Biggest Skate Reward?

[Hick Roward]

What had you the most hyped while on your board?

I first kickflipped in front of my sixth grade English Teacher, Mr. Lawless. I was pretty stoked.

Years later I ollied a proper fire hydrant on the east coast off a smooth curb cut and felt like I was on top of the world.

[mfweeno]

There are a few highlights I look back on from skating as a teen, here are a couple...

-There was a foundation drop spot that was somewhat of a local "proving ground". It was basically a loading-dock sized drop followed by a head-high drop. I kickflipped the first dock and ollied the second as a warm up line, then airwalked the big drop (I was really into street grabs and other heshy tricks back in the day). People would ask me about it in the following months, which I was pretty stoked on.
-One Thanksgiving evening, I angstily stormed off from the family get together to skate the local downtown with the homies. Most of the usual bust spots were skateable because of the holiday. Kickflipped a pretty tall 8 stair that I didn't expect to land and got it on film. Made the flack from my parents worth it.

More recently in my adult years, I landed a kickflip manual on the big step up manual pad at the local park after a nearly 2 hour battle. My body was broken but my soul was happy.

[Yakusoku2]

I learnt stationary fs shove-its during my first day with a skateboard. I still didn’t know how to tic tac or ride comfortably so I was so stoked. I thought my skills would skyrocket during the following sessions… Of course they didn’t.

[Allen.]

Having older local dudes who made videos that I watched borderline daily give me props on the videos I made, as well as Quartersnacks giving my second video a favorable review.

Aside from that, I did a front 5-0 360 shove mid ledge in 2013 and the best skater I knew once texted me and said “I think about that a lot, how do you even do that?” Feels good man

[ChipSuey]

I still remember the day (the only day) I got a backside flip over coping on a shitty quarterpipe in a prefab park in Montreal, all by myself (was on vacation with my parents, visiting my grandparents).  I want to say I was skating a Jesse Paez board with a Wolverine graphic on it, but could be wrong on that.

Shoutout Jarry Park in Montreal (I also got vibed out by some local kids who were throwing rocks).

That was the closest I ever got to "having it" in skating, other than that I was (and still am) absolute trash at skating.

[Buttworm]

Credit carded when tryin hardflips

[fineslime]

not my biggest reward but one that stands out:

in 2009, I won a local contest in the sponsored division and it was jam style runs. during the second jam, I didn't miss. I ended my, "run," by tre flipping the biggest gap that we had first try (approx 10 stair size,) then I turned around on a quarter pipe and kickflip crooked a handrail going down a big 4. as I'm rolling up to the kickflip crook I said in my head over and over again, "please don't miss this please don't miss this please don't miss this." after I landed it I remember the MC (who also owned the shop I skated for) say, "welp. guess we know who won."

My soon-to-be girlfriend (who I was gay bff's with for 4 years while in high school) called me right after the contest and told me she was in a horrible car accident.

[krookedjuice]

the first handrail i ever did was my fondest memory. was skating the elementary school during a high school football game and decided to try it since my friends and i always talked about it. a group of kids that left the game were walking past and i rolled away. felt weird having an audience but it was pretty cool looking back and i only rolled up to it a few times before  just going for it. shot out on a couple and then rolled away after maybe 5 attempts which was a great feeling

went back a couple days later to film it and was there for 2 hours...

[The Big Dawg]

Great contrast to the regret thread.

We did yearly go skate day contests at the skatepark for a few years and it was pretty fun. In 2017 the skate shop actually got some money from Nike that we could use as prize cash, and we got a grip of product to toss out. It was a blast. Probably the hottest day of the year too but no one was complaining, everything just worked out that day.

We brought a small kicker ramp and used it a few different areas in the park. We did a long Ollie contest from one kicker to another and one dude clipped so hard on the landing kicker I couldn’t believe it - board stayed perfectly still in the ramp and he flew (he was all good tho). This kid had tried hardflip bs 5050 on the big hubba every year and never got it, but this was his year. He landed it so proper and everyone went nuts. I look back fondly on that day all the time.

[backside_frontside]

Meeting JJ, chatting with him about the Somewhere in PA edit, seeing him skate in person, and having him sign a board for me all in one glorious day

[formula420]

I boardslid a 6 stair (only street downrail ever) and then adopted my doggy on the same day.

I kickflipped a bump and a pedestrian was watching the battle and was hyped when i landed it.

[exlurker]

Being now late thirties, i like when i get recognized in the wild by a local, and it's a now-grown kid who used to see me at skateparks when they were a tiny grom. They normally remember me as being better than I actually am

[Blind Fisherman]

I feel like I'm sucking my own dick talking about this stuff, but since it's the topic of discussion I'll contribute..
Friends and I formed a "crew" back in like 2013/2014 and filmed two full-length videos. One of my parts is still on YouTube.
Moved up to Cleveland, OH and met a ton of amazing skaters, most of whom took me in immediately and treated me like a life-long friend. Ended up getting a local board sponsor (shoutout Colony Skateboards) up there and made connections with some great people.
Had a couple of shop sponsors since moving back to Memphis and now I'm just happy to be skating without any pressure. Still working on a few projects with a friend of mine. The creative process is what keeps me going nowadays. Got a premier coming in August and we've already discussed working on an actual full-length video after that one drops.

Wow, reading all of that back sounds makes me feel like a giant douche...

[rawbertson.]

favorite sports moment one time i hit a grand slam in baseball and it just so happened all my friends were there that day at the playground watching my game, i think i was 10 or 11, was definintely my last year playing baseball

favorite skate moment,
for some reason this one moment sticks out for me was just kickflipping this stair set by my house. it was a large 6 set. i just caught that one really good and it was just me and my friend there. he had already done it probably a few months before that and i had went there hella times to try and finally got it. went back and filmed it and it wasnt nearly as good as the first one i did.

that reminded me of one other one where there was a contest we had when we finally got a concrete park, i heel varialed the 6 during the best trick and people went super hype. cant really think of any other time i was skating any ppl got hype like that haha i am not really that kind of skater.

[formula420]

I feel like I'm sucking my own dick talking about this stuff, but since it's the topic of discussion I'll contribute..
Friends and I formed a "crew" back in like 2013/2014 and filmed two full-length videos. One of my parts is still on YouTube.
Moved up to Cleveland, OH and met a ton of amazing skaters, most of whom took me in immediately and treated me like a life-long friend. Ended up getting a local board sponsor (shoutout Colony Skateboards) up there and made connections with some great people.
Had a couple of shop sponsors since moving back to Memphis and now I'm just happy to be skating without any pressure. Still working on a few projects with a friend of mine. The creative process is what keeps me going nowadays. Got a premier coming in August and we've already discussed working on an actual full-length video after that one drops.

Wow, reading all of that back sounds makes me feel like a giant douche...

Thats cool, not douchey. From what ive seen you are legitimately a great skater.

[Blind Fisherman]

Expand Quote

I feel like I'm sucking my own dick talking about this stuff, but since it's the topic of discussion I'll contribute..
Friends and I formed a "crew" back in like 2013/2014 and filmed two full-length videos. One of my parts is still on YouTube.
Moved up to Cleveland, OH and met a ton of amazing skaters, most of whom took me in immediately and treated me like a life-long friend. Ended up getting a local board sponsor (shoutout Colony Skateboards) up there and made connections with some great people.
Had a couple of shop sponsors since moving back to Memphis and now I'm just happy to be skating without any pressure. Still working on a few projects with a friend of mine. The creative process is what keeps me going nowadays. Got a premier coming in August and we've already discussed working on an actual full-length video after that one drops.

Wow, reading all of that back sounds makes me feel like a giant douche...

[close]

Thats cool, not douchey. From what ive seen you are legitimately a great skater.

Thanks, man. It means more than you know to hear that. I guess I just have a difficult time accepting that I deserved any of it.

[JM]

Back blunt slide to regular about 10 feet long on a 12” ledge at a skatepark in Vegas.

Only real blunt slide landed ever.

Also… sliding a back tail super long on a red CA curb because I didn’t know how to come out. Felt super great. Never could land them ever again.

Learned suskis instead.

[ExpensiveHandjoe]

It took me twenty years to learn how to backside tailslide properly, then it took 3 more years to kickflip into it

I guess you just learn how to deal with failure and to me that's the biggest reward
also I felt pretty good after rolling away from my shitty flip bs tail !

[Tommy G]

There was a skate jam in downtown during the summer about 10 years ago. I was just feeling a few tricks out and the shop owner told me he'd give me a t-shirt if I landed a new trick within 5 tries. I decided to go for a bluntslide on the flatbar and got it on the 5th try. Such a fun day.

[Ignatius J Reilly]

skateboarding itself, really - getting to look back at the last 21 years through the lens of skate videos that inspired me, all the time spent in far flung locales with some fantastic people, and the accomplishments i was striving for

i was a better, more consistent skateboarder at 30 than at 20. i can't jump as often or as long anymore but i held on to all my ledge/flatbar/flatground tricks and i have a better grasp of the muscle memory involved with them/have a higher standard for myself

moving to a big city in 2009 and moving to NYC from there years later. it was scary but putting myself in that new environment really helped me thrive and gave me opportunities i'd never have otherwise. whenever i'm down i think about sixteen year old me and how psyched he'd be on where i am now and who i work with.

i was the first to ollie a pretty big double rail spot in my hometown that other locals and visiting pros went on to skate. i haven't filmed a ton in my life but that's a clip i'm really proud of. will never forget everyone cheering at the premiere

have done multiple frontside bluntslide kickflips out. also one time i did a seven trick skatepark line starting with a switch back tail and ending with a kickflip frontside tailslide... just kept going. still have no idea how.

got a dumb little list published in thrasher when i was a teenager, i still remember my friend telling me in history class and my dad bringing me the magazine that night

self-taught myself photography and i've had a few photos published in skate jawn

now, just muscling through some pretty serious medical conditions and sticking with skateboarding when six months to a year ago, i didn't think i'd ever be physically (or mentally) able to connect with skateboarding ever again. really grateful to just be here

[CrumblingInfrastructure]

I got some free stickers once

[Hick Roward]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

I feel like I'm sucking my own dick talking about this stuff, but since it's the topic of discussion I'll contribute..
Friends and I formed a "crew" back in like 2013/2014 and filmed two full-length videos. One of my parts is still on YouTube.
Moved up to Cleveland, OH and met a ton of amazing skaters, most of whom took me in immediately and treated me like a life-long friend. Ended up getting a local board sponsor (shoutout Colony Skateboards) up there and made connections with some great people.
Had a couple of shop sponsors since moving back to Memphis and now I'm just happy to be skating without any pressure. Still working on a few projects with a friend of mine. The creative process is what keeps me going nowadays. Got a premier coming in August and we've already discussed working on an actual full-length video after that one drops.

Wow, reading all of that back sounds makes me feel like a giant douche...

[close]

Thats cool, not douchey. From what ive seen you are legitimately a great skater.

[close]

Thanks, man. It means more than you know to hear that. I guess I just have a difficult time accepting that I deserved any of it.

Deserved? You earned it. Respect.

[Hick Roward]

When I was 14-15 , I was at my local in Boone NC with my friend Austin and Buzz. Austin and I are the same age and both of us street skaters , while Buzz was an older guy who was flow/pro? for stereo at some point in his life and was a transition wizard. Buzz was also a local T.V host on a game show where contestants could win cash and gift cards to local stores and restaurants in the area. Anyways, we're skating the 5' halfpipe (ARC park) and he breaks out this booklet of 10 coupons for FREE buffets at Golden Corral and says " Whoever does a hand plant/invert first gets the coupons"  ..... So, we both start throwing out attempts(actually easier than it looks) but we weren't fully extending and Buzz goes " you've got to extend your arms and legs more if you want these"  So I gave it my all and I will never forget that feeling, upside down, balancing one arm on the coping fully extended, and just stretching out my legs and other arm as far out as possible.... I fucking smile every time I think of this story! I also won the coupons btw....

Also Hickory indoor park when I was 14,  I was throwing nollie bigspin backflip on the down rail, never landed one but I was proud of myself for coming up with it on my own. Not saying it was NBD , but I had never seen it in the videos I watched growing up or someone else doing it, I just thought of it after I gave up on bigspin front board..

I hope that first story really happened. Awesome and hilarious!

[Hick Roward]

skateboarding itself, really - getting to look back at the last 21 years through the lens of skate videos that inspired me, all the time spent in far flung locales with some fantastic people, and the accomplishments i was striving for

i was a better, more consistent skateboarder at 30 than at 20. i can't jump as often or as long anymore but i held on to all my ledge/flatbar/flatground tricks and i have a better grasp of the muscle memory involved with them/have a higher standard for myself

moving to a big city in 2009 and moving to NYC from there years later. it was scary but putting myself in that new environment really helped me thrive and gave me opportunities i'd never have otherwise. whenever i'm down i think about sixteen year old me and how psyched he'd be on where i am now and who i work with.

i was the first to ollie a pretty big double rail spot in my hometown that other locals and visiting pros went on to skate. i haven't filmed a ton in my life but that's a clip i'm really proud of. will never forget everyone cheering at the premiere

have done multiple frontside bluntslide kickflips out. also one time i did a seven trick skatepark line starting with a switch back tail and ending with a kickflip frontside tailslide... just kept going. still have no idea how.

got a dumb little list published in thrasher when i was a teenager, i still remember my friend telling me in history class and my dad bringing me the magazine that night

self-taught myself photography and i've had a few photos published in skate jawn

now, just muscling through some pretty serious medical conditions and sticking with skateboarding when six months to a year ago, i didn't think i'd ever be physically (or mentally) able to connect with skateboarding ever again. really grateful to just be here

Shine on, mate. Thank you for that very heartfelt and endearing look inside your passions. Keep on that road to recovery, that is what we do.!

[TheLurper]

Made friends around the world by skating together.

Skateboarding has probably helped keep me feeling young as well.

[lurkluke]

probably mental health. I've always skated off and on, but skating more in my 40s after with the state of the world around us, and a high pressure life change, is a real boost for my brain.

[Crust]

Been chasing the dragon the last 18 years trying to relive the hype of my first stationary ollie

[Allen.]

Having older local dudes who made videos that I watched borderline daily give me props on the videos I made, as well as Quartersnacks giving my second video a favorable review.

Aside from that, I did a front 5-0 360 shove mid ledge in 2013 and the best skater I knew once texted me and said “I think about that a lot, how do you even do that?” Feels good man

Gotta add these:

- having my full length vid that came out in 2017 sponsored officially by theories and quasi
- being e-mail pen pals with Josh Stewart which led me to attending the Static 6 Premiere last summer
- reaching out to Kristian Svitak to see if he wanted to meet up and film a few clips for a friend section which turned into me and him working on a part together and being taken seriously the entire time
- getting photos run in a friends zine

I love this shit. I fucking love this shit.

[rocklobster]

Made friends around the world by skating together.

Bring your board to anywhere in the world and you're immediately plugged in to the global community. Some are reserved and shun all visitors but most are happy to welcome a traveler or at the very least give you the details on local spots.

[Easy Slider]

I frontside flipped the pyramid in the old Faelledparken in CPH in 95 and Nicky Guerrero gave me props for it.