California Street Gap

I've been looking forward to a High Five set of tricks at this street gap and the time has come! @theclintorous kickflip from Ambig's Modern Art (2013) @the__provider frontside flip from Emerica's MADE Ch. 1 B-Sides (2014) @rileyhawk heelflip from Shep Dawgs Vol. 4 (2014) @tfunkb late shove from DC Shoes' Lynx Vulc / Trace S (2016) @enzo_cautela varial heelflip from Bones Wheels part (2017) #skatehighfives #streetgap #skatenerd

A post shared by @skateboardinghighfives on Apr 7, 2017 at 6:14pm PDT

I don't know what this street gap is called, but it sure is recognizable. I'm sure a couple other tricks have been landed here as well, but after Enzo Cautela came out with his Bones Part recently, this High Five had to be posted! Each and every one of these tricks blew my mind when it first came out, considering how fast they have to be towed in to clear the gap. I vaguely remember some Hall of Meat or bail clip at this spot too, proving that not just anyone can mess with it. Well here are 5 of the sickest dudes out with their noteworthy contributions to this heavy gap!

Recent No Complys #4: Clint Walker

Clint Walker is one of the gnarliest dudes, bar none. His Modern Art part, that I will forever reference, proves just that.  So it's no surprise that he filled up the whole minute of his recent Real Street part with nothing but bangers, among which he had 3 killer no comply moves. The first at 0:16 is taken frontside off a significant drop into a bank, showing how Clint manages to keep his feet on the grip even though that's probably the weirdest-feeling trick to take down a drop. The second at 0:41 is also taken frontside, but this time to fakie 50-50 down a handrail, something I don't remember ever seeing like that (though Albert Nyberg cannot be forgotten). And finally, at 0:54, Clint demonstrates his ability to pop a no comply straight up and over a wall, perfectly guiding the board with his feet as he glides down.  It's rare to see the no comply taken to such gnarly levels, but who else than Clint to do it.

SOTY 2013 Contender #5: Clint Walker

When someone drops a video part this gnarly, there's no doubt it deserves to be on repeat for a while. I'm still watching this part today, which says a lot for being released with an online video. Clint's quick-to-spring-back-into-normal-riding-posture style is really unique but works extremely well with his skating. With the right amount of heelflips and kickflips, slides and grinds, and single bangers and hard lines, the part really comes together as one of the best of the year easily. I could list the craziness in just about every single clip in the part, but for sake of quality over quantity, my absolute favorites were the about-to-be-kicked-out triple set ollie body varial, the extremely long and gnarly bump to street gap kickflip, and the ender 50-50 through hell, all at the end of the part. Words cannot describe the testicular fortitude it must take to handle those tricks, but that's what Clint does best, and I absolutely praise him for it.
The great editing from the guys at Ambig for the full Modern Art video definitely helped make Clint's part an instant classic and it also helps with his run for SOTY to have additionally dropped this part for a Red Bull Interview with some bonus tricks.

Next Week: Skating the Unskateable

Skateboarding today is generally based on doing tricks in the streets. Sure there are tons of great skateparks out there with perfect transitions and ledges, but one of the core qualities of why we skate is to manipulate the streets in the "real world" for our own purposes. This is why some spots are completely blown up because of accidentally being made near to perfection for skateboards, and other spots are known only for one trick alone because of how impossible to skate they may seem. This week I will be looking into latter side of the spectrum, at skaters that have the ability to visualize skating spots that most of us would never even consider touching with our boards.
For a topic like this, I feel that it's necessary to mention guys like Danny Way and Bob Burnquist, who have taken skating vert to a whole new level. Looking at Bob Burnquist's Dreamland, I find it hard to believe that anyone could come up with the crazy ideas that this man has. The innovation in skating the unskateable (nope, helicopters are not your typical skatepark feature) is hard to match with a part like this. However, considering that Bob did create an actual "Dreamland" with perfectly smooth surfaces and mathematically correct ramps and transitions, he doesn't exactly fall under the category of the top five guys this week who have changed the way we look at natural street spots.
Also worth mentioning is Clint Walker. My perception of skating impossibly gnarly spots has changed completely since his Modern Art part. From skating glass handrails to handrails with both drop downs and kinks mixed together to unnecessarily long street gaps like at 5:03, Clint truly made an impact on skating with this part and how guys view what is skateable and what isn't skateable.
And then there's David Gonzalez. His Possessed to Skate part was an instant classic for its sheer gnarliness. How could it not be when David sets new standards for handrail skating with tricks like at 4:32 or his unreal ender at 5:30.