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.

Video of the Week: Jordan Hoffart - Welcome to Stereo

Bryan Whalen would normally be given the VOTW honors from me because I haven't seen as enjoyable of a part as that one in a while, especially with as graceful switch skating and fun trick selection as he came through with. But there's no way I can deny Jordan Hoffart finally getting a board sponsor after too long in limbo, especially because he manages to drop yet another gnarly part.

GX1000: Living in the Bay with an incredible crew ripping through the streets
Tom Asta Pro Spotlight
Chris Cole for DC Cole Lite 2
Ben Raybourn Welcome to Nike
Ramshakle: Nick Palmquist, Chad Bartie, Josh Hawkins, Aldrin Garcia
Element United Nations at the Berrics
Sylvain Tognelli opens up Nozbone's Cafe Clope with a sick part
Kurt Hodge Footage Party
Brad McClain Mag Minute

Next Week: Speed Demons

Skaters are getting gnarlier and crazier these days, so seeing them skate faster to push skateboarding (almost literally) to new limits is no surprise. But there are a group of skaters that just stick out because of how fast they skate, and how consistently they skate at that speed. So this week I'm going to cover the top 5 speed demons that are personally the ones I think of when it comes to fast skating.

There are tons of other dudes that skate super fast too, so it's obligatory that I mention a few names here as well:
Tony Trujillo, TNT, rips extremely hard in his part in In Bloom, street and tranny, to cement himself as one of the fastest skaters for sure.
John Cardiel, like TNT, skates so crazily fast on street and tranny in his part in Sight Unseen. The line at 0:39 is too awesome.
Corey Duffel skates down some insanely huge gaps and does so by skating insanely fast. The last ollie in his Real Street part seems unreal and will stick in your memory after watching it just once.
Danny Way deserves the mention for sure. Breaking gap distance and height records...oh and this land speed record as well.
Grant Taylor skates super fast, wild in a controlled way, and just simply powerful. Before his Chronicles part dropped, he was awarded SOTY 2011, for a definitive reason I might add, through this video part on Thrasher. That very first line gets me every time just thinking about that high-speed half cab and then ollieing over the guy on the bench.
Chris Pfanner is another dude that skates some huge gaps and goes on an all out assault at every spot. There are some speedy lines and long gaps here in this Volcom Stone-Age clip.
Jordan Hoffart has been known to skate pretty fast. Every one of his parts has some clips that are just full-on speed, but the insane ollie from Bones New Ground will be the trick from Jordan that sticks out the most.
Gilbert Crockett also skates really fast. Though pretty short, his Life-Splicing part is probably my favorite part of Gilbert's. Without exaggeration, every single clip involves some solid speed, and the final ollie still blows my mind.

This Week: Recent Frontside Flips from Euro-Ditches

I apologize for the late posting but it's coming no matter what! This week will be a quick and specified topic because of time constraints. Lately (as in the past 3/4 months or so) I've noticed a decent amount of big frontside kickflips out of ditches over pretty hefty euro gaps, or something similar. Could it be the next big trend? Who knows...but either way I'd just like to point out some of these Euro-Ditch Frontside Flips that I've noticed and been stoked by over the past months.
An honorable mention for this category goes to Jordan Hoffart and his ender from Jordan's Day Hoff. Huge gap, loads of speed, and endless power from Jordan. Stay relentless with those gnarly gaps!

Video of the Week: GX1000 Montreal

There were way too many good videos this week, so here's a "brief" rundown.
I'd almost completely forgotten about Dennis Durrant but was so stoked that he's still been skating with that same smooth technical style. Glad to see his latest video part for Adidas International at the beginning of this week with some stupid-tech fakie flip variations into handrails.
Then Ishod Wair came out with Wair N Tear. His style never ceases to amaze me in that nothing he does looks remotely challenging, yet he comes up with some pretty stacked lines. It's almost too easy to overlook his switch front big spin down the LOVE gap because of how smooth it was. (Footage machine alert! Ishod just dropped this and still has what should be a standout part for Chronicles 2)
Through Christopher Middlebrook I came along to this Modus Bearings Portfolio montage, which was great in numerous ways. Footage of Lewis [RIP] that I don't think I've seen before was absolutely priceless, the filming was on point in every clip, John Rattray's nose manual slalom was pure awesomeness, and the assortment of skaters' nationalities from English to Australian coupled with really great clips combined for a very much appreciated 6 minutes of skateboarding.
I hadn't heard of Rowan Zorilla before, but with a standout part in Footage Party I surely won't forget him now. His carefree style and loose trucks with a seriously diverse selection of spots and terrain make for a kind of part that never gets old. Not to mention some pretty gnarly clips in there done in superb fashion.
Magenta turned Koichiro Uehara (who I also hadn't heard of before) pro by dropping this mixtape of his skating on Thursday. Man oh man does he have quick feet! It takes a good amount of skill and practice to be able to ollie as quickly as he does in this mixtape and the couple minutes of street shredding are quite refreshing.
Also, Chris Gregson came out with a super sick part that demonstrates skills of a true tranny ripper. His frontside flips a thing of beauty and his lanky style works very well with all of his ripping. You really have to stop and realize just how fast he's flying around the bowls in some clips because his nonchalance doesn't show it.
Then yesterday, Jordan Hoffart took his much deserved Day Hoff from skating. He's always been one of the guys I love seeing footage from ever since his part in Fun. From hairy out-rails/out-ledges to some of the longest street gaps I've seen (I keep thinking back to his enormous ollie in New Ground), Jordan continues his raw and impressive skating.

Despite all of this rip-tastic parts, I must give the video of the week to the GX1000 crew shredding in Montreal. For one, the vibes of the GX1000 videos are unmatchable. Straight up, raw street skating with the homies in the way all skaters dream about. Any videos the crew puts out are pure gold, and it helps that every guy in the crew totally kills it. One of my favorite things to watch from them is shown right at the start: barging indoor/underground spots with security with legit tricks as opposed to squeezing in an ollie just to run away when the guard peaks his head around the corner. Yonnie Cruz shows everyone how to get the best clips just like this.
Probably the key reason why I love this video is because I've taken a couple of weekend trips to Montreal and have skated around a few of the very same spots from the video. Seeing Antoine Asselin varial flip from the basically the street out and over a post and into a downhill road at 2:09 is ridiculous from watching it. But to have experienced actually bombing the hill after it and knowing the width of those sidewalks makes the trick that much gnarlier. Just like the tricks at the Olympic Stadium: from Yonnie Cruz's switch backside wallride at 0:56 along the very crusty surface to Charles Rivaro's Stadium rooftop miniramp line at 3:14 followed by his super long downramp manual to 50-50. Knowing what the spots are like in person makes the footage exponentially more impressive and exciting to watch. And though I haven't even heard of Charles before, I will know him now from his sick clips and his ender which is too awesome for words.

Finally, I need to shoutout Jake Johnson because I was already pumped for his double glass wallrides at 1:43, but after seeing his latest Alien Workshop ad from this very trip to Montreal, I am utterly astounded. Jake's already shown his sweet wallriding skills in Mind Field, but this wallride takes skateboarding to completely new levels. I've seen Wes Kremer and Silas Baxter-Neal do some pretty long and tall wallrides, and lately I've been digging T-Funk's wallride from his new part, but again I doubt they come close to Jake's latest wallride. The crazy thing is that I've actually skated around that very same plaza in downtown Montreal and never did it occur to me that a wallride could even be done down that entire double set wall. There are plenty of wallriding opportunities in that area, but Jake's seems simply impossible. Let's just say that I am rather eager to see Jake's next video part, whatever it may be.

Next Week: Mini Ramp Skaters

Skating a mini ramp is probably the easiest way to have a fun session with your homies. Basically as long as you can ride a little bit of transition, you can skate a mini ramp. Everyone usually has their preferred tricks and it's fun to see how long someone can keep a line going. Now when it comes to the sponsored skaters in the industry, it seems like everyone can at least do a few solid tricks because at some point they've come across a quarter at a park. But there are a few elite mini ramp skaters that can do tricks and lines that no one else can with a style that exudes comfort coming from years of skating a mini ramp. At that level, skating a mini becomes second nature so the pros can really branch out with their tricks. This week I'll look at my top 5 mini ramp skaters.
Before going into this week's top 5, here are some other guys that kill it on a mini:
Jordan Hoffart and Josh Hawkins are basically best buds that have skated quite a few mini ramps and transitions together. They have some really cool tricks and styles of their own so they're always fun to watch.
Shawn Hale is one of my favorites to watch skate a mini ramp. He has some of the craziest tricks (on any size transition for that matter) like the fakie tre noseblunt that gets me every time, and also knows how to flow a mini really well with some very fun tricks.
I hadn't heard of Mike Davis before his One Am part, but I was instantly blown away at his completely relaxed style and creative bag of tricks. He can smoothly flow around a mini ramp with his great style, and then come out with mind blowing tricks like a front 360 ollie to blunt to fakie, a big heel front noseblunt, and a switch big flip back noseblunt! That is a quite a mouthful, but luckily enough my jaw has already dropped from those tricks...