cold War video (so pumped to see it this week!!)

Mini Ramp Skaters #1: Dave Bachinsky

The greatest irony about how good Dave Bachinsky is at mini ramp skating is that he has done arguably the most iconic gap trick in skateboarding. Nevertheless, he comes up with the most insane tricks and lines on a mini ramp like no one else. From manualing in between lips like some THPS trick to probably being the only guy to utilize the caballerial heelflip and fakie inward big heel as tricks on a mini ramp, Dave can really do it all. The first time my mind was blown by his mini ramps skills was in this Hubba video above: Bachinsky Gone Wild. And most recently he released The Formula on the Berrics and somehow has progressed mini ramp skating even more than his already. Again, like Daewon and Haslam, I feel like the most justice done to Dave would be just to present these two outstanding video parts and let the sweet mini ramp skating speak for itself.

Skating the Unskateable #4: Richie Jackson

Richie Jackson is very mystical, for lack of a better word. He goes out of his way to...go out of the way. He skates everything with his own flavor to the point of seeing him do "standard" tricks becomes the unusual aspect of his video parts. Coming up with his own tricks and variations is one thing, but doing this opens up so many more doors to spots to skate.
Take a look at Richie's part in And Now (above), for example. He opens up the part at a wall with a telephone pole support cable. That is the spot he chooses to skate and put in his part first. But it's the simplicity of the spot and the creativity of his wallride hippie jump body varial (naming tricks is not going to easy for this post) that makes this clip and all of Richie's so refreshing to watch. Being refreshing also doesn't take away from how impressive a lot of Richie's tricks are as well; there's a reason why he's one-of-a-kind. Take the ollie at 0:17: most skaters would complain about the crack right before the stairs or at the bottom but Richie doesn't mind those because he skates right through the trash can lying at the top stair. Before the fence-skating craze that I've seen at the new LES skatepark in NYC, Richie was skating directly off the fence like at 0:47, four wheels and all. No perfect flatbar? No problem for Richie! He skates chain links at 0:52 and at 2:38. And since when was a perfectly vertical structure a viable skate obstacle option? Since Richie finished his Tony Hawk video games and learned legitimate Natas spins like at 1:06 and the improved nose version at 1:39. At 1:55 people probably look at the set like it's entirely unskateable: way too long for any crazy Jaws-wannabe, and the hubbas have full length statues at the ends. So Richie just takes the easiest way down by firecracking straight through 20 stairs. In an effort to be more environmental, Richie stalls a solid airwalk treeplant (this is the best use of the "plant" as possible, in all meanings of the word) at 2:30 to finish off a line.  In the two clips starting at 2:45, skaters would typically think that the poles are in the way of the perfect ledge, but Richie's hippie qualities get him around the poles no problem. And of course, when you can't find the perfect hubbas down a stair set, just find the closest mall's escalator (like at 2:53) and skate its ledges. (I find it funny that Richie actually hits the escalator switch and rolls away switch too, probably just to bump up his score.)
Firecrackers are definitely not new, but to use the last few stairs during a firecracker as a launching step to a variety of fliptricks definitely qualifies as skating the unskateable. Please refer to Richie's Battle Commander at the Berrics for further information.

Skating the Unskateable #5: Brandon Westgate

By now, everyone's probably watched the new Emerica MADE video at least ten times by now and has witnessed the full-speed all out destruction left by Brandon Westgate. So if you don't know, now you know. But for those that knew already, it's clearly understood that Brandon Westgate is a spot-slaughtering machine. His extreme pop and fearlessness mixed with his ability to adapt to the harshest of surfaces has allowed him to set new standards for what spots can be skated, even if no one else will step up to those spots in a while. Below are a good deal of tricks that Brandon has made that has opened up new spots to skate or new ways to skate a spot.
In Zoo York's State of Mind he skate three spots in a row at 0:20 going UP instead of down (NYC Black Hubbas, the loading dock gap, and the tapered pyramid ledge spot). In Emerica's Stay Gold (above), Brandon finds a really innovative way to skate the manny banks at 0:48; no one's ever looked at the spot as actually using both banks together. Even ollieing into the bank at 1:00 was quite a new look at the spot. The SF line at 2:35 with the two stairway ollies going extremely fast was the first of many visits to that spot for ridiculous lines that only Brandon could do.  At 3:10 Brandon basically ollies the length of a house over a parking railing nonetheless and lands pretty far down in a slope. There's a gap to rail at 4:13 that Brandon lipslides that I'm pretty sure hadn't been skated before and other than Alex Olsen recently in Pretty Sweet still hasn't been touched. And then there's the ollie up at 4:19 that is just incomprehensible.
Soon after Stay Gold, Brandon came out with his Emerica Shoe Part where he finds another unique way to fly down the hills of SF at 0:46 with an alleyway ollie to finish the line. In the line at 1:54, Brandon finishes off a sweet line by 50-50ing a shoulder high rail off a natural sidewalk kicker. In a short clip of Brandon just Talking about the Westgate, he skates up two kinks of a pretty legit hubba. Definitely hasn't been done up something as legitimately kinked as that. Then there's Brandon's Real Street part where his first tricks involve him ollieing up onto an insane ledge all from a little sidewalk curb cut and then out over both the street and stairway. In his Mini-Bangin at the Berrics, Brandon 180s where no skater has before because no one would think of going from the 5 stair section out and over the tall bar off the far side of the bump section.
In Zoo York's latest promo video of True East, Brandon hits a super sketchy step up gap at 6:30 that clearly looks unskateable. He chooses to backside flip up it. Directly after that he ollies over the extremely tall bump to bar in ATL that I doubt no one else will hit in a while. And of course the ender ollie in Pittsburgh at 7:22 that is the definitive combination of sketchiness and gnarliness. No sane skater in their wildest dreams would ever picture ollieing something like that.
Finally, in Emerica's MADE Vol. 1, Brandon continues with his ridiculous SF sidewalk lines that only he can see with his experience there. There's a huge 180 over a flower patch after a quick drop down about an 8 stair. The crazy part of this would just be to visualize where in the world he could get speed from; dropping down the stairs beforehand does not seem like an option until Westgate does it. When the music first calms down for a little there's a very tall, sketchy curved ledge that drops down into another crusty hubba that he powers a 50-50 through backside. Later on in the part, Brandon ollies over a tall black pole off of a sidewalk bump (that blends into the background so a double take is usually necessary) that is unlikely for anyone else to even get the courage to skate straight on. There's the gigantic bump to bar against the full brick wall near the end that seems super hard just to keep speed up through, much less pop and land way down below. And of course the van-tow-in loading dock ollie up that defies all gravity. But of course Westgate follows his own laws of gravity.

Switch Backside Kickflips #1: coming tomorrow...

Because of time issues, the last post of the best switch backside kickflips will be coming tomorrow. But to occupy today's post, please refer to the switch backside kickflip Trickipedia at the Berrics as both a precursor for tomorrow and the best visual lesson for the trick possible.

Switch Backside Kickflips #2: Walker Ryan

For a guy that dominates the switch backside bigspin like no other and has tricks like switch big flips, nollie frontside flips, and switch back 360s down pat, it is no surprise that Walker Ryan's switch backside kickflip is one of his best tricks. Not only is Walker extremely skilled in a wide range of skating (mannys, tranny, gaps, ledges, you name it) but he has a special style. Personally, his style gets me every time in that I forget about what other skaters have done while I watch Walker skate and just lose myself in his one of a kind bag of tricks. It might sound weird but I'm distracted by his elegance on a skateboard so I always have to remind myself just how hard the tricks are that he does.
It's interesting because I think what also attracts me to Walker's skating style is that with a lot of his flip tricks (particularly gap tricks), as soon as he catches the usually slightly off axis flip (which adds cool points for uniqueness already) there isn't that robotically perfect board-glued-to-your-feet moment that every skater has (look at the nollie cab at 3:21 of his Graduation part above to see what I mean). The uncertainty of whether or not he can keep the board with him while watching him land his gap tricks is unexplainably exciting. Even though I've watched his parts hundreds of times and know the tricks and how he lands them, it isn't until Walker actually starts rolling away that my eyes relax from not knowing how the board will stay under his feet. And yet all of his landings are pretty much bolts too, which makes the paradox that much more intriguing.
With that being said, he is without a doubt one of my favorite skaters, so I will chronologically (as accurately as I can) go through his extremely solid resume of video parts that he's consistently put out throughout the past 5/6 years or so and visually remind you why his switch backside flip is one of the best in the game. (And while I could include variations like switch big flips or switch flip back noseblunts - because they are obviously awesome - I'm going to just highlight specifically switch backside flips.)
Welcome to Organika: switch backside flip at 2:04 out and down a pretty well-recognized NYC loading dock gap.
Focus Group: at 2:39 down a sizable stair set, while making it look like nothing
Concrete Jungle: at 2:18 down and across the "Walker-Ryan-made-famous" UCSD gap and in a line at 4:39 after a switch ollie up onto a bench and into a regular manual on another bench
Welcome to Circa: at 1:28 down the well-sized stage/bush gap and immediately followed at 1:37 over a large block to manual off the curb
Berrics Recruit: at 0:40 bump over 4 stair, at 0:57 to switch back disaster, and for his ender at 1:50 to regular backside 5-0 grind down the small hubba (like seriously, who else does tricks like these last two?!)
Shuffl Video: for his ender at 3:30 across the gap spanning two ledges at embarcadero and into a manual because just switch backside flipping that gap wasn't enough already
Graduation: at 2:40 out of a switch manual with a really cool looking off axis rotation (the thought of trying to hold a switch manual and then somehow turn switch backside scares me...), at 3:34 down the very large famous 6 block (definitely one of the top tricks done down that gap), at 3:53 to 5-0 (now upgraded from the Berrics to a street spot), and ultimately a switch backside 360 kickflip at 4:08 off a highway bridge kicker just to prove that this mythical trick is possible in the streets.
Double Rock: at 0:44 to switch back disaster, over the uneven hip in a line at 0:51, and to start a line at 2:09 very speedily down the stairs
Grow With Us: at 1:19 across a pretty well-recognized gap to manny and then front 180 out, down a really sick and pretty big set at 2:19 to finish off a line with proper tweakage, and quite possibly one of the best switch backside flips ever at 3:21 over a tall bump to bar with very little lift-off
Perpetual Motion (remix): at 2:09 into a decently long nose manual and with nice-to-see complete control at 3:21 down the pretty well-known water fountain gap

Switch Backside Kickflips #3: Austyn Gillette

I shouldn't have to say how wonderful it is to watch Austyn Gillette skate.  His style is insanely fluid and graceful and his pop, flick, and overall trick flicking is just a thing of beauty. Ok, now that the obvious is out of the way...
Austyn has a very good switch backside flip, to say the least. With his ability to pop (just look at the trick done over the Maloof High Ollie bar with a casual little light footed hop after landing) and his ability to skate super fast so nonchalantly (like all throughout his Quik part but in particular at 4:17 when he speedily switch backside flips over a huge street hip while basically going downhill the whole time), Austyn comes out with a trick that looks way too comfortable for the level of difficulty that he executes it at.  Some notable switch backside flips that I've seen from Austyn: over a steep hip at 0:32 when a couple Habitat guys traveled with Austyn in OZ, down a clean set of skatepark stairs at 1:40 in his Street League Selection extended edit, and at 0:33 over a fire hydrant in his latest Real Street part.
But with a style like Austyn's, I have to place further emphasis on a few of the sweetest switch backside flips I've seen from him.  Austyn's part in Habitat's Origin, one of my favorite video parts of all time for sure, showcases his great use of speed and flick at 4:30 when he switch backside flips across a super long dirt patch, over a wall, and then down a small gap after all that. You can tell visually by the quickness that he moves away from the camera just how fast he was going and how long that gap must be. As referenced yesterday with Blake Carpenter, Austyn also participated in a very entertaining and impressive Battle Royale at the Berrics, where at 1:15 Austyn lands a beauty of a switch backside flip. The crazy thing about this is that not only was it down the Berrics' 7 stair, but he landed about 6 feet out past the last stair just for the heck of it! And to close it all off, I'd like to point to the extremely aesthetically pleasing video part above: Austyn Unlimited. The whole part is great, but it also shows Austyn's varied use of the switch backside flip. In a line starting at 3:38, Austyn's pulling out quite a few enjoyable tricks all while cruising down a nice hill. Mid-line he decides to switch backside flip (after a switch ollie and switch powerslide too) and still have enough cruising control to swerve behind a parked car and ollie back up the curb for his next trick. At 4:46 he shows the trick with a more technical control by doing it into a manual with a front 180 out on a nicely structured pad. To penultimately end his part at 5:35, Austyn drops one of my most memorable switch backside flips: in a crusty looking neighborhood, over a sketchy curving staircase's handrail, defining style with his flick and catch, and landing downhill once again so that he can roll away with that effortless posture.

UPDATE: I always remembered this particular switch backside flip over a couch from Austyn, just not where to find it. It is a thing of beauty.

Switch Backside Kickflips #4: Blake Carpenter

Blake's two welcome videos for his first primary sponsors of Toy Machine and Dekline both were relatively short and had a few clips each.  But with a switch backside flip as good as he has, of course Blake's going to include that trick in both his Welcome to Toy Machine part (at 0:19) and his Welcome to Dekline clip (at 0:14).  The Toy Machine version shows how Blake can handle this trick down pretty tall gaps and the Dekline version shows how how utterly perfect the trick can look when you think of pop (over a considerable bump to bar), flick, rotation, and landing. Blake takes the switch backside flip almost to video-game-looking levels, as also evidenced when he lands it during his Battle Royale at the Berrics at 1:08. He's got that spot on rotation so that he can land the trick without having to readjust his balance. Not only that, but he can seriously pop the trick too, as seen at 0:26 for his Bang Yo Self 3 submission. And with his video part in Daylando (above), Blake does this switch flip front board back to regular on the back of a park bench at 1:46 (which even though isn't the same trick for this week's content, is undoubtedly worth mentioning). It is one of the craziest freeze frame moments I've seen because of his ninja flick and ridiculous pop. Blake's so fluid with the trick that until you freeze the image it's hard to appreciate just how high he pops and flicks the switch [backside] kickflip. Besides that, his Daylando part also contains a well-popped flatground switch backside flip at 1:12 over a red block (since apparently he kept hitting the camera when he wasn't putting the flip in...) and a really long one at 3:52 over a small wall and a dirt gap with a fun little body rotation delay as he's bringing the board the full 180 before his body's all the way there.  And lastly, I'll leave the bump to bar at 2:47 in Cosmic Vomit 2 for the last switch backside flip. Perfection once again.

Switch Backside Kickflips #5: Shane O'Neill

Shane O'Neill is kind of like Moose in that they both have basically claimed the nollie frontside flip through their excellent use of the trick, yet Shane has also done wonders with the switch backside flip.  Everyone knows Shane is a wizard when it comes to skating: he can do basically any trick he really wants to and somehow make it look like he's had that trick down for years. I'd say there's a fine line between stylish and robotic, and Shane knows exactly where to walk on the stylish side without wavering too far over. This is evident with his switch backside kickflips. Just look at his Trickipedia for the trick at the Berrics. (You know when you get a Trickipedia for a trick that you've definitely mastered it.) Shane encompasses just the right amounts of flicking without going too ninja, the right amount of spinning board and body without overdoing the late backside rotation almost into a pivot, and the right amount of knee flexing so his posture while popping and landing is the most comfortably looking I've seen. A trick like this with Shane's style is the pinnacle of bringing jealousy to those that watch him skate as for how easy he makes the trick look.
Shane's put out some top notch parts over the past 4 years or so that are obviously worth watching for the diversity of tricks, yet the few switch backside flips thrown in them definitely stand out.
In Skate Mental's Am Chowder, Shane works a switch backside flip into a banked manual at 1:41 with enough ease to calmly 180 out at the end. He also nails a really nice one at 2:29 at this foundation gap.
In his going pro video part through Skate Mental and the Berrics (above), Shane continues to show his comfortability with the trick at 0:47 across a flat gap and especially in the combo trick at 2:48, the likes of which I had not even imagined possible before this video part. (Remember how monumental this part was when it came out back in 2010? Looking at it now is a trip because of how much crazier skateboarding has become in every respect. Woah...)
Recently, in Primitive's team video Pain is Beauty, Shane perfectly executes a switch backside flip over a picnic table at 7:52, which again demonstrates the right balance of everything good in a stylish fliptrick.
And lastly, in Not Another Transworld Video, Shane does the trick into a nose manual at 0:53 (holding it for quite some time) and just to be safe he nollie flips out. At 1:39 he utilizes the lily manual pads with a quick ollie up then a frontside 180 switch manny switch backside flip out, fully rotating the trick on its way out and sustaining his momentum too, just because that's how good he has the trick. He immediately follows that clip up at 1:45 by speedily switch backside flipping with a sick flick across a long gap. And then at 2:39 you can witness the culmination of all switch backside flippage with the ultimate ledge combo that I had been dreaming about seeing for years: switch kickflip back tail switch backside flip 270 out.

Dudes with Nicknames #5: Moose (Luis de los Reyes)

From what I've read and heard, as Moose was coming up he would always paint a different animal on his griptape. At a skatepark when some pros were around, they saw him ripping and wanted to get his attention so they shouted out "Moose!", since that happened to be the animal on his griptape at the time.  Ever since, that name has stuck and has basically erased Luis's original name for the skate industry. I'd say that he is a prime example of how a solid nickname can really stick and take over for a skater.
Now I don't need to delve in at all into how awesome Moose is as a skater, and I am beyond stoked that he is FINALLY pro now. (Just copped his new pro model from Deathwish!) I still love watching his Recruit part at the Berrics (above) and if you haven't seen his part in the Deathwish video, get on that ASAP.
And finally, watch this whole video, but just make sure to witness the stunning perfection at 3:51. That is all.