This page: Never one to be accused of grandstanding, Pino ollies an entire set of bleachers simply because he can.,
That page, top to bottom: One push and a twenty-foot balancing act. Joe broke his hand before he made it. Pino
puts a new twist on an old ledge with a gigantor crooked grind from the sidewalk.
PING
can't usually walk out your door and have spots
to skate. You get in the car, drive, drive, get to
the spot, get kicked out, get back in the car. It
can be pretty frustrating. Luckily, the people I
film and shoot with are really understanding.
There are fun people to skate with here. I like
skating with my friend, Chris Jones, who I've
known since junior high. We know each other
really well and will always be friends. Lately.
I've also been skating with this guy Dan Byars,
who's super good. He does really gnarly stuff.
It's good to skate with different people, because
it encourages you to try new things. I usually
just skate with whoever shows up at Hanger 18,
the shop I skate for. One thing I don't like about
San Diego is all the plastic benches. They're
everywhere, and a lot of dudes skate them, but
I think they're pretty much useless. Growing up
skating marble, it's hard to have any fun on a
tiny plastic bench.
Do you eat a lot of pizza?
I live with my girlfriend who manages a
Domino's Pizza, so I eat pizza a lot. I won't say
every day, but pretty much every day. I try not
to, anyway.
What would you like to talk about?
If you haven't been to Burnside and wit-
Inessed what the skaters did to create a spot
for themselves, you should. It's all concrete.
You can't really complain about it. These guys
took charge and built their own spot instead of
just complaining about it. They all seem to
skate for the fun of it and party and have a
good time. I'm really stoked on those guys and
what they've done. I tried to create my own
Burnside by pouring a concrete bench
because I hate plastic so much. You may have
seen photos of it. Chad Knight had some.
tricks on it.
Didn't you come home one day and the
Rhythm team was filming on it?
It was almost like that. I set the bench up and
it took everyone a week to figure out about it.
I didn't skate it that much; I built it out of bore-
dom. I came home and there were ten pros
skating it. That gives you an idea of how
scarce skate spots are in San Diego. People
would eat lunch on it, too, and take naps on it.
Then the city came and said I had to take it
down. So I put it in the park down the street
from the skate shop and after school there
would be about 25 kids skating it. I told the
Rodent so much about the bench that he came
down from SF to skate it.
A road trip for a bench?
Yeah. And then we went to the park to skate
it and the city guy came and took it away.
Did you tell him it was your bench?
Yeah. I told him how I built it so we wouldn't
have to destroy real benches, but he said it was-
n't up to city code and just took it.
Who are your sponsors?
Goodtimes, Gullwing, Reef shoes, who I'm
really stoked on because Aaron Astorga is the
team manager. I like that I can call a shoe com-
pany and actually talk to someone who knows
about skating and is interested in what I'm
doing rather than me just being some name on
a list. I also skate for Hanger 18, a shop my
friend Ken owns. I go there every day. Thanks
to all you guys.
Who are some of your favorite people?
My friend Chris, the Rodent, and Matt
Creagle, my friend Yosuke, who I grew up with
who goes to Berkeley. Outside of my close
friends, one of my favorite people is Sage from
Burnside. He skates like a madman and parties
like a madman and just has a great time all the
time. Also, even though I can't call him my
friend, Gonz, just because he always amazes
me whenever I see him. Then I've got to
say Deni, my girlfriend. She's helped
me out when times were really
tough. She's always
there to support
and help me. I
came
here
out
with
nothing to
pursue my
dream of being
a professional
"I tried to create my own
Burnside by pouring a
concrete bench because I
skateboarder, and she's
really helped me achieve my
goals just by being there for me.
It's been hard but I have no
regrets. If I couldn't skate
tomorrow, I'd still have no
regrets. I'm definitely stoked on
how things have gone so far. I
feel like I've made some good
decisions that maybe didn't
seem so good in the beginning.
My parents were definitely not
stoked on me moving to
California on a whim and not
going to college. It's funny
because I always hated school,
and recently when I was home,
my Mom's friend who's a high
school teacher had me come
speak to her class about skate-
boarding. To actually go back
as a guest was crazy. I told
them that school can wait and
that they should see whatever
else is out there before they
commit themselves to more
time in a classroom. Your
body's only young for so
long, but your mind
can work for a lot
longer. Thanks
to my spon-
sors, friends,
and family.
hate plastic so much"