SLIP&S
DE
"Teenage pregnancy, mothers on crack,
gang violence, corrupt politicians and
lawsuits all killed vert." Remy Stratton
"The magazines,
with a little help
from a couple of
freestylers, killed
vert." Steve
Caballero
"I killed it because I
couldn't do it." Rocco
Mike Crum (above)
extends his front
foot to the hilt on
an Indy to fakie.
Supreme contor
Honist Buster Hal
terman (top right)
defies the laws of
podiatry with a
shifty frontside on
Houston's Hurri
cane. Remy Strat-
ton (opposite page)
takes the tailgrab
all the way around
with his patented
"Seatbelt."
FALLEN IDOLS
So with the public misunder-
standing of the validity of vert,
streetstyle took center stage. In
the mid-eighties, vert was like
American Gladiators. It was Chris-
tian's style brah against Hawk the
mad scientist, and the crowds ate
it up. Most tricks were about how
high you could go, or how many
handplant variations you could
flap. Boards were tanks, and skate
shops sold everything they could
put on the shelves. Then the tide
started to turn. The kids who
bought the decks got good enough
to get them for free. When the tide
went out, he market dried up and
the superheroes had only one
place to go, and that was down. It
was only a matter of time before
the kids who once idolized these
icons realized that they too were
human, and the worship stopped.
SUBURBS VS. CITIES
Off the record, most pros say
Rocco or the mags caused vert's
demise, but perhaps it was vert's
inaccessibility to the urban life-
style. It's merely a matter of demo-
graphics. Where in
the city will you
find public ramps?
Nowhere except
Australia or
Europe. The sub-
urbs are the last
bastions of middle
class America, and
therefore they hold
the key to where
vert came from
and where it is
going. If we look to
where skating is
most popular and
least restricted the
answer lies in the
modern urban
melting pot known
as the big city. All
races and creeds
have access to the
same pavement.
No head trips, just
your crew, your
deck and free
skating time. The majority of vert
pros are kids from middle class
backgrounds who have had
access to skate facilities in their
communities. On the other hand,
some of the greatest street skaters
have come from the worst parts of
town and know the true meaning
of street life. Therefore it is only
logical that there will be a line and
a difference.
KILL THE LAWYERS
Lawyers and lawsuits are next
on the suspect's list. Whatever
happened to ramps in backyards?
"Parents and the pub-
lic killed vert. Nobody
will build ramps
in their backyard
because of the liability
and the responsibility
that goes with it."
Buster Halterman