No
Everything you always
wanted to know about
POOLS
But were afraid to ask
E
Hanging up on coping used to mean certain death, now for Remy Stratton (sequence), it means lipslide truth. Duane Peters
(above) laid into the corner of the Fremont pool with a hand down attack. Opposite page, clockwise from top: This photo of
Royce Nelson shows what pools are all about-pushing the limits beyond comprehension. Pools rarely last long enough to
get your lines down, but the Black Bottom has seen enough rides to have 'em burned into the walls. Matt Neely goes over
the hip into the shallow. Indoor pools happen, but the dust is hell. John Cardiel crails one such pit in Oaktown. Doug Perry
grinds the death box dragster style-215s on back and 169s on front. Colby Carter flies to tail on an Arizona love seat.
GENESIS
The first part of this story is about me. The second part is about you.
We live in a society of learned ignorance. We are trend victims. What is pop-
ularly considered cool today is going to be laughably old school tomorrow.
Yet, despite trendiness, a few things in our lives reveal themselves to be
essential and necessary. In our case it is the very act of skateboarding.
Empty swimming pools have influenced the development of skating in
fundamental and profound ways. They are so basic to our history that
their impact is easily ignored. With the appearance of the urethane wheel
in the 1970s, skateboarding broke wide open. Pool skating was the rad-
dest thing you could do. Ramp skating was born from limited accessibility
of pools outside of California.
Back in the day, pool skating established the functionality of coping.
The act of grinding was invented in pools. It is no coincidence that Mark
Gonzales in a recent art show acknowledged Jay Adams as one of the orig-
inal street skaters. Mark illustrates with a photo of Jay riding a pool.
We have come full circle. Pool skating spawned radical skateboarding
as we know it and remains a synthesis of all that is rad. At a recent pool ses-
sion I witnessed ollie noseslide fakies, kickflips and even a switchstance
ollie over the stairs. I could not believe it. Being a good ramp rider, how-
ever, does not carry the guarantee of being a quality pool skater. Neither
does being a hot shot street merchant. You've got to be good all-around,
and it helps to be a little bit reckless.
-Curtis Hsiang
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