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!

Tricks Over J-Kwon Ledge

CJ Tambornino, no comply.

As the era of the LOVE Park plaza has transitioned into that of J-Kwon's, one can say that just like every make down LOVE's fountain gap, every trick done over the long ledge at J-Kwon instantly adds to the spot's history. And Josh Kalis is once again at the center of all the action. J-Kwon's ledge is special because there aren't a huge number of spots recognized for individual flatground tricks done. The picnic bench comes to mind (TWS has already archived its historic ABDs), but it can be considered more of a prop. Pier 7 offers a couple more memorable options, as Marcus McBride perfectly demonstrates, though the manny pad technically has a drop - thus not exactly flatground - and I think the last actual flatground ledge in the part is no longer around. Regardless, J-Kwon's ledge is easily recognized and provides a sizable challenge to those that think they have their fliptricks down. (Luan, if you're reading this [it's too late], please skate this spot.)

It's been quite a while since the last post, but the timing could not be any better. I've been wanting to catalog the tricks done over the long ledge at J-Kwon for a while. So when Nick Tucker shocked the web with his turning pro part for Primitive, not only did he DEMOLISH the LA courthouse ledge, but he startled everyone with 3 sick NBDs over J-Kwon's ledge. Getting one new trick is remarkable enough, but 3 back to back to back tricks was simply thrilling. This already got me thinking about the blog post, but the cherry on top was when Walker Ryan and Kelly Hart astonished me with their J-Kwon additions today. Walker's already one of my favorite skaters, and the switch backside flip is probably my favorite trick to see done (because of guys like Walker), so the combo is too good. Couple that with my personal favorite trick to do (fakie 360 flip) done by a master of that trick and I am completely flipping out in excitement from this short video.
(And soon after Matt Gottwig almost ollied over the whole super long ledge too!)

Now to the rest of the catalog of tricks chronologically (for the most part):

1. The "Basics"

The first trick done over the J-Kwon ledge to my knowledge comes as a pleasant, but easily unnoticed, surprise from the Boss himself. We already know his kickflip is one of the best ever, so it's fitting for him to casually open up his Bake and Destroy part in 2012 with a kickflip over the ledge, to start out a line of course (0:10).

Diego Najera was seriously placed on the radar when he was welcomed to Ammo a couple years ago. Besides incredible switch skating and trouble flipping the Hollywood 12, Diego nails a solid line at J-Kwon, speedily setting up for a buttery switch heel down the stairs by frontside 180ing over the whole ledge (1:34).

While Brett Sube's trick (or pair of tricks) is the most basic on flatground, it's possibly the most impressive of all of these cataloged entries so far. Huge double ollies over the extra-high ledges document his impressive pop and control to close out his part in Gracias Skateboarding. (Also note that Alex Olson ollies over one of these extra-high ledges in a line in Pretty Sweet.)

2. 360 Flip - Jordan Trahan

A video posted by Josh Kalis (@dgkalis) on May 4, 2014 at 9:17pm PDTh

 The first trick that really put this spot on the map. Jordan Trahan's unearthly pop and one-of-a-kind miraculous 360 flip, captured by OG 360 flip master Mr. Kalis himself, is a thing a pure beauty.

3. Switch Frontside Kickflip - Carlos Iqui

A video posted by Josh Kalis (@dgkalis) on Jun 1, 2014 at 8:54pm PDT

Leave it to a Brazilian to pop much earlier than necessary and fly insanely far over the whole ledge. Quite a few tricks come to mind before a switch fs flip to try at this spot, but Carlos Iqui once again proves his technical wizardry is no joke. UPDATE (6/2/15): Carlos apparently has decided to one-up himself by doing this trick again in a pretty heavy line.

4. Caballerial - Abbas Glass

I've honestly never heard of Abbas Glass before, but I'll never forget his name after this. This caballerial was executed perfectly, with bonus steeze. NOTE: The original video seems to have been taken down, so here's a separate link to substitute.

5. No Comply - Bobby De Keyzer

Now I was pretty blown away when I saw the photo of CJ Tambornino (above) no complying over the ledge. Unfortunately, I haven't seen any footage surface of his trick. But another technician in Bobby De Keyzer released a shockingly awesome part for DC not too long ago. What better way to start off a part than arguably one of the best lines in recent memory, including that wonderfully enormous no comply (4:10). Mad props!


UPDATES:
I basically would like to keep an ABD Archives of this JKWON ledge spot, much like Transworld is doing. However, I'm going to keep it strictly for tricks done over the ledges because the entire spot itself is definitely blown out. Please comment any tricks that I may have missed!

A video posted by THRASHER MAGAZINE (@thrashermag) on Jun 8, 2015 at 7:59pm PDT

6/9/15 - Kelly Hart, contributor of his great fakie 360 flip over the ledge, filmed the homie Myquel Haddox adding TWO new tricks to the spot's history for eS! Another name I won't be forgetting now after the beautiful half-cab kickflip and fakie big flip.
6/18/15 - Myquel just isn't stopping! Chalk up another one over the J-Kwon block: frontside heelflip. Hope a video comes soon!
7/22/15 - This dude is unreal. Myquel adds one more trick to the list: switch heelflip. He could probably put out a full part soon of just these J-Kwon block tricks...
8/28/15 - I definitely missed this the first time around. Not exactly sure when Furby switch back heeled the ledge, but it can be found in the Supra commercial in the sponsors menu in TWS' Outliers. Unfortunately I could not find a video or picture online so you'll just have to check it out in Outliers for yourself!
9/24/15 - Sabotage 4 was released on DVD on 9/11 and after receiving my package and peeping the video, I was psyched. Not only is Philly footage the best, but parts from Ishod, Suciu, Kalis, and Walker Ryan all got me super amped as well. Amidst the hour long video was a nice little gem from J-Kwon frequenter MATT GOTWIG (see above). While Myquel may have had a picture of his front heel, Matt to my knowledge was the first to release a video of his FRONT HEEL over the J-Kwon block in all its beauty. Cop the full length to see it featured in Brian Douglas's part!
10/8/15 - And of course, a 5 trick fix over the ledge for Myquel. Only a matter of time. Wow!

A video posted by Myquel Haddox (@quel615) on Oct 7, 2015 at 8:05pm PDT

12/25/15 - Cyril Jackson has had a super productive rookie year and capped it off with a solid Deathlens part featuring a tight late shove over the J-Kwon Ledge! Check the full line at 1:18 for the awesomeness.
1/3/16 - Even with Walker getting the trick first (most likely), Matt Gotwig shows again that he's a J-Kwon local by switch backside flipping the block in his Aguora Lifestyle part.
4/29/16 - Quel is back at it! Now getting into the awkwardly gnarly tricks: fakie varial flipping the block in style.
1/14/17 - Like many others in DGK's new "Saved" video, Adrian Del Campo gets his AM intro to the team and comes correct with a solid switch front heel over the block, even if Nick Tucker did it first.
7/9/17 - Never took this one into account back from 2013: Yuri Facchini with a proper heelflip to start a line and his Damn good Blind part!

Video of the Week: Davis Torgerson's Ticket to Ride - Going Pro Part

I'd been saying for a while that Davis REALly needed to go pro and this week it was finally commemorated! This pro part is exactly what was needed to showcase Davis's awesome style, his comfort when going fast in every clip, his impressive pop (that switch heel!), and his spot creativity. What I mean by that is that Davis utilizes his skills to make spots his own. Examples include that front blunt pop up to front nose at 1:41, the switch pole jam lipslide at 2:03 (who actually hits that spot switch?), the ride-on pole jam 50-50 over the kinks at 2:37 when he even bones an ollie out over the end, and the insane couple of mid-bank ollies - both regs and switch - at 2:50. I was probably more thrilled at display of control for those two dangerous ollies than the actual flip tricks over the hips. Anyway, Davis rips and always comes through with fun-to-watch, quality parts like this. Congrats!

In other skate news:
-Brodie Penrod is extremely talented and makes every session look like a blast.
-The Subway Skating section from Tengu: God of Mischief is an instant classic, especially with the historic subway track ollie.
-Daryl Dominguez's Excursion part through various parts of England is an absolute pleasure to watch.
-Callum Paul is PassPort's first pro and celebrates the occasion with some fun shredding down under.
-Nyjah Huston is really really good. He never stops getting bangers, as seen through his Subject part, his First Tryday is hard not to smile through, and the OG Edit to his last epic part was even dropped for a good reminder.
-Bryan Schaefer is On the Radar with a new part that adds to the UNM spot posts from last week. Check out the sweet line at UNM at 1:25!
-5Boro went to Paris. They have one of the sickest teams and their own entertaining take on skating through Paris. Plus, Jordan Trahan is a boss.
-Sam Beckett, Jake Brown, Pierre-Luc Gagnon, and Alex Perelson skate the Monster Vert Ramp and remind us that vert skating is alive and kicking ferociously.
-The Organika Trail Tour is a jovial take on how Josh Matthews put together his part from last week. I really like how the Organika team is looking so this welcoming trip was nice to see.
-Skate House by Chris Whitaker started off a little questionable for me but once Chris Colbourn, Cody Hale, and Jordan Maxham came on with some great skating, it really becomes a great video overall.
-Fourstar releases an Anthology that shows why it's one of the greatest companies in skateboarding, not just for its unreal team lineup, but because of how much fun they have on every tour.

UNM Spot #1: Center of the Universe Gap

Center of the Universe Gap, exit pathway

The Center of the Universe is a decently traversed area by most UNM campus travelers. It's a simple design that's aesthetically pleasing and a nice little tunnel for anyone walking or riding bikes on through. Now if you're riding a skateboard, there's a giant grate right in the intersection of the structure that I'm pretty sure only longboard wheels can roll over. The chimney-like part of this structure allows light to shine right on down to this grate, highlighting the exact gap for skaters to fly over. One day while cruising around the campus, I was lucky enough to run into not only Clive Dixon and Clint Walker (and homies) from the Fully Torqued RV Tour but also some of the Emerica crew: Jon Miner, Spanky, Jerry, and The Boss himself. I was fortunate enough to witness Reynolds skate this gap and realized on the spot exactly why he got his nickname. Without spoiling the trick (just wait for Made Chapter 2!), he took 2 or 3 tries to land one and after checking the footage with Miner, landed another one just for perfection in another easy 2 tries. Handled only like The Boss could. Let's just say I was too stoked for words.

Now apart from Andrew's trick here, and some of that day's crew just ollieing over the gap for fun, I've only really seen one other trick at this spot while randomly browsing Instagram. Major props to the dude for the sick last-minute-before-darkness hardflip!

The spot itself has plenty of room to run-up, at least in one direction. (It was really awesome watching Reynolds start running with his board in his right hand and then throw down regular and take a few pushes. But no more details!) You can start by the scenic Duck Pond on campus, get a running start, and still have time for a few more solid pushes before entering the structure. You can also see the brick tiles that line the exit pathway; this is not worth trying to push on because you need as much speed and leg energy as you can get for this lengthy gap. And going in the other direction does not offer much of a runway either, though it may be feasible.

                                     

The run-up surface itself is quite perfect really. Nothing at all to worry about there.

Now to the gap.  The next two photos should hopefully show the length of the grate, compared to the length of my board (32"). It's always bigger in person too but this one's still quite a doozy in pictures. Like I said earlier, you need a lot of speed to clear this.

Another cool thing about this gap is that it's visible on Google Maps pretty clearly! The plus-shape of the structure isn't too hard to find, though just in case I pinned it here on the map. And what's even better is that it's right next to two other sick UNM spots too!

UNM Spot #2: Nuclear Engineering Hubba

Rowan Zorilla, Barley grind 

The latest Baker ad I found in The Skateboard Mag issue 123 came with pretty awesome timing for this blog post, along with the release of Shep Dawgs Vol 4.  Most recently at the Nuclear Engineering Hubba, we have Rowan Zorilla, Baker's newest am, nicely adding to the spot's trick list with this sick Barley grind. The trick also happens to be his Shep Dawgs ender.  A Barley grind doesn't seem like the craziest of tricks to end a part with, but when you take it to a tall hubba like this, the ante is upped considerably.  Not too long ago there was also Leo Romero's kickflip front board at this hubba as seen in Made Chapter 1. (I didn't see the trick in his B-Sides so here's the clip straight from the epic Emerica video itself. Sorry Emerica, had to.) 

 

                                          

For what I believe is the only fliptrick onto this spot, Leo knee bending when both getting on the ledge and riding away helps show the height to this hubba, and the gnarliness of the trick in general. Then there's Albuquerque's finest, Daniel Lutheran, nailing two tricks at this spot in his Brainwash part below. With only a gnarly 5-0 grind in between the clips, Daniel effortlessly pulls a 180 nosegrind at 1:19 and then follows up with a sweet back overcrook at 1:27 (in a mini-line nonetheless!)

Again, please comment if I've missed any important tricks at this Nuclear Engineering Hubba. And refer to the picture below for my reasoning behind this spot's name.

The 10-stair itself is a pretty long gap. I'm not too surprised I haven't seen any fliptricks down the stairs, not only because of the limited run-up and long set, but because you don't go to the Bahamas to go skiing, if you're picking up what I'm throwing down.

 Now you can kind of see how far the run-up actually is in the picture above, as it extends just about to the doors to the building. But what's also noteworthy is the brief rough patch on your way to the ledge. There's easily enough space after the patch to get ready to pop, so as long as it's not a mental roadblock then it's really no big deal. The rest of the run up is as smooth as can be. And of course there's the classic sign trying to deter us from the spot. I give UNM credit for its placement though.

 Like I mentioned before, this hubba is tall. The handrail that runs down its side is probably close to the ideal height you'd wanna ride for most grinds. But that extra foot up makes quite the difference. You can really tell how the skaters need to pop up and out to ride this thing from watching the 4 aforementioned tricks. Even just the drop off at the end of the ledge seems daunting.

The ledge itself has definitely been waxed and grinded down pretty well before, so there shouldn't be too much forcing going on here. Though, as I'm not one to really grind hubbas like this, I really can't say as an expert.  

And just a couple more pictures to get a feel for the spot. 

And of course for the spot-searchers! This spot is in the SouthWest corner of the Central UNM campus within the group of engineering buildings. There's even a basketball hoop nearby randomly if you and the homies need to let off some steam from the session or something.

UPDATE: Upon rewatching A Happy Medium 2, it turns out Tyler Franz does in fact skate the stairs themselves and not the hubba. His half cab flip goes to show that once you see a spot in person it becomes instantly recognizable in almost every video you watch thereafter. 

UPDATE 2: Just as Taylor Smith goes pro for Foundation, coming off of two sick parts with Shep Dawgs Vol 4 and Tee-Hee, he was interviewed by Thrasher to show us this gnarly and super tall back tail down this very special spot. 

 

UPDATE 3: As Blake Carpenter goes pro for Toy Machine, he unleashes another crazy trick on this spot that looks way too easy when he does it: heelflip noseslide.

UPDATE 4: Nike released some unseen footage from filming during Chronicles 2, and Justin Brock gets a smooth front noseslide down the hubba.

UPDATE 5: Never noticed in my earlier days that Caswell Berry back smithed this hubba back in 2007 in his Feed the Need part.

UPDATE 6: Jordan Maxham gets weird and creative while keeping the gnar level high with whatever you would call this combo grind of a willy and a 5-0 seen in The Skateboard Mag 147. So psyched that he's finally pro and for his Sun Machine part!

UNM Spot #3: Angled 8-Stair Rail

Daniel Lutheran, switch heelflip. Ph: Anthony Acosta

Now this 8-stair angled rail was the only spot from Albuquerque that I actually knew about. (I had no idea about UNM until this summer though.) I remember seeing Daniel Lutheran's New Jack interview in The Skateboard Mag a while back which included a photo of a 360 flip over this very rail. There was something about going over a rail for me at that time that was extremely appealing, so the trick stuck in my memory. The trick later appeared in Daniel's Mag Minute, again instantly sticking out to me as the Albuquerque spot. Since the Lutheran family is from Albuquerque, it makes sense that Daniel can consider this a local spot. And at local spot, you can get multiple tricks. So a bit later, Daniel comes through with a buttery switch heelflip (photo from The Skateboard Mag's Contenders Interview) that appears in his Brainwash part.

With Daniel and the Lutherans as the Albuquerque tour guides, there've been some solid posses coming through the city over the years. On one such visit, Jamie Tancowny came through and landed a pair of tricks himself as he was filming for Stay Gold. First a frontside pop shove it and then an upgrade to the varial heelflip (photo below by Anthony Acosta).

Jamie Tancowny, varial heelflip. Ph: Anthony Acosta

These are the only 4 tricks I know that have gone down at this spot, but please comment below if there are any I missed!

The spot itself is pretty awesome for someone craving some jumping. The set itself is a pretty sizeable 8-stair with decent height and probably slightly longer than a standard 8-stair.

The rail is knobbed obtrusively enough so there's no real chance at an angled grind, except maybe for the adventurous and clinically insane.

 But it is placed at a pretty ideal angle for popping tricks over.

There's enough room for run-up, but a little turning to get the right launching angle is needed. It's beneficial in this case to approach with the proper carve to go over the angled rail. And there's the standard crack at the very top stair, so a trick would probably have to be popped about 6 inches before the top stair.

Overall, with really nice ground to ride up with and land on, the spot is a must visit for anyone in the UNM area. If you have the testicular fortitude to chase a trick or two at this spot, there are definitely a few opportunities here!

And the guide for the spot-hunters: (If you go up the stairs at this spot and skate along to the right, you'll end up right at Johnny Layton's Wallride Spot. How sick is that?!)

UPDATE: Looks like Josh Hawkins also wanted some of that varial heelflip action over the rail, as seen in his latest Happy Medium 3 part.

UNM Spot #4: Johnny Layton's Wallride Spot

Johnny Layton is the only guy I know of with a trick at this wallride spot. Based on the scuff marks, I'm sure there are plenty of others who have tried to boost themselves up this barrier. I've even heard rumor of someone completely wallieing over the top of this spot to the other side. Now Johnny's wallie boardslide is already quite the chore just to get your body up on top of this wall, hold the slide out to the end, and avoid the pillar in the landing as well. But a straight wallie over the top would be utterly insane! Check out Johnny's trick at 0:23 in his Brainwash part here:

The run-up is pretty solid. For most tricks at this spot you'd want to carve in from the left anyway, so you'll be avoiding the rougher ground taking up the space in front. 

Now what's hard for me to believe is how anyone can use the very minimal transition at the bottom of the wall to actually ride up about 4 feet to the top. It's very steep to work with so I give tons of respect to guys like J-Lay who can push their board and body on up to the top. 

For all the UNM spot-searchers out there, here's its location. The run-up for this spot also leads to another probably-more-recognized spot that will be featured tomorrow!