Jason Jesse does huge things and
doesn't care. I can remember him at
Fallbrook doing method air-to-fakie higher
than my head, landing backwards with that
much speed and not worrying about it. I
saw him at Mike McGill's park and he
skated like he wasn't afraid, he skated with
such power and such confidence. He did
a 50/50 going at absolute high speed and
brought it in to fakie. I couldn't believe it.
Neil got into skating doing all these
things. Neil's skating was so innovative for
a long time, doing a lot of different types
of lip tricks. 50/50 across the ramp and
then doing an alley-oop 50/50, grinding
really smooth, really fast, clean. Tony
Hawk, does things that I can't even begin
to touch on.
Describe your development as a profes-
sional skateboarder.
It took a while to get used to, but I placed
consistently in the top ten the last two
seasons, including first place in Arizona
(Barecover). Since then I've been doing
a lot of other things. Lately there's been
a big boom of new vert tricks. I haven't
been learning all the new things. Lately
I've felt out of place at contests. I go there
and I watch the scene and it's the same
scene I've been to so many times before.
It's rad to see all your friends and see
skating and everything, but I haven't been
motivated to compete. I have no urge to
compare myself to other skaters, to try and
determine who's better, because nobody's
better. I still like going to contests and
skating with all those people and maybe
competing against myself, but the thought
of comparing myself and worrying about
how I do is less important to me now. I just
want to ride the ramp however it feels good
to me. I don't care what place I come in.
I still want to do well in contests, but I see
people doing stuff that's rad and difficult
and I just think, "Well, that looks hard and
everything, but I don't want to do that and
if that's what it takes..."
How do you think the NSA has treated
the pros this year?
Well, the scheduling has been bad; all
these contests getting postponed or can-
celled. The amateur deal was cool. Here's
the problem with the pro thing: The Swatch
tour was a skating show designed for the
spectator, and that's one thing. Contests,
on the other hand, should highlight the
newest innovations in skating, but they
should be competitions, not shows. You
don't have to combine the two. Don't worry
Spread: Boned indy descent. Inset: A born and bred
Badlander, young Chris airs at Upland.
about getting a huge crowd for contests.
I mean, let spectators in, but make it for
the competitors. Make it for skating. The
Swatch was a completely different thing,
but it seems like that's what the NSA was
trying to do-make it a big spectacle. It
should just be low-key. You don't need a
huge arena to have a contest. Just do it
in smaller places and make more in-
teresting ramps. Dayton didn't seem like
the finals because, for one thing, it was two
months too late. It was just like any other
contest. The word finals doesn't apply
here. I've only had three one-hour warm-
up sessions. For contests, everyone
should be able to come out and session
the ramp fully before the event.
I could only skate for an hour at a time
here. The first time, I wasn't even used to
the ramp by the end of the session. The
second time, I started getting used to it,
and today I'm finally getting a feel for it.
Well, tonight is the contest. I'm obviously
not going to skate as well as I possibly
could. If everyone was allowed to get the
ramp wired it would be a better contest.
Here you have to get one line wired, just
so you can make your run. I'm hoping
they'll have a contest where they'll let Tim
Payne, who can build a really good ramp,
ask the skaters what they want and come
up with the best ramp anyone has ever
skated. They're so worried about what the
spectators are going to think. Well, the
spectators are going to enjoy it even more
on a hot ramp when everybody has had
time to practice. Let them skate all night
if they need to.
I wish that there were more vertical con-
tests. It seems that now the manufacturers
are taking over the NSA and they're going
to want to promote street and mini-ramp
contests more because that's what's
accessible to the average skater. They
want to promote that because they want
to keep people enthused with the sport.
That's what they want the focal point of the
sport to be. I think that vertical skating
allows so much more creativity. It's a com-
pletely different feeling than street riding
or mini-ramp riding, because you can't
really free yourself from gravity the way
you can on a vertical ramp. I think it's the
ultimate form of skating, but it's not acces-
sible. The manufacturers are afraid that if
they don't promote the aspect of the sport
that's accessible, people are going to get
sick of it and stop buying boards. Most
places don't have ramps, and streets are
everywhere. Street skating is fine, but hav-
ing skated vertical for so long, it's just not
as fun to me.
Has your recent marriage changed your
outlook on skating and life?
My skateboarding hasn't changed at all,
as far as riding my board. My attitude has
changed, however, and that is because of
the fact that I'm married. I never actually
pictured myself being married until I met
Jennifer.
It just happened?
No. It just happened that I met her, and
it just happened that I liked her so much
and that we got along so well that we
wanted to celebrate how much we loved
each other. That's what marriage is. It's
between me and her, it's like letting her
know, and her letting me know that we are
true and committed and we're not afraid
to commit for life. Two people who just live
together, for example, say, "Yeah, we really
love each other, and I love you forever, and
everything, but I would never commit to
that, I would never just give up all my
personal possessions and give to you."
Do politics matter to you?
American politics? No. It seems like
politics is just money. People who want to
get rich and richer, it's economically
based. I don't know very much about it.
All I can say is that if my country wanted
me to go to war for some political reasons,
I wouldn't do it. I don't really care about
this country, I'll live in a communist coun-
try, who cares? I just don't want to kill
anyone and I don't want to be killed. I look
at things more in a humanitarian way than
a political or economic way. Maybe that's
because I'm a skateboarder. Maybe some
working class person would say that I've
never worked a real job (connued on page 102)
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