n the burly world of Rocky
Norton, no drop is too big
and no semi-smooth sur-
face unskateable.
When asked the obvious, "Why?"
Rocky explains his love for the big and
bad by citing a desire to keep things
"interesting and creative."
"I like unique stuff-a lot of stuff that involves
something very high, because most people don't
look up. I'll skate a
cate a ledge but I'd rather skate a ledge
that clears a gap or something rather than just some
flat ledge. I want to be unique and do things somewhat
differently than everyone else."
Unique is a pretty tame word once you actually see Rocky.
While the Ali Boulalas and Jim Grecos of the skateboard
world are battling to wear the tightest pants or win the Sid
Vicious look-alike contest, Rocky works full-time as a weight
trainer. The dude is huge.
dude is huge.
"Oh you mean the muscles?" he asks, jokingly pronouncing it
muskles, à à la Popeye. "I was always a bigger guy in high school,
and then I moved I to a a house near a gym and I started lifting. I
just started getting into it and liking it. The more you work your
muscles, the less prone they are t injury, so it really helped me feel
me confident i
t in my skating.""
It's also had some other benefits.
"I'm a skateboarder that no jock will fuck with no matter what. I'll be skating
down the street with some younger guys and someone will yell something out the
window, and then they
they'll see me
I see me and look forward again, real quick. Those smiles drop
off their faces. It's kind of cool."
His big arms also help him get onto some terrain no one ever thinks about. In the four
days I spent with Rocky, checking out the spots in his hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico,
he was shimmying up roofs, hopping fences, and even rappelling up to freeway overpasses. We also
hit up the numerous ditches as well as Ryan Simonetti's Evolve skatepark. Everywhere we went was a
serious search and destroy mission, with Rocky as his own drill sergeant.
"Why??!!" Rocky screamed after missing a trick. "Are you fucking kidding me????!!! You're a fucking idiot!!!!
Aaargh!!!!" At first I was a little unnerved by Rocky's violent outbursts. Then they got kind of entertaining. "God
hates me!!" he yelled at one point.
Although passing pedestrians are scared giddy, Rocky's rage is aimed at no one but himself. His fits are a practice he's
not proud of, but often finds necessary to get himself to tackle the tasks at hand.
"Homo.
.Fag. Retard's a big one," he chuckles when I ask him to list his favorite names to scream at himself. "I actually used.
you can believe that. But seriously, kids, it's not cool. It's a release, but I realize it's not always the best way to
to be worse,
get things done."
His bald head and quick temper draw instant comparisons to another burly skater, and Rocky is generous in expressing his
admiration for Mike Vallely, whom he met after sending him a video at Powell. Later, when Vallely started the short-lived
Transit, Rocky was put on the team.
"Mike's got a lot of perseverance. He really sticks to his guns and stands up for what he believes in. I have tons of respect
for Mike V. Also, I'm a very inquisitive person and he's given me lots of good information and advice about the skateboard
industry. He seemed to really understand the value of my skating and has always been very supportive."
"But you could kick his ass, right?" I ask.
"We'd fight for six or seven hours straight, but I could lift him over my head," he laughs.
He laughs, but I know he's not kidding.
Over the course of my visit, Rocky jumps off bridges, Miller flips on minis, and even throws some technical flippery at the
park's pyramid. Regardless of what people might think when they see a big dude dropping off roofs, Rocky dabbles in every
type of
f skating.
"You can't put down any type of skating," he says when I ask his opinion on tech dogs. "Every aspect has its own chal-
lenges and I want to challenge myself as much as I can."
At t the end of our work on this interview, our conversation turns towards Rocky's plans for the future. He's toying with the
idea of
of biting the bullet and moving to California, but is also interested in maybe giving the East Coast a try.
"I know I could make a difference, as a rider, a videographer, a team manager, or whatever," he explains. "But most of all, I
just want to be involved in skating-working with a company and people I can put all my energy, heart, and strength behind."
And with the strength Rocky's got, I feel sorry for the competition.
Rocky would like to thank his parents, friends, girlfriend, the Beach Zone, Mic-E Reyes and Spitfire, Doug Johnson from
Arcade, Speed Metal bearings and Derek at Giant, Osiris shoes, Emerald City, Rafe, Pat, Kerby, DJ, Ben, and all the kids out
there wrecking themselves.
ZZZ
7777
2
Clockwise from far left: A tight squeeze on even
tighter transition adds up to a tight ollie to fakie.
Rocky loses his mind and jumps off a bridge. The
only trick in the interview the average man has a
shot at, Rocky shows some tech flair with a
bouncin' backside nollie flip in a smooth ditch.
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