TIM
UPSON
PHOTOS BY SEAN
CRONAN
TIM UPSON LIVES TO RIDE his skateboard. Never in one place too long,
Tim follows the road less travelled. He knows what's real and stays true to
himself. He skates with a tremendous ability to adapt to any terrain.
Whether it's on the streets or on a ramp, Tim is committed. He has paid his
dues and doesn't ask much from anybody. This interview can only scratch
the surface of what's going on inside his head. Tim's a man of action, not
words. He has an unbelievable desire to skate. He's barreling down his
own highway to hell, so step back or you might get burned.
You're twenty years old and you've
been skating over a decade. What
keeps you going?
Probably just because there's so
much to look forward to. You get to
go someplace different all the time
and skate different terrain,
What are some of the best times
you've had skating?
Just some of the trips that we've
done. Me and my friend Shark one
time took a three-and-a-half day bus
ride out to Burnside. That's pretty
sick, just doing whatever on the bus,
seeing some crazy shit. We've done
that a couple times. Just going out
and skating San Francisco. Being
home we skate New York a lot, that's
real fun, and going down to some-
one's house, getting to skate pools
and all different kinds of stuff, any
thing that's really fast.
What else do you like to do?
If I'm not skateboarding it's usually
because I'm too tired to skate or the
weather's bad, otherwise me and my
friends would just go out and shoot
some pool or go drink some beers or
do something stupid.
Where would you really like to go?
I think me and my friend George,
maybe my friend Shark, too, a couple
-Shark
months we're going to go hit up
that new park in Switzerland, just go
over there and rage for like a week.
It seems like you're never home for
more than a couple days.
I hate sitting around. I always go
some place, Hop on a train, hop on
a bus, take friends all over the place,
just go see somebody for a couple
days, take off, go some place else.
Fuck sitting at home, that shit's bor
Ing, you've got to do something.
When you're gearing for a session,
what's blaring from your speakers?
Before skating, definitely got to
hear something super fast, some-
thing with really fast drums, a lot of
shit from the eighties, just some fast
metal shit, some black metal, some
other kinds of shit too, just whatever.
What's up with Snake Hill?
Snake Hill is this dude's private
condominium on top of this big ass
hill. He's got this winding ass, smooth
paved road going all the way on top
of it, and there's lights every twenty
feet so you could see real good. It's
rad, but there's security there. One
night me and my friend Shark snuck
up there. We were just getting ready
to go down, and all of a sudden we
see a big ass security truck with lights
on the top of it, and we're just like,
"Fuck it, dude." We just went straight
down, the dude couldn't even catch
up with us. It was really sick, we just
totally ditched the dude down the
whole thing. He thought he had us.
then we hopped off our boards, and
he tried to follow us through this big
grass area, so we booked through it,
crossed this road, and we jumped this
Jersey barrier, ran down the woods.
and ended up on some highway with
cars flying by every second. It was
rad. The dude started sitting there
with this flashlight looking through
the woods trying to find us. We were
just sitting there laughing, we're all
broken from flipping over trees and
shit, running through the woods, just
getting wrecked because it was
pitch black. But that's a big hill, that
shit's fast as hell, it's super rad.
Do you like skating in contests?
It's pretty rad that my sponsor will
send me there and I get to go skate
the contest and shit like that. I don't
really like to skate in contests all that
much, but I guess that's the least I
could do for them, a minute-and-a-
half or whatever the hell it is. The rest.
of the time I'm pretty much off on my
own, partying or whatever, just seeing
people I haven't seen for a long time.
But a kid shouldn't look forward to
being a professional skateboarder,.
that's not a reason why you should
skate, because even if I didn't get
free boards or what not, I'd still skate
every day, and if a kid wasn't willing
to work and pay his own way to get
some place, then he shouldn't expect
someone else to pay for it either,
that's the way I think about it.
What do you think is the best thing
that you got from skateboarding?
Probably just my friends that I've
met through it. I've met all my friends
through that. Pretty much right now
skating has given me my life, I think.
Do you think there's a difference
between the East and West Coast?
East Coast there's definitely crazy
skate times because of the weather.
Hot summers, the winter's freezing.
snow everywhere, just got to skate
and try to get through all the shit,
drive through the weather, you have
to skate indoors, just put on a crazy
amount of clothes and just go out
skating. It's way harder on the East
Coast than the West Coast, they have
pretty good weather, but it shouldn't
really matter. If you're a true die-hard,
you're going to skate no matter what.
Little Timmy (opposite top) shows us his
sensitive side. China Banks is one of the
longest running spots in SF and when Tim
Dog (left) kickflipped the little bench, the
earth moved. West Coast or East Coast,
Upson (opposite bottom) has it down, bax-
side lipslide in the Big Apple. Much props.
66 THRASHE
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