Thrasher Magazine



Nothing like starting a mission in Melbourne a few weeks after the SOTY crew went through and ripped that city a new one! That’s how skateboarding goes these days—there’s so many people traveling and getting it that there are very few places safe these days. And honestly, that’s a great thing! The day we flew in we met up with Alex Lawton, who is from Melbourne and was coming on the trip with us, the first words out of his mouth were, “Those dudes just killed every spot. We should just chill here for four days and get things started when we get to Canberra.” And although that sounded tempting, it’s kind of ridiculous to fly 8,000 miles to kick it and party for four days straight. So instead, we approached it like any other trip: we went to as many spots as possible, kept the crew hyped, had a good time and tried to make some shit happen. Hearing about the SOTY spot destruction just got everyone more fired up to get some themselves! And that’s what we did. With a mixed crew of US and Oz rippers, a lot of glory was found and a lot of meat pies went down Down Under.

Bækkel skipped the meat pie and grabbed a beanplant in Sydney

Micro hubba, massive move—Sergio Reinhardt, gap to 5-0

Inspired by the SOTY spot destruction, Sam Atkins laid some terrain to waste—noseblunt slide

BLACK CARPENTER: POWER MOVES!
The infamous Suicide Rails have been a tricky spot to hit over the years. They are in front of a low-income housing project and about 3,000 tenants live there, so there are constantly people using the walkway and stairs. The first day Leo was battling the grind across and down and eventually got it. Right after that, Blake was about to put down a nollie crooked grind when one of the tenants came out and started yelling at him. He even had a sidekick that blocked the rail. After 15 minutes of trying to negotiate, the cops were called and we bailed.




We decided to give it one more try on our last day of the trip. Blake started jumping on the rail and everything was looking good until the same dude came out and started yelling at us again. We pleaded and asked for ten minutes, explaining that we were from the States and he’d never see us again. We even offered him cash. No dice. Blake noticed a group of people drinking beer in the park next to the rail and yelled to them, “Hey, if you get this guy out of here I’ll buy you a case of beer and a handle of whiskey!” They were on the scene faster than a flock of seagulls on a bag of freshly-cracked Doritos! They started yelling at the guy to split. One dude threatened his life and that seemed to do the trick. He went back inside, Blake got his head together and put down the nollie crooks. After he rolled away, he handed off the cash to the crew and they made their way to the bottle shop while we packed it up and split before the cops showed up. Booze to the rescue!


Blake nollie crooks for all the new homies at the Suicide Rail

Fuck your yuppie condo art—Townley, boardslide finger flip out


Bækkel finds a ray of sunshine after being cooped up in the Norwegian winter. Double-trucker out to the street

No drunks were bribed for Blake’s switch back tail in Sydney


Townley, gap to wallride—don’t be afraid to get lost now and then



FULL REVS IN CANBERRA
We spent four days in sleepy Canberra, which I think is kinda similar to Sacramento. Over the years, it’s been a mandatory stop on Australian skate missions because the locals are so friendly and they get hyped when people come through. It’s also home to some of the best concrete parks, and with minimal traffic and a small-town vibe, it’s easy to get around to heaps of street spots. To top it off, it’s one of the best places to see kangaroos in the wild. Canberra was one of P-Stone’s favorite places to visit in Oz. We brought a stencil with us to honor him and the night we rolled into town we headed straight to the Belco Bowl and sprayed a P-Stone tag on the tile of the keyhole in the exact spot where he did the bluntslide in ’07. That trick was done on a bet: if he landed it in three tries—padless—he’d win a steak dinner (with beers) at The Lighthouse restaurant next to the park. He nailed it on the third try and collected his winnings. Full revs! Classic Stone.

Spiderman crawled walls but Bækkel sails the skies! Madonna for P-Stone, heavy revs

We got our fill of skating around Canberra, cooking snags on the grill with the locals, getting our share of bad tattoos at Cons’ man cave/skate museum. On our way out of town we took a wrong turn and stumbled upon a unique spot that was right up Townley’s alley: a perfect bank that launched you over a gap straight onto a wall. I guess it was meant to be. I could hear P-Stone’s legendary chuckle in my head as Ryan rolled away. With spirits high, we hit a gas station, topped off the tank, filled up on meat pies and beer and were out!

The Croc Lobster feeble grinds on his last day as an am

How did you get the nickname “Croc Lobster”?
Me and this hunk started a little side project called Croc Lobster. It’s a relaxation company specializing in kickbacks and investing in stocks. We are on the Nasdaq and also the Dow Jones. DAF Noah actually invested and was the first one to receive substantial gain on his dividends. He was so hyped that he started calling me the Croc Lobster. Now I realize it’s because I have leather skin and claws for hands. It was all meant to be.

If you hadn’t started skateboarding, what would you be doing? 
Tanning, working out or designing dick togs. 

What happened to Jackson Pilz on this trip? He was there and then he wasn’t.
He has been watching too much David Copperfield, trying to impress us with disappearing acts. I like the magic he preforms on his skateboard better. Jackson also invested in Croc Lobster and now owns a house. The results are breathtaking.

Do you remember turning pro that night or is it all blur?
It was a huge blur! I do remember tackling Dressen after receiving my pro board amongst a huge pile of people, then escaping and trying to perform a boogie-board stunt on a blow-up toy crocodile, thus becoming the croc scorpion! Then it went full beat-down street-fighting Wrestlemania with the homies. We were lucky to get out of there alive. Sorry, Dressen.

It was almost the shortest pro career ever. It looked like you broke your neck after bouncing off the blow-up crocodile.
It was hectic. Everyone seemed more stoked than I was and they were taking their stoke out on me in the form of beatings. I’m just so lucky I work out heaps.

Lets talk about the Euro gap at the Sydney Harbor bridge, the one Dane Burman ollied into and you went up. How did that idea come about?
I was joking with the idea, asking if anyone knew someone who would let us use their motorbike to try it. I was about 95-percent sure no one would risk their bike for the situation. Sure enough, Joey Dodd, the Indy Oz TM sorts a bike out via Instagram. This girl he never met showed up on a Harley and let us borrow it. The next thing I know we are in the tunnel and then I’m rolling away. It was the fastest I have ever gone on my skateboard; it felt nuts. 

The biggest Euro gap in Oz gets handled. Thanks, Harley Davidson

Having a Harley in there towing you was sketchy. Did you think you were going to get busted or kicked out before you figured it out?
Me and Thrasher Dan got busted by security within minutes just trying to putty the crack at the bottom. So after that I felt there was no chance at all. He made us scrape the putty out and was going on about how we were defacing a landmark. We waited a bit after he left, duct taped a metal sign over the crack and then got the bike in there and started testing the speed. Meanwhile, this bimbo with a little dog and her boyfriend were having a breakdown at us and called the cops. We just had a chat with the cops, shot the shit a little bit and they gave us a 15-minute window. Right at 15 minutes they came back, but lucky enough we were all done and heading to the pub for a celebration!

So many things could have gone wrong in there with a Harley and pedestrians. How do you compare the police in Australia to the ones in the States?
So much potential for the situation to go wrong, especially when the crazy dog lady shoulder barges you while you’re getting towed by a Harley—then calls the cops claiming that we hit her. The cops in Australia are the absolute opposite of American cops. Aussie cops more often than not use their compassion and their own judgment in situations. I think we can leave it at that. 

How was traveling around with a bunch of seppos? What was your moment?
My favorite memory of the trip right now is from the Sydney Suicide Towers, where Blake bribed the crew of local tenants with a carton and a bottle to muscle the old hostile lab-coat cook dude out of the way so he could skate the rail—while Leo got his trick in two minutes and is then playing sweet music in the background of all the chaos. It felt like we were on the Titanic, sinking, and then it all came together.

What was the gnarliest trick that went down on the trip?
Kevin is gnarly! I witnessed him handle two of the heaviest grinds I have ever seen. He is a beast!

Favorite go-to meat pie? 
Lamb-and-rosemary pie if they have them. If not that then a mushy-pea-and-potato topping on a chunky steak or beef-and-burgundy from Foster’s bakery. Actually, I don’t have a favorite. I like heaps of pies.

Well, congratulations on turning pro. What’s next on your bucket list?
Get buff, get tanned and get some gold chains. The rest is history.

Nocturnal 50-50, Kevin’s comfortable with the darkness

Bækkel took a break from the bars and hit the ditch—wallride into the bank. Check the tag under his wheels. Stone Forever

Was this your first trip to Australia?
No, I’d been there once before. I had a two-day layover before going to New Zealand and I skated around Sydney a little for those two days.

Lets talk about that flight I got you. When did it start and when did you get to Australia?
It was fucked! I flew from Norway to Dubai. That’s about eight hours. Then I had a 12-hour layover and then a 14-hour flight after that to Melbourne. It was a long one!

What did you do in Dubai during your layover?
Had a couple of beers, hung around in the Camel smoking lounge and just explored the airport. I have to say, that airport sucks! It’s so expensive and it smells like heavy perfume everywhere. The whole time I was there I was thinking, I’m going to be on the same flight back with another 12-hour layover here!

You came from seven feet of snow to straight summertime. When you showed up you were looking really pale. How was it adjusting to the climate?
It was crazy. I came from one extreme—negative 30 Celsius—to the other. I was definitely looking pale. A couple of months with some Norwegian darkness will get you. I was stoked on the weather when I landed but after trying to skate the first spot, the heat got to me. I felt like I got a small case of sun stroke. It took a couple of days to get used to it, for sure!

Was that kinked rail you grinded the heaviest one you’ve conquered so far?
Maybe. That one kink was super scary to go through!

That was a battle. What were some of the things wrong with it?
The curve in was pretty weird and there was a metal fence at the bottom, so if I bailed more than halfway down and took the side with the grass I would run straight into the fence. There was a small amount of concrete on the landing, but coming off that rail I would have passed it and landed on the grass, so we had to get two sheets of plywood and it was the thinnest stuff out! I just kept thinking that my wheels were going to go through it and I’d slam like the one I took on KOTR. Luckily it worked out and I landed on the wood and rode off through the grass. I was stoked! 

Whats your take on the Australian meat pie?
I was stoked when Jesse Noonan was launching them off his board into his face.

Then, when it was all over, back to the cold of Norway. Not a bad vacation, right?
I fucking loved it! Such a good time, good people, good spots and good beer everywhere. What more can you ask for! SKÅL!

Jäger rips, techno revs and switch bigflip front boards, Blake handles them all

Alex Lawton, switch front shove on the way to the pie shop


With black metal blasting out of the speaker, Bækkel felt right at home grinding down this mountain of steel. Hoo roo, Oz


SUCCESS IN SYDNEY

The volume got turned up to 11 in Sydney. Usually by the end of a trip, things slow down because dudes are hurt and sore—but not this time! Bækkel went completely ballistic on some handrails, Blake and Leo got suicidal, Jesse skated the craziest Euro gap in all of Australia and some late-night celebrations turned into early-morning parties. We didn’t stop skating until nightfall the last evening—one more rager at the beach in Bondi before the dreaded flight back to the States in the early morning. Bækkel had it even worse. He was facing a 36-hour trip back to Norway, including a 12-hour layover in Dubai. It didn’t even faze him, though. He was just looking forward to getting back to his folks’ house for some authentic Norwegian cuisine. The rest of us were hyped to be heading back to Cali for some burritos. Turns out, meat pies aren’t all that. But we still found the glory in Oz!