TO HILL ANd BaCK
he following day there was
a mini-ramp built in my
backyard courtesy of my
parents. I
got my first board from
Skaters Paradise. It was a Sims.
Kamikaze. I like the graphic so much
I painted the mural on the mini-
ramp. Kent came over to my house
one day to skate the mini-ramp and
he did a boneless off the fountain in
my backyard. I asked him what that
was and he said, "It's street skating."
My first day of street skating was so
fun, and all I did was acid drops off
an eight-foot-high wall behind
Lucky's in Goleta.
My stepfather started bringing me
to the CASL contests, where I skated
in the street division. I skated for
about two and a half years before
getting sponsored by Dogtown. I was
fourteen when I started skating. Jim
Muir was a great sponsor; he would
send me more than my fair share of
product. His brother was in Suicidal
Tendencies, so I would ask Jim to
send me the band's shirts.
I met Kit Erickson out in Isla Vista.
He was a really good street skater,
and we hung out together every day
until I was twenty-two. Kit intro-
duced me to Brandon Chapman.
This guy could ollie. Brandon intro-
duced me to Jake Bradley. The four
of us would skate together for about
five years.
I weaseled my way into a grey
dirty van on its way to Las Vegas
where a street contest was. The
team manager of Powell looked at
me in amazement when I showed
him how much money I had for the
weekend. I had five dollars. Todd
Hastings, the manager of the team,
was a very trustworthy and respon-
sible team manager. I placed well in
the contest, and enjoyed the feeling
of being in a team environment.
When I turned seventeen, I got
sponsored by Powell Peralta. Stacy
Peralta was a great man. I skated
with Tony, Cab, McGill, Guerrero,
Thiebaud, Rudy, Guy, Gabriel, every-
body. Tour was great, going all over
the world. I went to Japan, Europe,
Australia, Venezuela. Nobody was
better than Tony Hawk on tour.
Bucky and I used to hang out on tour.
Australia was pretty fun. Life was
wonderful. I was making five thou-
sand dollars a month. The women
used to love the Powell skaters.
skated with Kit, Emerist, and Loren
when I was back home from tour.
Skating was great for two years. I was
pro in 1990.
I
t started one day when
I was riding my BMX
bike down the middle
of the street and I saw
Kent Knapper do an
ollie off a street transition.
From that day on I knew
that was what I wanted to
do. My name is Frankie Hill
and this is my story.
I filmed eight videos with Powell
skateboards. Stacy Peralta left the
company. The new name was the
Powell Corporation. One day after
Loren and I were filming at the
Powell factory, here comes Steve
Sherman wanting to take some pic-
tures. He said Powell would want
some of the photos or I would not
have gone at all. We went out to
UCSB with the intention that I
would be getting in a poster book,
and more photos for Powell. Loren
sprained his ankle doing a K-grind
down a five-stair. I came with al
backside lipslide down the rail. I
then tried to come around a sharp
turn, then ollie over a wall that
extended off to the right. When my
front leg was completely extended,
my front truck hit the edge of the
wall and my front leg was still
straight when it landed with all my
weight on the ground. My knee blew
up. I had to sit on my board and
push myself off the UCSB campus
while my boy Loren got this kid to
push him.
I went to the doctor and Dr.
Ryu said that I needed an MRI.
I could not skate like I wanted
to. The trade show was in San
Diego. I drank too many beers
in a sauna for five hours. I got real-
ly sick. I wanted to go home but I
went to Mexico for a vacation.
When I got back I quit skating for
Powell because my salary was four
hundred fifty dollars a month, and
my rent was six hundred and seven-
ty-five dollars a month.
I looked for a new sponsor but I
could not skate like I wanted to. I
skated for Consolidated for
short time. It was fun skating for
Consolidated. I eventually
stopped skating because my knee
was so messed up.
I didn't know what to do now. I
could not skate and live at the same
time. My parents made me a deal if I
went back to school they
would help me out
Right: Vaultin'
fences is nothing new
to Frankie. Up and
over in Santa Barbara.
if you don't die
then you better get
back up and start
trying again
74 THRASHER
By Frankie Jill