Skateboarding | The Trials and Tribulations of a Grizzly Chadams

Confession time. I know he was/is/will be considered one of the all-time greats, but I’m not the biggest Paul Rodriguz fan. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate the guy, and I know he’s good, but it’s almost as if he’s too good. All his tricks look easy and effortless, even if they’re technically complex. It’s hard to tell if he’s skating switch or regular, for it all looks the same, which in a way, decreases the “wow” factor of in his skating (especially in his video parts). And he has a tendency of murdering spots by essentially doing every trick imaginable down it to the point where he shuts the spot down. And after the 5^th or 6^th trick, it’s like “Ok, we get it! Nobody can come back!”

The most notorious example of this is with Tom Penny at the chain:

Which makes his skating seem like a blur, and for that I could never truly appreciate how good he was.

That is, until I watched his Forecast part.

It was August of 2005. I was living on a high for winning my first (and only) skate competition (it was only intermediate skill level, but hey, I’ll take it!), and was set to indulge in bibulous activities across the Washington State University campus, as I was still in the thralls of my prodigal tendencies as a college student. But before that, and I’m not sure it was planned this way, but all the finalists from my division were invited to the house of BJ the Wise before the commencement of said activities. Legend says BJ could’ve become pro in the 90’s but chose to get his PhD instead so he could cure cancer. And if it weren’t for the corrupt medical/pharmaceutical industry, he would’ve already cured it, but that’s another discussion for another day.

“Dude, Zack, Congratulations on the skate comp!” he said to me as I entered into his domain. “Have a seat, we’re watching the Forecast video.” Man, did I feel like a million bucks, for one simply doesn’t get a comment like that from BJ the Wise. It’s earned through years of respect, for a wiseman like himself isn’t afraid to slam you for your foolishness. Just ask the scooter kid at the Moscow skatepark who got chewed out when he got in the way and whacked him with his Razor scooter!

Even more humbling was the reaction from my competitors, Tim and Parker, for they all were the further compilatory on my accomplishment, as is the custom of most skaters. “In all honesty, it could’ve been anybody’s game,” I replied in respect of their skill level as we reminisced about the glorious day, unable to stop giving each other props to the point that we almost forgot a skate video was on (which is unheard of with a group of skaters). I reminded Parker that for a minute, I thought he had it in the bag when he ripped off a gnarly indy grab over the hip followed up by a backside 50-50 down the bank to start off his run. But I lucked out after he went for multiple backside flips off the quarter pipe and ran out of time for any other tricks in his run.

The moments P-Rod’s part came on however, all of us seemed to quiet down, as we were sucked into trance. It must’ve been a combination of the mood I was in, with the half-waning/half-driving tempo of his part, but it finally dawned on me, “Oh snap! This guy is good! Like, really good!” I think it was a feeling mutual to the crew, for it was just an onslaught of combo after combo, line after line, and one spot murdering after another—the sheer volume of tricks performed in his part were simply absorbing into my skull like Neo downloading Kung Fu into his brain to fight Morpheus. It was part overwhelming, part amazing, and part, “this video doesn’t do his skating justice, but it comes close!”

That’s the thing with some skaters. You can watch a video part, but it can’t showcase how good that skater actually is unless you see them skating in person. And man, what a treat it would be to skate with him, for I can only imagine the amount of tricks he could pop off on rails, down stair sets, and across other obstacles in a consistent basis.

Being that this was the era before YouTube (or at least YouTube was in it’s infancy) and skate videos weren’t wildly available yet online, I never got the chance to watch this part again. And with a slew of other amazing skate videos that had come out in 2005, among them Baker 3, Zero – New Blood, DVS – Skate More, and Almost – Round 3, Forecast probably got lost in the shuffle. Yet, his part always hung around year after year, and that waning/driving song of his kept popping back up in my head, to the point where I couldn’t take it anymore and I just had to rewatch it.

And I’m glad I did. And even though I get to watch it every now and then online, it still lives rent free inside my head.

Full Video Here (P-Rod’s part starts at the 29:00 mark):

Other articles in the series: Tosh Townend – Sight Unseen (Skate Videos That Live Rent Free Inside My Head)

If you enjoy this, please consider your support by checking out a copy of my book “Waiting on Heaven’s Doorstep,” about a former skater who learns the hardest lesson of all… saying goodbye.

I suppose I’ll always consider myself a skater at heart, even though my best skate years are well behind me and I no longer have the time to skate like I used to as a father of two. One thing I think I can speak on, however, is that once you’ve stepped on a board and learned to skate the streets, you never look at them the same. Each ledge, stair set, rail, or bank is a treasure trove of imagined tricks waiting to be performed, much inspired by the skate videos I’d watch religiously in my youth. And now, 25 years later, many of the parts from those skate videos live rent free inside my head.

I’ll probably end up writing an entire essay on the Transworld Skateboarding videos at some point, for in the late 90’s/early 2000’s, they came out with a solid string of videos that really elevated the spirit of skateboarding. They showed that it was more than pulling off a few stunts on a board; that in its pure state, it was an artform, and they masterfully brought out the culture and style of each skater they profiled.

No better is this showcased than in Tosh Townend’s part in Sight Unseen.

This became the first skate video I ever owned, having received it for Christmas in 2001. My father bought it because he told the guy at the skate shop (probably a Zumiez) that “my son likes the DVD format,” and that was the newest (and possibly only) skate DVD they had. In all honesty, I wouldn’t have minded getting one on VHS, but in the end, it’s safe to say I was fine with the choice.

As a 16-year-old relatively fresh to the skate scene, Tosh Townend represented what we all wanted to be. He was from Huntington Beach, California, the mecca of skateboarding. He was the same age as us, and as a skater, he was living the dream. When you watched him skate, aggressive enough to hit large handrails, yet laid back enough to make it all look easy, you never thought the dream was out of reach, something his music choice for the video, “Ammaring” by J. Mascis & the Fog (a band I am not familiar with), mirrors artfully.

In his Sight Unseen part, two tricks sequences stand out to me. The first is a line he does at a skatepark around the 1:45 minute mark. I guess it’s seen as taboo to include park skating in your video parts, but this clip always brings me back to those night sessions at the skatepark, where the entire crew is there feeding off each other’s energy, living in the moment and loving every second of it… wishing it would never end. The park he skates looks amazing and is appropriately filled with skaters, as it should be. I dreamed of skating it, imagining the lines I’d hit, and in a way, I envied not having a park like that in my hometown. Although looking back, even for how crusty it was, I wouldn’t trade my hometown park and the people who skated it for anything. And for those who grew up skating in the Lewis-Clark during that time, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

The next is a nose manual nollie flip out that he does on a ledge in the next clip. The smooth manner in which he moves his hands to balance, how relaxed he looks on the skinny ledge, and the technical nature of the trick just makes it an enjoyable combination to watch. I can’t tell you how many times that sequence would pop in my head during class or during a car ride as I looked out the window scoping out spots, thinking of the day when I’d be good enough to do the same.

I’m not sure how many of the younger kids would know Tosh Townend if you mentioned his name in skate circles today. Looking at his Wikipedia page, it seems that he’s been out of the spotlight for some time, focusing on the local scene in his community with his own skate company. For although skating is different than most other sports, the window for a professional career can still be small for most skaters. That holds especially true today now that skateboarding’s an Olympic sport. During his time on the scene, though, he created a glimpse into the heart of skateboarding, capturing the essence of what it felt like to be a young skater during its prime. He captured how fun it was to dream of becoming pro… dreaming along with the community we created, having experienced pure joy and freedom every time we stepped on a board.

Rewatching this part brings me back to that time, and makes me grateful for getting to experience it.

Check out the full video “Sight Unseen” here:

And feel free to check out some of my other posts on skating: Top 5 skate video parts of all time