SKATER: CHRIS SENN
CHRIS SENN IS EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD AND LIVES IN COSTA
MESA, CA, WITH MARK OBLOW. NOTED FOR HIS STREET
WIZARDRY AND PROVEN CONTEST RECORD, CHRIS STILL
SEARCHES FOR HIS FIRST BACKYARD POOL GRIND. SKATING
FOR OVER EIGHT YEARS, HE IS CURRENTLY ATTACHED TO
HIS GIRLFRIEND CHERYL
What's your contest record? I've entered four contests as
a pro. I got first in two and died in the other two. rs probably
enter my fith one and kill myself. How about your ama-
teur record? I didn't win any. I just got second. But it was a
lot more fun than pro, more laid back and not as much pres-
sure. Didn't you own a ramp? I had it for about a year
and then I tore it down because I was supposed to build a
big ramp but never did. You look comfortable on a
ramp. I don't skate vert that much, I'd like to skate vert
more. Do you have any pool history? I've skated about
four pools but never touched the coping. It's the best kind of
skating, because every time I've skated a pool it's the most
fun I've ever had. It's like street and ramp put together,
What do you think of the flatland scene? I think it's kind
of boring and wimpy personally. You have to push at every-
thing. I'd rather adapt to obstacles. People like Julien
Stranger and Mark Gonzales just go to different obstacles
that no one's ever skated before, and do this crazy stuff on
it I think that's the best kind of skating: adapting to different
stuff. Who were some of your favorite skaters back in
the day? Neil Blender, Lance Mountain, Natas and Gonza-
les. When did you start skating? I went to a gnarly old
Sacramento streetstyle contest and Natas oled onto the
hood of a car. That was the first time I ever saw real skate-
boarders I saw Hosoi and Caballero doing 360's off launch
ramps. My friends and I built a launch ramp and tried 360's
for two weeks straight. When we finally landed them we
were like totally stoked. Who is your main competition
these days? Tony Hawk and Steve Caballero. Then there's
Ronnie Bertino and Chet Thomas. And then there's people
like Mike Carroll, Sean Sheffley and Rick Howard who don't
place but obviously rip. Everybody's ripping right now.
What about the home crew? When I first moved to Grass
Valley I didn't have any friends everybody was picking on
me and a guy named Les helped me out. He brought me in
and showed me around. We don't really keep in touch with
each other, but I wish I talked to him more. Then there's
Tahiti Pierson. That's his real name, by the way. He's one of
my best skate brahs. And Neil Jannico, he rides for Morrow
snowboards Neil's the coolest guy I've ever met. He's like
the trends you read about in books, like what a friend's sup-
posed to be. Then there's Mike Henry, Eric Beavleheimer
and Generro Redondolini. Is Grass Valley a redneck
town? Yeah, is KKK, rednecks and bad cops. What
does your father do? My dad's an automotive mechanic
And a damn good one by the way. I got a brother and sister
too, a really good family. What's your injury history?
Mostly sprained ankles, messed-up hips. Occasional
screwed-up fingers. I have really bad ankles though, they
suck. Have you snapped one? Not yet. Almost. I think
I'm going to snap one this year. How are the cops in
Grass Valley? There are like ten cops and they all know
you by name Favorite all-time? The Hell Curb. I skated
mat about 20,000 years ago. Any vert or pool that I haven't
skated, I'd like to skate Bowls, Powell and everything in SF
is fun. I'd just like to say that everything's fun. Vert vs.
street vs. what the fuck: if it was up to me, all I'd skate was
vert. I mean there's t enough of it around and it's so-called
out but I don't really give a shit about that. Street is rad
because you have to adapt. It's fun because you're just skat-
ing around. What's your set-up? Thin board, flat con-
cave, Venture Featherlite trucks, no risers, Powell bearings
and 43mm wheels, hard as they come. I have no rails, I'd
rather have slick. What do you do at contests? I just go
out on the course, hang out, watch what people are doing.
cruise for awhile and loosen up. Then, whatever tricks feel
comfortable are the ones I've been pulling. Say I have ten
tricks I know I'm going to pull, I work all those into a line
that's fast enough to do in sixty seconds. Then I fill in little
extra things, in case there's more or less time. My make to
bail ratio has gone mostly to the bails because now it's dou-
bleflip late shove it impossible, and people are going, "oh,
you can't do that." A year from now they re going to be stick-
ing it every time. What does the future hold for skate-
boarding? Board control, bigger stuff. Grabs are pretty
much gone, it's all in the feet now. And I think the vibe thing
needs to be changed, that's stupid. It's a sign of weakness
Like Henry Rollins said, "Weakness is the root to all evil.
If that's weak, then what is strong? Strong is treating
somebody how you want to be treated. If you see somebody
who needs help, help them out. Because if you needed help
you'd want somebody to help you out. And do you want peo-
ple talking shit about you? No. So don't talk shit about them
You've got to respect other people's styles in skating and
what they want to do with their ife. If they want to have long
hair and do drugs and listen to strange (continued on page 32)
CHRIS SENN
DANGE
BANGI
KEEP OU
30 THRASHER MAGAZINE
JOHN MONTESI
Chris Senn (left) shaves
a rail down the line.
How to take-off a hat
(left sequence) in public.
Senn (opposite) takes
a 360° nosegrind
approach on an
over-exposed bench.