510
OAKI
In the vast cement ofea
of Oakland, John Deago
backside 180's a fence
and some 'crete
The 510 is actually a phenomenon of the '90s,
generated by Pacific Bell's decision to segregate
Alameda and Contra Costa counties from San
Francisco and Marin. The roots of skateboarding.
however, run deeply and autonomously throughout
the East Bay, extending to a time long before the
telephone company stuck their heads into it.
Cliff Coleman, for example, was a pioneer member
of the original NorCal Hobie team during the 1960s.
You know: barefoot, walk-the-dog, skater-dater, all that
shit. He remains to this day the fastest man to consis
tently run the steep winding roads that snake down-
wards through the Berkeley Hills. These are roads lea-
turing straight shots that can bring you up to speeds of
35 or 40 mph, mixed with hairpins that are impossible
to negotiate without slides. After a lifetime spent hon-
ing his skills on the Buena Vista run, Cliff continues to
fine-tune his craft, running faster and more efficiently
than ever. Think about it. Cliff Coleman was hooked up
before you were even born and, in his own way, remains
way gnarlier than you.
The legacy of hill skating has had a deep reaching, fun-
damental impact on skateboarding in the 510. Whether
you consider yourself a hill skater or not, they exist.
Whether you consider the hills either inviting and alluring
or mocking and terrifying, the hill roads remain the true
test of heart for local skaters. Hills are the great equaliz
e. A site where obvious talent takes a back seat to desire,
commitment and reckless abandon. A site where you
alone are left to answer the question, what is a skate-
boarder? You are asked to respond to that question with
your body, the board under your feet, the ground a roaring
blur beneath your wheels, an answer to the relentless pull
of gravity. How fast are you willing to go? How far are you
willing to take this edge?
Personally, I'm terrified of downhill. The last time I
went up, I crashed at 30 mph, sliding headlong into a
curb. Still, I'll go up a couple of times a year. Because
it's the scariest thing I can do on a skateboard, it has
become the most important thing to remember. It
keeps me honest. I do prefer, however, to translate
the lessons learned on the hills to other terrain.
Because I came up during the '70s and '80s, my per-
sonal biases are towards transition.
I don't know much about what was going down in
the East Bay during the 1970s except that the Alotaflex
guys came from here: Tim Marting, the inventor of the
rock and roll: Paco Prieto, Jeff Sands, who now does
Switch snowboard bindings. I guess there was a
skatepark in Alameda and one in Concord. That's about
all I know about the 1970s.
When I arrived in 1982, this is what I found: the
Berkeley Tennis Court banks with Joel and Dave Chavez
64
EYS
EARHOUSE
One of the most legendary spots in the
Oakland Hills is Blind School poot. Matt
Wilson is about to tailgrab the tall facewall
ONE