STEEP SLOPES
WHAT IT IS AND WHAT IT DOES
It never ignores you. It never talks
behind your back. It never badmouths you
to your face. It never makes promises it
can't keep. It never laughs at you. It never
ridicules you. It never stares at you. It
never asks questions it already knows the
answers to. It never tells you what to do. It
never passes you by. What is it?...It's your
skateboard, and it's always there when
you need it. It takes away the pain of being
alone. It puts a smile back on your face. It
sets you apart from the rest. It gives you a
rush that only you and a few can under-
stand. It gives you a reason to continue
living. It's your skateboard, and it's always
there when you need it.
WHY YOU SHOULD DO IT
Baseball, hotdogs, apple pie, weed,
beer, pills, needles, alcohol, etc., etc., are
all typical hobbies of all the typical people
in all the typical states in the typical country
with Garry 'Skate' Davis
of the United States of Amerika on the
typical planet of Earth in the typical solar
system of Sol in the typical galaxy of the
Milky Way in the typical universe of God.
Why smoke? Why play baseball? Why
drink? Why be the same? Why be a clone?
Why be typical? The man who follows the
crowd usually gets no further than the
crowd. Blaze your own new trails. Find
your own way. These words are not
mandates to command you how to run
your life. But rather, they only offer maps to
alternative avenues. Avenues which can
lead to unforeseeable vistas.
If you DO wish to drink booze, play
baseball, smoke cloves, or whatever, then
do it because YOU want to, NOT because
someone else wants you to do it, or
because you fear being rejected from
some social clique. Enjoyment is the key
factor involved and skateboarding is the
main avenue. And fun is not at the end of
that avenue or somewhere over the
rainbow, it's all over that avenue and in
your backyard. So, forget the smoke, pour
the wine on the ground, whip out the stick
and get to it.
WHY IT SHOULDN'T BE SEEN
Most of the action seen in skateboarding
these days occurs at such a rapid pace
that peds have little chance of understand-
ing what has just transformed. When you
push a low, hand-to-ground frontside slide,
they think you have fallen down. It's the
same lack of understanding when they
pick up a skateboard rag and look at a
photo of a skater doing a contorted invert.
They turn it sideways, trying to find which
way is up, in total disbelief of the vertical
reality that lies before them. But now you're
asking, "What about television and the
movies? Surely the good ol' idiot box and
silver screen could relay the state of the art
style to the ped population at large. Sure.
They might be blown. They might be
stoked. But who cares!? Do you? Do I? No
I don't! Video images that flicker rapidly in
the dark (and even motionless photos that
remain perpetually frozen on a printed
page) are only to go in one eye and out the
other. For instance, these words you are
reading right now. Do you think you'll
remember them tomorrow night when
you're eating dinner? What about next
week when you're stuck in a traffic jam out
on the freeway? What about 10 years from
now? What about in your grave? Do you
think you'll remember what I'm saying?
Will it matter? Will all of this be consumed,
digested, and forgotten?
Skateboarding is an esoteric sport,
understood and loved by only a handful of
ripping, enthusiastic (about skating)
youths. The boys realize the secret thrill of
honing out a lapped-over frontside grind at
the bricks, hitting a sweeper, smacking the
tail and listening to it echo back into the
vast, dark parking garage into the night. Do
you think uncle George could understand
this? Do you think he would want to?
Leave him alone. Let him have his football,
booze, and flesh on the tube. What we, the
skaters, need is new. A new way of doing
things. We're always doing new moves.
We make our own rags. We build our own
ramps. We set our own rules, call our own
shots. Any skate media should be for us
kids and us kids only. Video for us, rags for
us, and THRASHER for us and all prospec-
tive youthful recruits.
What would it be like if skateboarding, by
some miracle, became a popular sport like
football. Think about it. Everywhere you
went, people on skateboards would be
there. There would be skateparks every-
where with people telling the kids what to
do in them. There would be no secret thrill.
No out-of-control, drag-out, all-night, with
the lads, screaming, laughing, ghetto-
blasting, sweating, frontside grinding.
street ruling sessions. You should be
happy that you can now go to your favorite
secret bank spot and have it all to yourself
and maybe a couple of other locals. No
one is giving any orders and no one is
setting any rules. There's nobody watching
and the world is still in one piece, so while
there's still time, grab your stick and make
the most of it.
-G.S.D
DONEL.
THE LEADER
OF THE PACK
It's not easy to stay number
1 in this industry for 7 years,
but we have. Knowing what's
hot and what's not has helped
us to help you, The Dealer,
in selecting the most com-
plete line of skateboards and
rollerskates for your retail
store's profit.
We offer friendly service, fast
shipping and only the top
names. Names like...
G&S
GULLWING
INDEPENDENT
MADRID
POWELL
RECTOR
SANTA CRUZ
SIMS
SIO
TRACKER
VARIFLEX
ZORLAC
SKATERS!
Norcon Helmet
$8.50LgOnly
Send 50c For Sticker And All
New Hot Stuff Mail Order
Catalogue.
DEALERS, CALL FOR CURRENT
CATALOGUE & SPECIALS
DONEL
DONEL DISTRIBUTORS, INC.
13422 FLOYD CIRCLE/DALLAS, TX 75243/214 238-1701
LEADING THE WAY INTO THE '80s..
HOT
SKATEBOARD
ACTION
ON VIDEOTAPE
Featuring highlights from
Gold Cup and other top pool
competitions. Also featuring
outrageous Rodney Mullen
on freestyle action.
20 minutes of ripping hot
action for just $25.00,
includes shipping.
Available in 2 VHS or BETA
(please specify type when ordering).
Send check, money order, VISA/MasterCard to:
PIPELINE, P.O. BOX 1325, UPLAND, CA 91786
Masup
HEY SKATER!!
C'MERE!
THRASHER
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Agent/Distribution package
with more information
THRASHER
"Dependable Mail Order Since '62"
North Hollywood, CA
DISTRIBUTING
P.O. BOX 24592
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94124
"WORLD'S FIRST STILL MOST COMPLETE
SKATEBOARD CENTER
FREE 16 STICKERS (our choice
WITH PURCHASE OF A COMPLETE SKATEBOARD
COMPLETE SKATEBOARDS (as shown w/tape any accessori
add to price 1-SIMS Ramp 1030 Gull Wings/The Wheel
Street $89.95 2-SIMS New Wave 10% 30/9 Gull Wings/The
Wheel Street $104.95 0 3 SANTA CRUZ Ramp/See 100
Indy 151/0J O Favkick $89 95 or O Concave 30495 04
POWELL General ACS 851 a/Powell Twos $59.95
DS-VARIFLEX Vectra 10309 Varie Street O Flauk
$79.95 or O Concave $89.95 D 6-VARIFLEX Arrow 928
ACS 651 Verifies Street $59.95 D 7-POWELL Rodrique
1030/Indy 151/Powe Twos 95 -SANTA CRUZ
Jammer 92N/Indy 131/0 $54.95
SIMS
VIERA
CRUZ
No additional charge for assembling and tuning
Mini-Caballer
"YOUR CUSTOM SKATEBOARD CENTER. PLEASE NOTE: The price of a complete custom skateboard is the sum total of one
board tape, two trucks, four wheels, any accessories, postage.
BOARDS ONLY (Bank w/o tape
POWELL Spoonnoss Concave $41.500 Caballero 1029 0 MG 1000, Hawk 2 O Rediguer 1000
Flat/Kick D Rodrigues 0 10 8 1000 $37.95, Gelland 10% $37.95
$36.50. General le 28 $29.95 Mullen Freestyle 728 $32.95 Street
Ramp/Street 10x30 Flat $29.95 or D Concave $34.95 Peters 10x
Olson 10% $39.95 Street Skate 30 $29.95 0 Jammer 29 $16.95
VARIFLEX(wape +55) Anw 2 $23.50 O Vectra 10 30 OF $26.95 O Concave $33.95 PRO SERIES (wape
El Gato Mach O Los O Mountain 1030 1043
SIMS (w/tape +55 Ramp 1030 $34.95, 0 Sewave 930 $29.95 Rocco 727 $38.95 CONCAVE SERIES $46.95-
Hos 102, LaMar 100% D Folmer 10% 28, Bowman 10% 30s: O New Wave 10% 30 $43.95
TRUCKS (2 needed per board
INDEPENDENT 12.06. 0108mm $13.50, 0131mm $13.95. 151mm$16.95 0 160mm $17.95: O GrindMasters
Smg $1.50
TRACKER (w/pade: O Midtrack $16.50 0 Furack $16.95. O Extrack $17.50. O Sixtrack $17.96 D Copers each D Ful $3.50
3.75 0 0 0 Lapper $5.95
GULL WING $14.00, 0 Colors $16.95 O Copers, each $2.50 VARIFLEX: $13.95.09 $14.95: Cop
ACS D661 6395 0800 $11.50 960 $14.95
WHEELS, sach, including 2 precision bearings without less 82 per wheel
POWELL Twos $5.96.0 free $7.95. D Street Bones $8.95 Sel C 050 D Mi Cube $3.50, Cubic $9.95
SIMS O The Wheel Street $5.95 (02/Tone $6.95 O The Wheel $8.95 (02/Tone $9.95) 8-62 58.95 10 3/Tone $9.95
Rocco $6.95 (02/17.95
VARIFLEX $30 Set 6.05 x $10.50
SAFETY EQUIPMENT Reiter (Wet Gends $19.95 D Elbow Pade $28.95, Knee Pads $31,95
ACCESSORIES Grip Tape Back per foot-10 $2.00 11 $2.26 0 12 $2.50. Elevator Pads, each 504, ON 764.
O7N $1.95 Rider pr
Precision Bearings, each $1.25. Tall Skids Tail Bone $3.95 Pic 360 Dame N
pair Verifies $3.35 Co Bones $5.95 0 Nose Guard $1.95 Nose Bone $3.00 Date Wrench $2.50
STICKERS Small 400-0 Indy O Tracker O Bones O Santa Cruz Q Sime Medum 756- Tracker, Indy, O Rector, O Powe
Parata Bones. O Varies Large $1.25 OS O Santa Cut O Powell Dragon Rodriguez Gull Wing
T-SHIRTS8005 Powell Rodrigues, Cab. O MeGi O Sims Hose 862 Vares Santa Cruz indy
PLEASE SEND MAIL ORDERS TO VAL SURF PO BOX 4576 NORTH HOLLYWOOD. CA 91807
(213) 769-3060
(213) 800-6400
POSTAGE & HANDLING PLEASE ADD: USA or Canada.. Complete Skateboards-50 surface $14 air, Components: $4 $10
Complete Skateboards $15 surface $50 air, Components-$8 surface $25 at Enclose Money Order (Immediate
Delivery or Check (2-3 week Prices subject to change without notice