How did you begin skating?
I started in '76, sitting on my butt on a
Fibreflex that I got for Christmas. I was
standing up by '78 and hitting hills by '79.
Then my parents got divorced and my
mom and my sister and I moved out to
Claremont. I wanted to go to a skatepark
because I had heard about them, so my
mom and my sister went around and
looked. They saw Pipeline, Pomona Pipe
and Pool and Grand Prix. They took me
to Grand Prix because they thought it was
the best one since the bowls were painted.
Eventually I made it to Upland.
When did you really get the skate bug?
The first time I went to a skatepark. From
then on I started going as often as I could.
At first that was only on the weekends, then
I switched schools and met some friends
who took me to the Pipeline. I found out
how much better that was than the Grand
Prix and I started going there whenever
possible.
Could you handle Pipeline the first time
you went there?
Yeah. I could do kickturns and stuff like
that. I didn't skate the fifteen-foot bowl at
first; it looked so huge to me. That was
about the time Micke Alba was getting in-
verts out of the fifteen. The very first time
I ever went to the park, I saw Micke skating.
and that was pretty rad. Back then they
had the snake runs and these little mellow
bowls. They didn't have the combi-pool,
just a big reservoir.
How do you feel now that Pipeline's
gone?
I'm bummed out. It's not just that the
park is gone or closed or that I can't go
skate there, it seems like that time in my
life has changed. A certain period, when
my life was a certain way, has ended. The
park closing heralds that change even
more. It pounds it into me. Pipeline was
pretty much where I grew up.
tricks, we were just trying to ride the pool.
That was it, that was the task. At Upland
it seems there are time periods where dif-
ferent people skate the best, there's one
person who's always ripping the hardest.
First it was Steve Alba, he dominated for
a couple of years. Then Micke came and
he controlled it. I would say I dominated
next, then Eric Jueden. Now the park's.
gone, so it won't continue.
I used to hate ramps. They were so dif-
ferent than pools, I couldn't even ride
them. I had never ridden ramps, just this
giant vertical pool and I'd go to ramps and
say, "Oh no, I hate this." They were slow,
they only had two walls. Then I started
riding more ramps and ramps got better,
skate back and forth better and learned a
couple of other tricks.
too. Somewhere in there I got so I could
Did you pursue terrain other than
Upland?
Actually, the first vertical I ever skated.
besides a quarter-pipe, was a backyard
banks all around. Then we found out about
fun in surfing isn't the raddest things that
all surfers do. I surf like I skate. I try to do
little ollies or whatever. Contest surfers surf
way different than people who just surf for
fun. I was never interested in that.
What skaters have inspired you?
Brad Bowman, because of those photos
of the frontside early release air with the
green gloves. Micke and Steve Alba.
because I saw them skate all the time and
they ripped the terrain I was trying to learn
on. They ruled it, and I admired them. If
you've ever been to a backyard pool and
seen Micke skate it, you'd understand.
They get it wired and they dominate it. Your
go to a backyard pool and you can barely
ride. You can just do kickturns and maybe
a little grind because the transitions are.
kinked and there's too much vert and you
can't carve that tight or whatever. Then
those guys get there and you find out that
everything you thought was impossible is
possible. Micke was the hottest skater of
1979 when I was starting. He was only
about thirteen, but he was really good. And
now after all this time, he's like fourth in
the N.S.A. He's been ripping that whole
time. Skateboarding since 1979 has
changed a lot. I learned how to skate by
watching Micke and Steve. Scott Dunlap,
too. People I saw in the magazines were
an inspiration. People like Neil Blender,
Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero, Lance Moun-
tain, Micke Alba. I also find Ben Schroeder
and Jason Jesse very inspiring. I see them
skate and it gets me stoked, makes me
want to skate. They're rad, they just push it.
What's rad? It's a vague word. Explain
"rad" in terms of the people you just
mentioned.
Ben Schroeder did a backside air at the
Dayton contest, completely bailed, but
then re-grabbed his board and tried to put
it under his feet. He hit the flat bottom, ac-
tually landed it and slammed on his back.
I couldn't believe that he even bothered
Were you basically bred in skateparks? pool in Santa Monica. There were always trying to make it because it was such a
Yeah, but I used to street skate too.
Street skating was different then. I would
skate to school and hit different spots-
banks and things like that. You could try
vertical tricks on them.
Mount Baldy Pipeline.
Did you surf?
Yeah, when I lived in Ventura. It has
really good waves and not that big of a
After learning at Upland, did you feel skate scene. There are skaters, but there's
like you could skate anywhere?
Yeah. It seems like there are a lot of le-
gendary skaters involved in the Badlands
scene. I don't know what word can de-
scribe it, but you learn to skate differently.
The attitude is different. We weren't learn
ing how to do little flip-your-board-around
Left: Chris takes a night flight in the square half of
the Upland Combi-pool.
no vert.
How did you end up in Ventura?
I wanted to move out of my parents'
house. I wanted to live by the coast and
my friends Ward and Jim were going to get
an apartment in Ventura.
Have you ever entered a surf contest?
bail. He was going for it. Besides that. Ben
Schroeder is pushing skating in a different
direction. He's doing all these innovative
tricks, like the revert tricks. He's redefin-
ing skating. He does a lipslide and
kickturns in the opposite way, so he's
standing backwards in a way. It's like at
goofy-footed boardslide. He does 50/50s
and slides-to-fakie, alley-oop 50/50, slaps
it into a lipslide and then clicks it over into
smooth, in a natural way. He doesn't look
a Smith grind. And he does it fast and
like he's making an effort, he's doing it in
the way that feels best and he's going
No, it's just for pure fun. For me what's faster than anything. ►
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