2002 Ad

Thrasher Magazine, May, 2003

Skateboarding rules. And when you see it being executed by someone who knows what they're doing, the visual turns emotional. Very few skateboarders can pierce you in that way. Raw skateboarding. Raw power. Raw-ass tony trujillo

John cardiel

Is being where you are right now all that you ever wanted?

Fuck yeah. Just having a million different people to skate with, coming down to the mag--I never really thought about Skater of the Year, like actually being it.

People have told me it's like a curse, because...

"What do I do now?"

Do you feel that way?

Not at all.

I wouldn't think so. You're pretty relaxed in how you look at skateboarding.

You've been pro now for four years?

Yeah.

When you see all the shit that's going on, the way that skating's so disposable now...is skating maxed out?

Yeah, it's fucking totally maxed out; with every kid who can switch board an eight stair and gets followed in the mag. It's just that they're young and they're doing something gnarly, but they only skate handrails. Whatever. They should show they can do more than just a handrail or a gap.

Do you think you earned it like that, the hard way?

The hard way? That was the easy, fun way.

The first public skatepark we had around here was Santa Rosa in 1995, where you grew up. You must have been 13.

Yes.

Are the people you still hang out with to this day the same people you skated 'Rosa with back then?

Yeah, we would go to the skatepark and all our friends would be there. I didn't know them before the skatepark but after it was built and everyone started going there to skate, you'd just become friends. It's like home. It's the skatepark I grew up skating every fucking day.

The hips at that park are very hard for most people to ollie out of. It's like, "Now? Now? Now? Where am I going?" It's just kind of a fade out.

Yeah. It's rounded.

You have to learn to ollie there. But I've noticed that when you skate it, you take off whenever you want to take off.

You have to judge when your truck's going to start rolling over the top. 'cause if it does that, you're just going to ollie late and flick up. You've got to go early.

What other parks are up there now?

Healdsburg.

That's a bust though.

Pigs suck there.

They do, but my friends go there a lot and the pigs don't trip on their helmets. They don't wear their helmets and the cops never show up--they only skate for a couple hours.

Parks are great because you can control your speed and the lines. Is a good skatepark Heaven to you? What's your dream situation?

I don't have a dream situation. I just like skateparks better than any street mission because you can go there with all your friends and everyone's guaranteed a great session. Everyone can skate, and you're not just sitting there being cold, watching someone bust their ass...

Waiting for him to try his trick that he's never going to make?

Yeah. And you drove a fucking hour to the spot. And then what? You're going to go to another spot? Everyone doesn't get a chance to have good times, to skate.

It used to be you and your bros and fun; Now it's just compulsory stunts. Get out of the car and either bust and "Take me to the hospital," or "Take me to the bar." It's just busting or bail.

Or sit there and don't do anything. Let someone else do it.

Do the Vans dudes came at you like, "We've got to have the hammers!" Do they even know what it means?

No. Well, they don't skate. They don't know what it's like to go down something like that. You just can't tell someone: "We need hammers for the next ad campaign."

"OK, I'll do what I can, but...fuck." When I'm on a tour it's a lot easier, instead of at home where I can try something and just be like, "I want to go home. Over it! ...Front heel's bruised. Go home." But when I'm away, you don't know what's around really, you find out from other people. You know you'll never be able to skate it again, or you will but you have to go all the way back. It's like a one-chance deal.

Why risk getting served up if you're going to be limping the rest of the time?

Don't then.

You don't if you don't have to, right?

Yeah, if you know there's something good ahead of you.

Where's the best place you've ever been that you couldn't skate, and you just sat there and suffered watching everyone else get same?

I don't even remember. Probably nowhere that good though. Not like Louisville. Timmy got worked at Louisville. He bailed an ollie and stepped on some kid's board. I saw it after, it was fucking swollen and black.

You know what's funny? The guy Zach that built Louisville, his dad built Derby and 'Rosa. Ken and Zach Wormhoudt.

Well, fuck yeah man. I'm glad that they're putting coping on their parks now.

What do you like better, Australia or New Zealand?

Australian parks.

New Zealand for the...

... The good times, yeah.

Nothing but good times gone bad.

You guys ditched me. I tried to switch vans at the last second when we were trying to leave Brown's Bay.

Oh, we left you there.

I was stuck in Team A's van 'cause I couldn't find you. And then I'm like, "Where are those guys?" Ethan's like, "They're down the street.' So I skate down the street, no one's there. You split.