UC Davis Ivy Gap

A video posted by @skateboardinghighfives on Sep 24, 2015 at 9:12pm PDT

While I'm keeping track of the Tricks Over the J-Kwon Ledge and Transworld has done some ABD Archives already, I feel like now is a great time to start a trick archive for the UC Davis Ivy Gap. (I may no longer be keeping the "High Five" format, but so be it.) So while I'm fairly sure I haven't missed any tricks done down this monster of a gap, comment if you see otherwise!

1. Jamie Thomas - ollie (around 1999)

The skate nerd in me is upset that I can't find the original video that this clip was in! But regardless, who else than the Chief would be better to open the gates to skating such a legendary gap. Jamie Thomas was the first to skate so many new gaps and rails beyond imagination at his time. To him, this was probably just another big ollie at a campus with other sweet spots. To us, it was the start of yet another landmark in skateboarding. 

2. Corey Duffel - frontside 180 (Osiris - Feed the Need, 2007)

Corey Duffel is a mad man, putting out some of the fastest skating and gnarliest stunts. His Feed the Need part from '07 is a staple in skateboarding and what better way to close out the crazy part than stepping up the possibilities at what was called the "Jamie Thomas" gap with a frontside 180. 

3. Devin Appelo - tuck knee grab (Transworld - And Now, 2008)

Devin Appelo made a name (at least in my mind) for hucking himself off some insane rooftops and down some deadly gaps. He really abided by the Hesh Law and in comparison was like what Jaws is today. Contributing to his repertoire of drops was this beautiful tuck knee from the friends section of And Now, with the grab being held longer than seemed "safe". 

4. Schuyler Ricketts - backside 180 (Transworld - Hallelujah, 2010)

This gap was solidified in my memory after Devin's tuck knee, so by the time I saw some random dude add the scary backside 180 in the middle of a Transworld video's friends section, like Devin, I was wondering if the gap was going to be "just another big gap". Nope. Still one epic monster. Schuyler's name shall be added to the books for this trick because it is hands down *ahem* one gnarly 180. Also check out some of his attempts for the trick.

5. Ryan Decenzo - switch frontside 180 (Transworld - Hallelujah, 2010)

Ryan Decenzo has added plenty of epic tricks to some well-known spots over his years: a nollie down El Toro and the kickflip crooked grind down the Stanford hubba to precede his UC Davis trick to name a couple. Chalk up another huge trick in his incredible Hallelujah part: a switch frontside 180 that only Ryan's compressible body could handle. It's funny that it just happens to be the second trick down the gap in one video, but stealing the thunder without a doubt.

Not only that, but Ryan attempted one heck of a frontside kickflip down the gap as well. Goodness gracious that would've been unbelievable! Who's going to be the first with two tricks down the gap...?

6. Andrew Reynolds - kickflip (Emerica - Stay Gold, 2010)

Released in the same year as Decenzo's switch 180 and Ricketts' back 180, Andrew Reynold's kickflip is as iconic as Bachinsky's down El Toro, if not more so. Being the first actual fliptrick down the gap (in either case) crosses a line too exciting to capture in words. Capping off one of my favorite video parts of all time, Reynolds legendary status as The Boss is reinforced 10-fold with this ender. Now the frontside flip battle royale between Decenzo and Reynolds would be very, very interesting indeed.

7. Chris Joslin - 360 kickflip (Plan B - True, 2014)

Chris Joslin had one heck of an "intro" to the Plan B team. I won't even begin to describe the level of awe I was left in after watching his True part, just to cap off an already ridiculous year. And what better way to close out his lengthy and gnarly part than 360 kickflip down the gap (with angles from Trevor and Felipe). After his Ground Control part and monumental Rincon trick, there was no doubt Chris was a legend in the making. From what I've heard so far about his couple tricks down Wallenberg, Chris has no intention of slowing down. That linked Rolling Stone interview actually shows how strategic he is about contributing to skateboarding's history through tricks like this, but it'd be best to leave it with his words: "Let's just say that the Davis gap was an appetizer for the future."


UPDATE: It was bound to happen, but add Jaws' kickflip melon to the list (from an ETN production). Tommy Gunz, we wanna see that frontside flip!

Video of the Week: Ryan Decenzo - Double Down

Friday was a wonderful day in the world of skateboarding. The Battle at the Berrics Finals night went down, live, and boy was it an experience. Seeing everything happen with no editing, just live action, conveys the crowd's energy and skaters' nervous excitement so much more clearly than the usual individual videos of the battles. And it's because of this modified medium of watching the Finals that the whole event was simply spectacular. I legitimately laughed out loud in stoked surprise when Sewa landed Koston's pressure flip, or when Luan miraculously pulled out his pressure heelflip along with some double flip variations to match Cody. The whole night was filled with great moments like these, intertwined with the equally touching and inspiring story of Johnny Romano, along with the unexpected technical insanity that was Cody Cepeda's Recruit part. While you can check The Berrics over the next few days to rewatch most of these features, it's hard to recreate that feeling of watching it all live.

Now to psych everyone up for that wonderful Friday evening was the Video of the Week - Ryan Decenzo's Double Down part - that came out just after noon on Friday. We already know Ryan is a killer on a skateboard from his Hallelujah and Forward Slash parts, so it needs to be recognized and appreciated just how quickly Ryan can churn out these lengthy, extremely gnarly parts. Charging the biggest rails, huge gaps, getting tech-gnar on some famous rails, and redefining how to skate rails with huge drop offs, Ryan impresses in every single clip, without exaggeration. If his trick on a rail seems even on the brink of being relatively simple, he'll be nollie-ing into it to provide that extra challenge. (Cause he really has one of the most insane nollies in the game.) I personally loved the enormous front 360 at 0:56, the big 360 flip lipslide at 3:06 followed by a super sketchy nollie back bluntslide (made to look easy), and then the pair of hammers at 4:23 down and over the steep rail. The whole part is really just an onslaught of gnarly tricks at gnarly spots, and deserves to stay on top of the internet waves for a quite a while before getting swept away in its growing tides.

In other skate news from the week:
Justin Figueroa kinked crooked grind ender from Bake and Destroy, the gnarliest crooked grind ever, is shown uncut with all of the attempts leading up to the epic make. I love raw, uncut footage.
Denzel White's part in Active Ride Shop's "Where Is It?" is super sick! Never heard of him but he is definitely here to stay after a part like this. The one-footed switch front 3 after the craziest roll-in 5-0 are so awesome, and he even has a similar downhill tre flip to Ryan's...doubling down indeed.
Nick Jensen's part in Jacob Harris' Eleventh Hour (highly recommended viewing) is filled with those one of a kind London vibes and the quick-footed precision that Nick is known to provide. The ender's pretty insane too.
Raymond Molinar's Metro Lines part is pretty fun to watch. Always happy with another Raymond part and this night-skating, spot-searching experience is quite enjoyable.
Body of Water is a feature organized by Dave Chami taking Walker Ryan, Dennis Busenitz, Josh Matthews, Joey Pepper, and Nestor Judkins to New Zealand. With a crew like this, good skating is guaranteed.
Shota Kikuchi has a new deck coming out for Consolidated and released this part to go with it. The rough Japanese spots really bring out Shota's raw skating as the part keeps picking up throughout.
Heroin Skateboards worked with The Skateboard Mag last week and introduced both Zack Krull, with a wild and ripping part, along with Joe O'Donnell, who has some quick feet, crazy ideas, loads of board control, and one heck of a nose manual. They also put out a pleasing montage, Egomaniacs Diss, that properly covers a few different skate styles.

Clipper #2: Ryan Decenzo

The fact that Ryan Decenzo got 4 tricks at Clipper, that just so happened to conveniently come together in pairs, all for one video part is very interesting. Then you look at the tricks themselves, and they all don't involve the most complex/tech fliptricks into grinds and whatnot. They seem relatively straightforward with just a few 180s here and there. But each trick in itself seems rather scary to commit to down a hubba like Clipper, so managing to get 4 tasteful (and in some sense creative) tricks for one part is why Ryan Decenzo is a big contributor to Clipper. Right off the bat in his Forward Slash part (above), at 5:25 you'll see the first pair of tricks: a switch front 180 to 5-0 grind with a 180 out rewinding the shoulders, followed by an ollie over the top to boardslide on the outside of the ledge. Both tricks involve a great deal of precision, but their visual simplicity makes them very appealing. Same thing at 7:01. Ryan backside 180s into a switch 50-50 down the ledge and follows that up with a frontside 180 switch crooked grind. All tricks that can be very difficult down a hubba, but that don't get out of hand with the craziness. These additions to Clipper's history definitely help make Ryan's Forward Slash part more memorable.