NYC Courthouse Ledge #1: Kevin Phelps

Kevin Phelps came out with an epic blow up part not too long ago that really established him for good in the East Coast scene. (Tony Durao and Josh Swyers also did the same.) Hitting up loads of legendary spots, even some hefty California ones, he covers plenty of the famous NYC spots including the Courthouse. Now like I said before, I could easily be wrong about the tricks that have been done down the drop at the Courthouse, but to my knowledge there really aren't that many recorded. You would think the next tricks on somebody's list at the Courthouse would involve something like a heelflip or a hardflip or even a straight 360 flip. Enter Kevin Phelps. While first leaving his mark with a pretty tech front tail big spin flip out on the main ledge at 3:50 in his part, he follows that up with a nollie hardflip down the drop. A nollie hardflip on flat is usually entertaining to watch in a line, so doing it down one of the gnarliest drops in the East is astounding. Definitely not in the list of tricks you'd expect to see at the spot soon. And to top it all off, he closes his part out with an even crazier banger: cab flip into the bank. Again, super gnarly, a trick that stands tall alone on flatground, and not something you'd expect to see until the final days of the spot before it's [un]officially been killed. Getting 3 tricks at this iconic spot is pretty awesome in itself. Getting 3 ender-quality bangers at the NYC Courthouse is something to go down in the skateboarding history books. Thank you Kevin Phelps for coming out of nowhere and destroying these spots.

Next Week: Most Memorable Mid-Line Trick

Just about every street video part has at least one or two lines in there to help coincide with the mellower verses of the song or to fill up time in the part. Or maybe some guys are just really good at stringing together awesome tricks back to back like that. Regardless, skaters need to fill in the flatground space between obstacles so you end up with your very common mid-line tricks. (By mid-line tricks I'm keeping it contained to flatground fliptricks to fill the space in between stairs, ledges, rails, etc. Basically a flip trick that doesn't involve grinds/slides or a significant drop.) Common tricks are obviously the comfortable and easy-on-the-eyes 360 flip, the nollie heelflip, nollie kickflip, fakie kickflip, and even a lot of backside/frontside heelflip/kickflip variations to switch stances without simply changing the pushing foot. Those ones are seen a bit too much these days with just about any street skater to the point where they're so common they almost feel like time-occupying filler tricks. Of course there are dudes that can make these tricks look beautiful through pop or just a stylish flick, but nonetheless, a surprising out of the norm trick in the middle of a line really sticks out. Just as your mind is about to zone out in preparation for another tre flip before or after some flatground pushing, there are those unique mid-line tricks that jump out and startle you, making the line much more memorable.
This is exactly what will be looked at this week. I may be missing some lines as I go, but the next five days will cover the ones that stick out the most to me now.

And here are a few extras that deserve some mentioning:
Kevin Phelps recently dropped a new part via Thrasher that was filled with some crazy clips and awesome East Coast skating. Click on the link and you'll see one line that clearly stuck out to me when I first watched the part. After starting the line with a stylish fakie 360 flip, Kevin comes through with a half cab late back foot flip that I totally did not see coming. I thought a half cab flip was surely on its way, but the late flip worked very well with Kevin's nonchalance.
Sewa Kroetkov does something similar in This Is Not A Test. At the pretty well known playground benches, he hits one bench and then sets up as if he were to pop a super high switch heelflip. Nope. Instead he does what I'd say is now his signature trick (or at least a variation of it): switch ollie late kickflip. Considering that you usually see the nollie version, this is definitely a trick you wouldn't expect. If the trick itself isn't shocking enough, the height and cleanliness with which he does it should remedy that. (He also does the nollie version at the same benches at 1:16.)
Similar to Sewa getting two lines at that bench spot, Mike Mo Capaldi hits up a schoolyard in Fully Flared with a rad line - ollie late back foot varial flip, nollie back heel, then a switch kickflip down a set of stairs - and then revisits the same schoolyard in Pretty Sweet with a very memorable line. Starting off with a fakie big heel (always a sweet trick), Mike Mo sets up for what looks like a tre flip at first but I can only imagine will be something wizardly, and effortlessly flicks his impossible late flip. Then he closes with a frontside flip down the set. But the impossible late flip is something I doubt will be seen mid-line from anyone else, or even in a part at all to be fair. Seeing Mike Mo implement his signature flatground trick into a line for his part was quite satisfying. And even though the trick from Mo himself isn't that surprising to see, actually seeing it mid-line is not something you'd expect.

Video of the Week: Kevin Phelps

There were actually quite a few solid videos that came out this week, from the awesome team vibes and moments of the Pretty Sweet Tour, Vans release of Gilbert Crockett's part in Old Dominion to show the crusty East Coast spots, and even Ben Raemers' very fun and loose skating his Tiltmode part.
I'd also like to give an even more supporting nod to Tristan Funkhouser (aka T-Funk) with his first part for Baker Skateboards. Dude fits with Baker perfectly and already has a sick bag of man-style tricks at his age, which I respect a lot because the grom-style is not very appealing. His ender wallride is absolutely nuts, but I must say I would've killed to have seen that huge hippy jump from about 0:50 in his trailer for the part though...
Also special mention to Alain Saavedra for being welcomed to Consolidated with an extremely gnarly and just raw part. Big gaps and a really rugged style go together really well here.
And last special mention to Dustin Henry for a sweet On The Radar part for TWS. I'm a fan of anyone getting hooked up by Cliche, but it doesn't even matter because Dustin's quick feet and kickflips are very entertaining to watch.
The main video of this week goes to Kevin Phelps (above) with his part from Culture Shock. Hitting East Coast spots with West Coast tricks is really awesome to watch. It's really cool that Kevin has good pop, a lanky style that can still take some really solid impacts, a great bag of consistent tricks (that somehow kept getting larger throughout the part), and a unique take on well-known spots that lets him add memorable tricks to their histories.  Some of cool clips from the part include the smooth cab flip back disaster revert at 0:43, the front board at 1:37 mainly for the really cool look of all the red bricks at the spot, and the line at 2:17 because of the surprising half cab late back foot flip in the middle of two other really nice tricks. At 3:51, every clip becomes a banger pretty much: tailslide big flip on the NYC courthouse ledge, followed up by a nollie hardflip into that bank! Then Kevin goes to the other coast to double flip the Santa Monica triple set, which is super awesome. Then he stylishly lands a huge 50-50 drop off as well as a long noseslide big spin out on the same long ledge I remember David Gonzalez first lipsliding and then Eli Reed switch lipsliding. Later Kevin visits the huge brick double bank at 6:42 and skates it like no one else before with a giant ollie past the second bank to the flat below. And since 3 is always a lucky number, Kevin nails his third trick of the part at the NYC courthouse bank to finish things off: a ridiculous caballerial kickflip off the top shelf, somehow pulling out the switch drop and rollaway.