CHRISTIAN
FLETCHER
Ashamed To
Be A Surfer
Hailing from a long line of surf riders, Christian Fletcher has no room for
yuppie kooks who think they own the ocean. In fact, one of the greatest
joys he gets out of surfing is cutting those Barneys off and leaving them
to stew as he proceeds to launch aerials off the lip.
What tricks are you working on?
Getting the surfboard into the
water is going to be a good new
one. I've been just taking a break for
the last year, giving all those other
guys a chance to catch up.
Are they getting close?
Fuck, they're like dinosaurs, fuckin'
prehistoric. It sucks.
They don't make most of the airs
they try, do they?
Not really. I went down to the
beach for the first time in a few
months, and Hosoi went with me to
watch, and every single wave, I did
big airs and made them. I only fell
three times in my whole session. I
was so stoked.
What kind of wave do you need
to do airs on?
Lowers is like a skatepark.
Isn't it crowed as fuck, though?
Crowds don't bother me.
How come?
Because I'm a wave catcher. I go
in front, behind, over the top, under-
neath, it doesn't matter. I look at
surfing like a full contact sport.
That's the most aggressive sport as
far as trying to get riding. Because
snowboarding, the guys just stand
there, it's mellow, everybody gets a
turn. Surfing, you only get a turn if
you fight for one. That's gnarly when
you're surfing big waves, especially
Pipeline and stuff like that.
Have you been skating a lot?
Yeah, my whole life, pretty much. I
can do the longest wheelie I know
of. That's my favorite trick. I can
ride T Street, down a beer, doing a
wheelie, carry my kid in my arms,
-Brian Brannon
just cruising, rub my head and pat
my stomach, cruise, take my hat off,
put my organizer on my head. That's
what I like doing, just cruising down
the street doing wheelies, cruise
down a couple different layers of
hills, run a stop sign, just turn the
corner, and then down the next hill.
All doing a wheelle?
Yeah, without scratching the tail or
touching the front wheel. I've got a
forty-four inch board with some big
ol' soft wheels, and that thing is nice.
What else have you been doing?
Mostly I've been playing music.
What airs can you do surfing?
Lien judos, I guess it would be a
backside ollie 180 but on a frontside
wave, but not making it all the way
around, landing backwards, then
land and do a shove-it from there,
like a fakie shove-it, then you come
out of it, bottom-turning switchfoot.
Worked on any kickflips?
Yeah, a little bit. I'm not too into
that, though. I don't really like them
on skateboards, either. I'd rather see
a big air and then maybe a grab. 1
like nice, tweaked airs; that's my
favorite. I went surfing with Danny
Way yesterday. He does kickflips on
a surfboard. One day I'd like to be
able to do a backside ollie 180', like
alley-oop one, and then do a switch-
stance backside 180 pressure flip.
Any advice to the young kids?
Study the sharks and don't hold
back.
Infusing skate-bred aggression, Christian
(right) sails a fat lien on a special trick-
board. No one (far right) gets in his way.
Up Front
22 TH
keith
scene unseen
hufnagel
REAL
SKATEBOARDS