H
OZZ CARDIEL
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRYCE KANIGHTS
For everyone that knows Cardiel,
there are a thousand more that
have only heard the stories. From
humble beginnings as a grom in
Lake of the Pines, to the spotlight
as Skater of the Year, John has kept
it all in perspective and still is ready
to throw down whenever he feels
the need. Having just switched to a
new company, Cards tells why the
fire will always burn inside him.
-Jake Phelps
How long have you been skateboarding?
I've been skating a long ass time, since like
second grade. I rode BMX and skated on and
off, like through whatever phase you're going
through. But I always had a skateboard and I
always had a bike. I lived in Half Moon Bay for
like nine years, and that's where I skated. I used
to always skate hills and shit. And then I moved
up to Grass Valley, and all these kids didn't
know how to build launch ramps and I had this
launch ramp that I brought up in a U-haul truck.
From Half Moon Bay?
Yeah, then I had my BMX bike because I was
cruising around with my friend, and I met this
dude, Toad. He came over to my house, and
A fat snop (sequence) equals a 360 backside ollie out
of the bowl of the Daily Grind in Soc. A double-set on
P Street (right) gets popped in downtown Sacramento.
everything was in boxes, and he just saw the
ramp, and he was like, "What is that thing?"
"Oh, it's a skate ramp. Yeah, I don't really skate
that much, I'm into biking." because I was try-
ing to be cool because he was all rad on bikes.
And then he wanted to see you ride it?
Yeah, so I got my skate, launched off it, did a
360 air, and he was like, "No way!" He got
super stoked, went out and bought a board,
and from then on, we just started skating. He
brought me back into it when I was into bikes.
Did you skate with Senn and those guys up
there too at the time?
I never really skated with them that much. I
never really hung out with those guys. I lived in
Lake of the Pines, and they lived in Grass Valley.
Everybody kind of does their own stuff.
Hanzy wasn't skating then?
He skated, but he's younger. He always had
rad ramps at his house. We used to always go
over there and session. He had all these sick
ramps, quarter-pipes and stuff, because he's
51