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TONY'S TRICKS, EXPLAINED
Tony has made up more tricks than I can count. These are the famous
ones. I can't do any of them. Yet.
| THE 720 |
| Two full spins in the air. Tony did the first one in 1985.
The story is he spun too far by accident on a different trick, and Lance Mountain told him to just keep going and
spin all the way around twice, and he figured it out not long after. Fourteen years later he went two and a half. |
| THE STALEFISH |
| A backside air where you reach your back hand around
behind your back leg and grab the heel side of the board. It looks twisted up and it's hard to hold. He named it
at a skate camp in Sweden where the only food was canned fish. True story. That is a terrible way to name a trick
and also the best way. |
| THE MADONNA |
| A one-footer. You take your front foot off and kick it straight down
behind the board, then get it back on before you come back in. He made it up in the '80s, around when Madonna came out,
so that's what it's called. My sister thinks this is hilarious. |
| THE AIRWALK |
| You grab the nose with your front hand and take BOTH feet off and
kind of walk in the air, one foot forward and one foot back, then put them back on. Rodney Mullen did one on flat
ground first, but Tony is the one who did it on vert. |
| THE 540 |
| One and a half spins. Other people had 540s, like Mike McGill's
McTwist, which is upside down, but Tony did the first frontside 540, in 1984. The 540 is the one you have to have
before you can even think about the 720 or the 900. |
| THE 900 |
| Two and a half spins. June 27, 1999. See the front page.
Nobody has done it but him. |
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MY VERT LOG
Every trick I've learned on Noah's ramp, in order. I write them down in
a notebook in my backpack and then type them in here.
THE RAMP: Noah's dad built it two summers ago from plans in a magazine.
It's 16 feet wide and about 10 feet tall with a little bit of vert at the top, plywood
with masonite on top, and steel coping. The masonite is shot on one side from the sun.
We flip it around when his dad says so.
| WHEN | WHAT |
| Summer '97 | Pumping back and forth. Kickturns. Falling off a lot. Didn't even go near the top. |
| Oct. '97 | Dropped in for the first time. Noah's dad stood at the bottom. I leaned forward like everybody says and it actually worked. Then I did it like 40 more times. |
| Winter '97 | Rock to fakie. Took forever because I kept hanging up the back wheels on the coping. Slammed on my hip a lot. |
| Spring '98 | Backside 50-50 grind and axle stall. The coping makes the best sound. |
| Summer '98 | Rock 'n' roll. Also my first real slam. Wrist. Not broken, just sprained. Now I wear wrist guards. |
| Fall '98 | Frontside grind. Chase got it the same day and we both acted like it was no big deal. |
| Mar. '99 | Backside air. Only about six inches out but it counts. You grab heelside with your front hand and just let the ramp take you up. |
| 5/30/99 | Backside air a foot out! Noah's mom saw it from the kitchen window and clapped. |
| 6/27/99 | Tony landed the 900. We skated till midnight. I didn't learn anything, I just felt like I could. |
| 7/18/99 | Frontside air! Sketchy landing but I rolled away. Too hot in July to skate in the day so this was at 10 at night under the shop light. |
| 8/99 | Working on fakie ollies and disasters. Got one disaster to stick. One. |
| NOW | Trying to get my backside airs higher so I can start on a stalefish. Tony's trick. Then the 540. Then I'll let you know. |
SLAM COUNT FOR 1999 SO FAR: I quit counting at 100 in April.
MY SETUP
| DECK | Birdhouse, 8 inches wide. Wider is better for vert. Bought it with lawn mowing money. |
| TRUCKS | Independent. Pretty tight so the board doesn't wobble when I come in fast. |
| WHEELS | 60mm Spitfires. Bigger wheels for ramps. My street wheels are smaller. |
| BEARINGS | ABEC 5. I clean them when they start sounding crunchy. |
| GRIP | Plain black. I cut a little X in it with a razor where my back foot goes. |
| PADS | Helmet, knee pads, elbow pads, wrist guards. On vert you need ALL of them. Knee pads are how you fall. You slide down on your knees instead of your face. |
That's it. If you skate vert in Arizona or anywhere e-mail me and tell me
what you're working on.
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