believe me, I've seen him skate for at
least twelve to thirteen years, and Mr Hill
can rip with the best of them. He does
inverts, eggplants, long grinds, backside
and frontside airs, and just hits walls with
the experience of a seasoned pro. Lance
is a little reserved at times and doesn't
talk much if you really don't know him,
he doesn't brag, and he doesn't talk shit.
Instead, he lets his skating do the talking
and fingers do the walking. Lance will
always skate pools, and all you've got to
do is call him, he's ready any time.
Weaponry and Tactics: Mr Mountain will
do an invert, air or fake in any pool. He
carves fast and sometimes busts fast-
plants, and he'll amaze and surprise you
with lay-backs and sure-footed style.
8. Kelly Bellmar aka Belsen, Belly
Hair: Blonde Eyes: Blue Height: 6
Weight: 200 Age: 32 DOB: 7-28-63
"The more obstacles, the better."
Belsen lived in Los Alamitos forever,
riding pools and skateparks all over So
Cal. He's been at it for years, and it was
towards the end of Pipeline that I started
seeing a lot of him along with Chicken
and Hultz, of course. Team Vision was
huge at that time: big boards, big
wheels and lots of fun in the sun. Pool
and bowl riding were at their peak in the
late eighties, and Kelly was there riding
on the crest of a golden wave. His dedi
cation to Pipeline was like at least two to
three times a week, driving one hour
there and one hour back every session,
not including the number of pools we
skated at this period also.
Pools were where Bellmar blos
somed into a skater's skater: true grit
and guts, a go-for-it attitude and make-
it-or-break-it approach. Kelly can do
truly does amazing stuff, not to mention
that he has the sickest pool in his back-
yard and him living the ultimate skate-
boarder's dream: he was in the right
38 Тиклоня
place at the right time and still man-
ages to get into the backyard with
more frequency now than he did then (it
was a lot too!). With Fontucky, OC and
the Valley in full swing, you'll probably
run into Kelly at the weirdest places
putting his unique stamp of skating on
the coping
Tools of the Trade: Factory
Bellmar Model, Indy 169s,
Think 58s
Weaponry and Tactics: Killer
inverts, sick frontside inverts,
rock n' roll slides and trippy
lines combined with skatepark
sensibilities.
effortless abandon, smoothness and
confidence make him eligible for a Kung
Fu master award. Watch out for shallow
end grinds over shallow stairs both ways,
frontside ollie nosebonks, body jars, big
everything
himself. He doesn't get around much
anymore (Planet Earth business and fam-
ily), but don't let it fool you, because he
can bust on demand. As a matter of fact,
he was sighted at Encinitas last week by
Peter King, who promptly told Christo
bust a frontside air for him, so Chris used
10. Chris Miller aka Smooth somebody else's board and demonstrat-
Operator, Millertime
ed the perfected Miller six-foot, boned-
out frontside air.
Hair: Blonde Eyes: Blue Height: 5'8"
Weight: 145 Age: 28 DOB: 12-4-67
Quote: "Shred 'til your dead."
I had the chance to see Chris grow
as a person and a skateboarder par
excellence at Pipeline skatepark. Chris
and the boys were a little younger than
us, but their abilities were right up
9. Christian Hosoi aka there with the big boys. Chris honed his
Christ, Holmes
skills at skateparks, backyard pools and
Baldy Pipe, and tales of his shredding
will go down in history. Miller is one of
those "naturals," who can accomplish
anything he puts his mind to. He skates
The first time I saw
Christian was at Wincester
Skatepark. He was probably
about twelve or so with
14
super long, flowing black hair, which
we kept saying. "Cut your hair, you little
hippy!" How could we have known?
I don't really skate with Holmes
much anymore, but in a backyard, he
can always bust out a big ass air out of
nowhere, or an ollie tailgrab, or a long
lipslide, or shall I go on?
Christian, in my opinion, is the most
stylish and powerful skater when he's on
top of things. Maybe he doesn't have
anything to prove anymore. So be it.
Whatever the case, a skateboard seems
to be an appendage for Holmes, a natu-
ral happenstance that makes Christ look
so good and effortless in his flawless
execution of defying gravity. I hope for
the best for Mr Hosoi in whatever his
endeavors might bring, but would like
to see more of what Christian does the
best; skateboard in an empty swim-
ming pool.
Indys, wheels 50mm or bigger. Hardly does the best frontside airs in the busi
ever wears pads
Weaponry and Tactics: Lines and tricks
nobody else can do the way he does. His
ness. Chris' reputation proceeds him,
and I believe that in his mind he has to
live up to everybody's expectations of
I would love to skate with Chris
again (please call me, man), especially at
any of the three OC pools, and I will
always remember Chris for his impres-
sive and elegant skating. Good luck to
ya, man!
Tools of the Trade: Various Chris Miller
Models, Ventures, 54mm wheels or big-
ger. Pads or padless - for Miller it don't
matter.
Weaponry and Tactics: Big ollies, lip-
slides, big frontside airs, big, big, big
lines and speed carves.
11. Tony Alva aka The
Original Maddog, TA
Hair: Green Eyes: Brown
Height: 5'10" Weight: 150
Age: 38 DOB: 9-2-57
Quote: "Nothing beats the
concrete."
TA's brand of pool riding
influenced a whole new gen-
eration of skaters. He was on
it in '76 way before anybody
else really made a thing of it,
looking for pool perfection
throughout the urban sprawl
of the City of Angels. Tony
was the man who really put
pool riding on the map as far
as I'm concerned, and his
numerous excursions into
the backyards have been
well-documented throughout
his skating career.
Alva also has the distinction
of bringing the pig board to the
forefront, and this brought trick
skating into a new era. This influ-
ence cannot be denied, and
Alva's no-talking attitude and
flamboyance really affected me
and my approach to skating. TA
also is the only remaining skater
of his era to actively still skate
(what happened to all the other
guys?). TA is old school, sure, but
he was one of the first to do an air
out of the bowl, one of the first to
acid drop, and one of the first to
widely travel the world, spreading
the word of pools. Tony, we are
all indebted to you for backyard
pool inspiration
Tools of the Trade: Alva pig
model measuring at least 10".
Indys, 55mm wheels or bigger.
Rides padless most of the time.
but has been known to wear a helmet.
Weaponry and Tactics: First person to
do back-to-back forevers in the bowl,
frontside airs, stylish grinds, way stylin'.
12. Nick Henderson aka Maddog.
Sad Cat, Wartdog
Hair: Blonde Eyes: Blue Height: 5'8 1/2"
Weight: 180 Age: 27 DOB: 2-23-68
Quote: "I know what pain feels like, and
I know it goes away!"
Maddog has been a pool
practitioner for quite some time now,
and his no-nonsense
approach and application
12
make him a dangerous man
when thrown into a pit. Nick
skates fast and ferocious and
pretty much doesn't care at
all. He takes tremendous
beefs at every session, so
he's always good for a laugh
or two. What I like about Sadi
Cat is his aggressive inner
hyperness (Ritalin Kid) that
challenges himself to always
push the limits and skate as
hard as possible at every
possible moment. Another
likable quality Maddog has in
abundance is his humble.
arrogance and sureness of
himself. He can call out a
trick, make it totally killer,
and just to make sure that
you saw it, he'll ask you, "Did
13. Remy Stratton aka Remster,
Remwaldi
Hair: Brown Eyes: Blue Height: 5'11"
Weight: 160 Age: 24 DOB: 6-21-71
Quote: "Nothing like a good skeletal
vibration."
Remy is one crazy of mutha on vert,
period. Anywhere. But in a pool,
Remwaldi shines like a diamond in the
1
ya see that?" Wartdog lately has been
making ollies to tail, lipslides and big
backside smith grinds. He digs to do
long locked-in smith grinds, and if you've
skated the Basic Clover lately, you've
probably run into him there. Maddog is
usually hella cool (temper, temper), and
if he's packing, he'll put a smile on your
face. But watch out, 'cause if you piss
him off, he'll throw his board at you or
hit you in the face.
Tools of the Trade: Deckcrafters Stick,
Indys, Think 58s.
Weaponry and Tactics: Obstacle master,
tail taps on rocks, fast carves, good airs
and killer backside tailslides.
rough. Remy does shit
where you shouldn't, pays
dearly for it, and then goes
for it all over again and
again and again. His drive is
like the Energizer Rabbit
he just doesn't quit. Like on
a ramp, the Remster travels
extremely fast, maching
through deep ends and
crashing into shallow ends
with doosies like 50/50s at
warp speed, backside tail-
slide whipper snaps,
frontside lipslides just about
anywhere, backside disas
ters and the patented slider
to fakies where there is little
or no tranny. When I think of
Remy, certain words come
to mind: Supersonic,
Ballistic, Thunderbolt,
Tornado, The Punisher,
Stukadivebomber, The Annihilator, The
Destroyer, and Speedracer. All of these
words describe Remy in some way or
another, and hopefully you too can enjoy
to see Remster perform his miracles
and delicious ditties on the coping at a
pool near you.
up to the Sacto area), their pool exper
tise over the years is only rivaled by our
crew down south in the Badlands.
They've had revolving members over
their fifteen-year history, and their fear-
less leader, Randy Katen, is an all-out
pool-seeking animal. The N-Men's
patented urethane wheel-driving tech
niques have proven that their lust for life
won't fade away under any circum-
stances. The N-Men use airplane surveil
lance, have a pumping system that's
down pat (floating inner tube buckets
with holes drilled into them for non-clog
ging), utilize HUD home brochures to
the max, and even have magnetic signs
for their cars, masking their
true identities.
The N-Men are true leg-
endary figures in the skate-
board world, and we need
more of this kind of endless
devotion and self-sacrifice.
Surely all of the readers of
Thrasher have seen the N-
Men's antics in one form or
another in the mag or on
video. If you've ever had the
chance to hang with the N-
Men, you know how cool they
can be (incredible hospitality).
and I hear they have some
killer pools from time to time.
So, if you're ever into seeing the capi
tal, look up Gary Cross and the boys
15. Mark Hayes aka Slide, 540, 220
Quote: "Get the surfers out of the shal
low end."
Hair: Blonde Eyes: Blue Height: 5'9
Tools of the Trade: Acme Boards, Indys, Weight: 200 Age: 32 DOB: 9-11-63
Formula One 58s.
Weaponry and Tactics: Frontside roll-ins,
warp factor lipslides, big ollies and
frontside pivots. Bionic speed and
loftiness give Remy the racer's edge.
14. N-Men
Though I've only skated with these
guys a couple of times (I hardly ever get
Mark Hayes is the most hellbent
pool skater I know of (besides myself).
and his dedication to actually go out and
find them is another story in itself. He
claims to have skated in the day and says
it was him and his buddies who threw
firecrackers off of the freeway into the
teardrop pool at the first Oasis contest.
(He was a very bad kid!). Darrell Delgado
told me stories of the slide character,
and if Darrell was praising. I thought I'd
better look this guy up
I finally met 540 at the San Diego
ASR Show ages ago and skated most of
the killer SD pools because of him. I
would even go as far as to say that he
helped revitalize the SD pool scene. The
guy is a walking Thomas Guide and
pool-sniffing canine who used to hand
bucket all by himself until he got smart
and started using pumps. One time he
bucketed a pool all night so I could skate
the next day with him
Mark will drive 200 miles a day to
skate a pool, and
5
he has put many, many miles on
the road to accomplish his crav
ings for carving. A typical slide
adventure consists of waking up
at 6:00 am to get to Fontucky at
8:00 am, skate until 4:00 pm and
drive back to San Diego by 6:00
pm, going 90 mph all the way, of
course, eat, take a shower,
spend some quality time with his
son, then go to work at 11:00.
pm until 2:00 pm the next day.
Then he'd repeat the process
two days later all over again.
And again. True dedication. True devo-
tion. His chick hates Mark because of his
other "girlfriend," but Mark loves his
mistress a whole bunch. 220 goes ballis
tically bonkers in shallow ends (think of a
killer whale pouncing on a seal), carves
good lines like double doubles, demol-1
ishes death boxes, and just generally
creates concrete chaos. Tools of the
Trade: Santa Cruz Kendall Model, 169s,
58 Salbas.
Weaponry and Tactics: Fast, mean barks,
tailslides, and long runs.
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