Next Week: Clipper Ledge

Next week is going to be a good one. We'll be taking a look at a bunch of the tricks that have gone down at the Clipper Ledge in San Francisco, California. This topic was primarily inspired by Jamie Thomas's latest addition to the history of tricks with his gnarly ender in Cold War. Just to be safe and not spoil anything further, I'll just say that while the trick itself may be used a bit too frequently these days, actually thinking about doing it down something as big as Clipper makes you realize just how gnarly that trick was. The fact that it was The Chief doing it too just adds to the quality of the history at the spot.

To keep some standards for this week, I'll only be highlighting the grinds/slides done down the ledge. That isn't to say there have been some crazy tricks done OVER the ledge too. Cody Mac's switch flip from Business as Usual (2:48), Jamie Tancowny's backside flip from Strange World (1:25) which just so happens to follow a sweet kickflip front board down the ledge, and one of the highest ollies probably ever done: Milton Martinez goes over the top and down the TWO sets at Clipper! Then there's Eli Reed and Richie Jackson getting creative and doing some footplants, Eli in his Real Street part (0:52) and Richie in this older Pig Wheels ad.
Now for some mention-worthy grind/slide tricks done down Clipper. There's James Hardy in Since Day One with his scary front 180 to switch 50-50 the hard way, Nyjah Huston's hammer of a hardflip back 5-0 from his Last Call part from last year (0:30), Greg Lutzka's really awesome frontside big spin noseslide from Forward Slash, Vincent Alvarez with a crazy switch backside bluntslide back to switch from Pretty Sweet, Ishod Wair with the stylish frontside version, and then Mark Appleyard with three beautiful tricks from Sorry: switch front tail (1:28), kickflip back 5-0 (4:35), and following that with the gnarly nollie flip back 50.

I hope I'm not missing any super gnarly tricks done at Clipper, but these ones mentioned here and the ones coming this week are the ones that stick out most.

Update 6/8/15: Even though Transworld pretty much fully documented the ABD Archives at Clipper, and Thrasher helped unleash a myriad of NBDs on the spot through The Ripper at Clipper to forever cement this spot as one of the greatest in skateboarding history (RIP Clipper), I don't think Daniel Dubois' frontside 360 from his 19th Ave part was fully appreciated, or Sam Baker's crazy ledge combo on the gnarly hubba while under construction. And I almost forgot Alex Conn's gnarly nollie boardslide to fakie!

Mini Ramp Skaters #4: Cody McEntire

Cody McEntire can do some pretty magical things on a mini ramp. Between his ability to pop tricks quite high (particularly on transitions) and his extraordinarily gorgeous one-of-a-kind flick, putting these skills to a mini ramp results in some pretty unreal tricks and lines.  In his classic Smoke and Mirrors part, he opens up before the music with a sick line that when I compare it to some of Ben's awesome lines that I wrote about yesterday, really shows how talented Cody is. And then at 2:11 is an extra high nollie big spin back tail backside flip out for good measure. In Business As Usual, he whips around a deadly front blunt at 0:35 and does what I consider his signature transition trick at 2:09: a frontside 180 fakie 5-0 flip out with his awesome personal style of kicking his back foot out or something to catch the flip. Cody's Real Street part has a couple of nice mini ramp/lip tricks starting at 0:22 and his Love it or Leave it part has a terrific section from 2:21-2:55 just mini ramp tricks. The late back foot flip noseblunt has got to be an NBD for sure!
Now the video parts show Cody's all around amazing skating interspersed with sweet mini ramp stuff, but the clip posted above along with this Mini Ramp Session are what truly puts him as one of the best mini ramp skaters out there. I think it's safe to say he has THE BEST switch 360 flip on a mini ramp or transition in skateboarding. If you don't check out his other video parts mentioned earlier (although they'd be totally worth it), please just check out these two minute-long clips and have your mind blown.

Favorite Video Parts #5: Cody McEntire - Smoke and Mirrors

Cody Mac can probably do anything he wants on a miniramp, most likely from hanging out with Dave Bachinsky so much.  So his opening line just sets the tone for the rest of this timeless video part, where he looks so natural on the board, both switch and regs.  Lynard Skynard's Simple Man starts chiming in as Cody proceeds to demonstrate an enticing sneak peak at his big bag of tricks, only to close out his opening line at Carlsbad with a nollie big spin down the gap.  The whistles at 0:57 provide the perfect stoke, almost as if you were right there with the crew to dish out some high fives after the trick.  And then he proceeds to issue his controlled destruction of spots.  I love his trick selection for the line at 1:33, I don't think I've seen many people flip in and flip out of the tall manny pad at 2:23, the catch on the switch flip at 3:29 is almost comical for how cool it is to look at, and I still feel like his "spread eagle" nollie big heel down Carlsbad ender is the sweetest trick done at that gap.