COLIN MCKAY
W
HAT WAS YOUR FIRST PHOTO
in Thrasher, and what was the situation?
The first photo I ever had in Thrasher was prob-
ably in 1988. Bryce Kanights and Tommy Guerrero
came to the place I was skating called the
Richmond Skate Ranch. I skated with them for
awhile and then I shot some photos with Bryce. I
was probably three and a half feet tall and had
some Rector Aggressors that went from my knee
to my ankle. I was riding my brother's board-just
all borrowed equipment, the most raggedy set-up.
So I got the contents page in Thrasher. Frontside
wallride. I had a pink helmet.
downtown every day. I'd still go to the
Ranch, by myself, a couple times a week,
'cause I liked it so much.
In the first Plan B video, you had groundbreak-
ing street and vert parts, but in the last five
years, you've mostly been focusing on vert.
When you have guys out there launching off
stuff, like Jamie Thomas, and I'm better at
vert-I mean, do you really want to see me
out there trying to do what I can on street
when there are guys who are way better than
me? I'm still totally down to go skate the
streets but it's so hard these days. It's like con-
any appeal for you?
That's just what's most important for me: com-
ing up with new stuff on vert. For me, it's pro-
gression. I like skating. I'll have fun in a pool.
One of the most fun things to skate is a really
good indoor park with all kinds of banks and
transitions. That's where I probably have the
most fun.
What's one basic vert trick that you cannot do?
I can't do frontside ollies to save my life. I can
Do you think vert is going to die with your
generation of vert skaters?
It's getting harder and harder to go skate
street these days. When I go skate vert, there
are a lot of kids on the platforms. The sessions
are a lot bigger than they were even two years
ago. I can go and skate there all day long, and
no one's going to kick me out or give me any
grief about anything. I can just have fun with
all my friends without any hassles. Right now,
vert is a good situation. I'm not saying it's
going to blow up or anything, but there are
kids who enjoy doing it, and I know there are
a lot of new kids-kids like Shaun White and a
couple of others, and I know there will be a
new generation of vert skaters. And they're
gonna be raw.
it. 720° benihana to fakie. No, but I have to do
720° tailgrab to fakie here pretty soon. I tried
like a year ago and almost did it.
Are you skating the best you've ever skated
right now?
Today, no. Yesterday I skated and I sucked. You
saw me the other day.
Who's the most stylish vert skater of all time?
It could be Peter Hewitt. It could be Max
Schaaf. It could be Rune Glifberg. It's hard. You
have to have Chris Miller in there too.
Is vert skating the best it's ever been right now?
Yes. For sure.
Do you like going to contests?
I have fun at contests when I'm skating well.
There's nothing worse than going to a contest
and seeing the competition and being like, "You
What are some jacked endorsement offers
you've passed on?
I don't pass on anything-are you kid-
ding? No, I've had a bunch of crazy ones
I've passed up. I don't ride for any corpo-
rate companies, really. Every company I
ride for is basically skateboarding, and
that's the way I'd like to keep it. It's funny
to have an action figure. There was this
one deal where they wanted to do t-shirts.
they would sell in mass quantities in chain
stores, and it would just be a picture of
you and your name. I wouldn't do that.
That's wack.
What went through your head the first time
you saw your likeness in an action figure?
I was psyched.
"IT'S GETTING HARDER AND HARDER TO
GO SKATE STREET THESE DAYS"
Cab nosegrind revert over the onion.
&egr
APIRAAPIARAPIRAA
Did you make a conscious decision to spend
more time on vert rather than street?
No, not at all. It was never like that. I just
did what we all were doing, which was skat-
ing at the Ranch. And then when vert kind
of died, I wasn't doing it as much. I just
enjoyed it-I would go out there and skate
vert by myself, for a few hours, a couple of
times a week. But then all my friends were
out street skating, so I'd end up with them
tests: kids are so good. It's really hard to go.
out there and practice for both, get lines
down for both, and expect to do well in
either. The reason I don't concentrate on
street contests is I'd rather do better in one
than mediocre in two of them.
do one about a foot high. There are a ton of vert
tricks I can't do, like, even ones I used to do.
Can you do eggs?
I can do eggs-they're terrible. I can do rot-
ten eggs. It's all what you spend time on, and
that's what you get good at. I just haven't been
Do you have any desire to put together a gnarly spending much time on my eggs lately.
street video part before you're done?
Yeah, totally.
Does other transition-oriented skating hold
What trick would you not be caught dead doing?
Benihanas. It's funny, that's one of the most
requested tricks at contests.
Yeah, but you could have mopped the floor
with those kids at their age.
Not even. You haven't seen Shaun White lately.
He's going 10 feet. We had a demo at RDS the
other day and he was doing seven-foot 540's. He
just learned them last week. There's definitely a
new generation coming up.
What tricks would you like to do before your
professional career is over?
I have a list 50 tricks long. I can't even get into
know, I don't think I can make top five."
When were your salad days, or are they yet
to come?
Competition-wise they're yet to come. But
otherwise, right now, fuck yeah.
Who's the best vert skater on Girl after you?
I don't know. Girl's got some undercover vert
talent. Eric's done 540's. Carroll gets busy.
Mariano's done some tricks. And Rick. Rick
broke his shoulder.
Did it look like you?
My action figure now, the one that's out right
now, doesn't look like me.
What's it look like?
A turtle. It looks like a turtle taking a shit, dude.
Where do you want to be when Thrasher
turns 30?
I want to be at Jake Phelps' house, partying
at midnight. I don't know. Is there a party? I'll
fly out. -Michael Burnett