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Words and Photos by Michael Burnett
BUSTER HALTERMA
uster Halterman is one of
the most stylish skaters to ever
grace the big U. After farming
his skills on a tiny vert ramp in
a Pennsylvania barn, Buster
made the vert-heavy late '80s
scene with a flowing style not
unlike Chris Miller's, and ridiculous
tricks that made the Ken Parks and
Steve Schneers of the pro ranks
wring their hands with worry. His
departure from the competitive skat-
ing world left a noticeable void and
his comeback is one of the few that
no one seems able to criticize-espe-
cially after his first place qualifying
spot at Danny Way's recent
"Judgement Day" contest. Welcome
back, Buster. Glad to have you.
First off, Buster, where'd you go?
Nowhere. I went nowhere. I've just been a
little underground, that's all. No, actually, I
got involved in the clothing industry and
moved to a place that basically had no vert
ramps. And sadly enough, being a vert
skater in the early '90s, I wasn't such a hot
commodity and couldn't make a living off of
skating. My career opportunities took me to
South Carolina, where I started a clothing
company called Fuel. Then I ventured up to
Ohio, working for Alien Workshop. And now
I'm out here in Cardiff (San Diego), which is
like a skateboarding melting pot, and I have
to skate. I want to skate.
What made you say, "OK, it's over?"
There were a few things. Mentally, I was
really frustrated with the way the industry
was. I felt like I was skating my best, but yet
I couldn't make a living off of it. I thought
that maybe I wasn't good enough. I
got really frustrated with my skat-
ing and the fact was, I wasn't mak-
ing the money I needed to live. I
had to get a part time job and I
started thinking about my future. I
felt like if I couldn't live off skating
I had to do something else that
would put food on the table. So I
decided to go to school, work part-
time and then on top of that I start-
ed the clothing company with a
friend. Those combined priorities
took my focus off skateboarding
even more.
What did skating look like from
the outside?
It just didn't seem like it had the
push that it had in the late '80s. It
seemed like there were so many
pros coming into it and there were
less kids buying boards. For me,
vert just died. All the vert pros from
that time still skated but to the pub-
lic it seemed like vert was gone. It
was never in the magazines; street
was the only thing. I don't know. It
just seemed like it went to sleep for
a little while. Especially being back
in Pennsylvania.
Sequence: From the Halterman/Miller
school of tricks, Buster adds some
fire to (and practically bends over
backwards on) the backside sugar-
cane with a quick Jump up and
across an extension.
Right: The only thing that will get you
this high and this bent at Danny's
ramp is some speed and power.
Buster's bubbling over with both.
and
84 THRASHER
pe
GRUCZE
85