Lance manages to retain
a sense of humor even
in the most critical
situations. Fakie
handplant.
11-0
HI
mean I've seen you at the beach before.
Never, well, I've gone skimming with you
once.
NB: Twice. Do you plan on snowboard-
ing this year?
LM: Yes, hopefully I'm going to enter that
contest. It'll be fun. It'll be something differ-
ent...I went to San Jose to get away, it was
fun, I skated.
GF: What do you think about growing
old?
That's my problem. I don't like it. It's bad.
NB: What do you find wrong with it? I
mean, everybody grows old. It's gotta
be done. What are you going to do to try
to prevent it, or are you going to try to
prevent it?
I try to help prevent it by messing around,
having fun, skating's probably going to pre-
vent if the best.
No, I don't think any skater is into growing.
up. That's the problem right there. If skating
were professional, I think more skaters
would be grown up, but most skaters aren't
grown up. I don't think any are. That's be-
cause they're just out to have fun.
NB: At a contest, do you go all out ag-
gressive, or just try to make your run
safely?
Lofty bowl to bowl transfer, Lance Mountain style.
Well, I just go all out aggressive, I usually
don't... make the...when you're riding a
contest, you should make your tricks...to
make the cut and get radder and then get.
more progressive as the contest goes on
because that's what the judges will be look-
ing for. If you wanna ride a contest that's
what you've gotta be...just all out aggres-
sive. You should totally just go for it. Other-
wise, it's just skating, it's not...showing that
you have this super control or anything, I
think you should be like that for demos. But
when you're in a contest, they want to see
somethin' extra, and you know...that's
when you should just be out of con-
trol...when you're aggressive like that you
just tend to make everything, even when
you hang up, or even fall (laughs), you still
make it.
NB: Okay, your main skateboarding
career now is in vertical riding. Do you
do any other type of skateboarding?
No, not that I'm good in, I street skate just
for fun. Just to go somewhere. I think street
skating's fun because that's how skating
started. But freestyle, slalom, or downhill,
I'm not that good at. I think skaters are bet-
ter, and probably have more fun if they do
all things. As an overall skater, I'm not that
good. I think Bob Denike and Micke Alba,
guys like that, are really hot because
they're good in different kinds of skating.
What do you think of Rodney Mullen and
his freestyle?
Rodney Mullen is, well, he's perfect. He's
great for showing other people that type of
skating. He's great for demos and such
'cause he impresses so much. When
you're a pool skater, it's not as good for
demos, especially if you're just getting rad
and aggressive, it doesn't show anything to
the public. Freestyle, and being real perfect
in a pool or a ramp, is good for showing. So,
I think Rodney's really hot, freestyle, he rips
it.
What about the scene in other areas. It
seems to be picking up again.
I think it's really hot in other places. When I
travel, it seems like they're more into it, it's
more of a way of life. It's not like just a side
kick, like it is here. It's like the way I'd rather
have it. I actually would rather skate some-
where else, it would be a lot more fun, ex-
cept I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.
Do you think it's too competitive here?
It's real competitive but it's not too competi-
tive 'cause there's not that many skaters.
Competition is fun, but foremost skating is
fun. It's whatever I feel like at the time. But
just skating for fun, just skating ramps is
real fun, but if there were no contests, it
would get boring. So I think it's good when
there are contests every once in awhile,
like it is now. I wish there was more money
in it, more interest by the public, which
there might be later, again. It may pick up
again.
How do you think your model's selling,
the Lance Mountain model?
It's selling. It's selling good as compared to
others. It's a shape that kids like, you know,
it's just a normal shape, I like it also. But,
uhmmmm, no one's really selling a lot of
boards because of skating, but...I can't
complain about that.
Any closing advice for our young up-
and-comers out there?
Just keep skating and don't give up be-
cause everyone else does. If you like it, you
should keep skating and have fun at it.
After you learn tricks, figure out how to
make them different or to fit your personal
style.
Make 'em more rad, try and push them har-
der than before.
THRASHER