Super tall and super talented ‘505’ skater, Chris, tells us about growing up in Albuquerque, skateboarding around town, downhill racing, hooking up with Loaded & Orangatang and the importance of travelling.
Hello Mr Cade, how are you?
Pretty darn good Mr Gbemi! Thanks for asking. How are things in your corner of the world?
Warm and toasty with a side of butter pecan.
Hahaha sounds good.
Where are you from?
I was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, or as we call it, the 505.
Nice place to grow up?
Heck ya. We’re one of the most diverse states, one of only two with a ”minority” majority with the majority being Latino, followed by whites and Native Americans. It’s the 5th largest state with less than 1% of the countries population. I spent my childhood taking trips all over the Southwest exploring with family, or boy scouts, or friends.
How did all that shape who you’ve become?
I’ve always been an active person. Camping and Nature are still very dear activities, anywhere I can get away from the city. My brother and I spent a lot of time on the family farm about ten minutes south of the Colorado border, growing up with our other 6 cousins. It was usually pretty much “don’t die, have fun”.
When did skateboarding find you?
I tried to skate when I was 8, but roller blading was a lot easier then. Ten years later I got my first longboard for cruising to classes for college. A year or two later I would find out about speedboarding, bought a JimZ Flushcut on Silverfish, then I hooked up with the Timeship Racing dudes in Santa Fe, and that was that.
Dustin Hampton photo
Campus cruising?
Cruising, ditches, some footwork. I was and still am a big fan of Adam and Adams early work.
Whirling Dervish?
Definitely. I think the Dervish was the first board I went out looking for to buy. Maybe my third board. I also had an Adams’ Old School Dancer at one point, which was great for a bigger dude.
Do you still dabble in that stuff?
I think dabbling would be the word. I’ve tried to skate everything. I’ve learned some park and street this year. I still enjoy a good crosstep, and really enjoy freeriding, both in the ditch and on the roads, but my heart lives in going fast.
“out of 100 rooms, sessions, malls, movie theaters, cafeterias, I’m the tallest person in 98 of those rooms.”
Are you a giant?
I’ve been called that before. I’m 6’8” (like 205cm? 202?) and 200 pounds. 98 Percentile of tall people. That means that out of 100 rooms, sessions, malls, movie theaters, cafeterias, I’m the tallest person in 98 of those rooms. It’s an interesting perspective, if I do say so myself.
Are you taller than Arjan Koek?
I have no idea. Statistics would say probably yes. I’ve met two taller skaters in eight years. Mad Mike at Maryhill, dude was like 6’11”, riding a 45 inch double drop with aluminum top and bottom plies. It weighed like 35 pounds. And my Loaded teammate Ty Weaver, has got me by an inch.
What is Timeship Racing?
Timeship Racing is now a part of the Riviera Skateboards family, but for like ten or twelve years it was run out of Santa Fe, New Mexico by a buddy named Joe Lehm. They made production and custom slide gloves way before any of the bigger companies saw the profit margins in gloves. They had also been doing downhill events in New Mexico for years. They used to do a Gravity Games Qualifier on my local mountain, but the last year of the event was the year I got my first cruiser. I met Joe a couple years later when I was working in a skate shop down in Albuquerque, and traveled the 60 miles one day to skate their hills with some buddies. That was my first really gnarly crash.
Then early this year I think, Joe sold it into the Riviera family.
Any impressive scars?
I have a pretty good one from this May, I hit a Texan with a camera in my hand. Instead of ditching the camera, I saved it, and skinned my left knee to the bone. 6 stitches, the night before the Sandia All Around Challenge and Ditch Slap. Super bummed when all the homies were in my hometown shredding, and I’m sitting on the side, or baby-putting down the ditch.
I don’t even remember my worst crash. I remember driving to practice the Atomic Bomb race course in North New Mexico in April of 2011. Next thing I know, I’m asking my buddy what’s taking so long to get there. He replies “Dude, you hit a guardrail, your helmet is destroyed, we’re going back to Albuquerque.” Surprised, I say, “Damn I need to call my parents!”. Ty says, “You already talked to your mom twice.”
How much time did you lose, and was that when you switched bodies with the real Chris?
Huh? I only lost like 5 or 6 hours, maybe less. Then I found out that someone had been running the ship, but no one was behind the wheel. All the guys told me that they didn’t take me to the hospital because I was talking and told them I was fine. Then I told them again. And again.
Do you have any new insights on consciousness and reality based on that experience?
Ha! I wish! My insights come the hard way.
How did finding the guys at Timeship change the game for you?
It was a couple of things. When I started working for Joe, I had just had knee surgery, and was broke and bored. I started helping him with some of the slide puck production, and ended up putting in a year or so working for him, doing stuff around the shop, watching the kids skate the indoor ramp, and also seeing some peeks into the workings of Timeship. I realized that all I really wanted to do was skate, so when I got better, that’s what I tried to do.
Also, at that time, there were like ten people, spread out over an enormous area in New Mexico, who were doing any kind of downhill. I had a core of like 4 or 5 dudes in my town, then the Santa Fe guys brought that up to maybe ten. It was a game changer because they were all fast as hell, fairly friendly, and pretty pro. I’m sure it helped I was like 20, so despite my sucking, I never really had to get the grom treatment. We had David Price who I probably skated with the most. At the time he was pro for Madrid. Miss you Poppa Price! Will Brunson was and is probably the fastest dude in New Mexico. Super talented all arounder Kody Noble was around some days, and I had crossed paths with Ryan Ricker. I learned a grip from Phil Ginn and Joe Lehm too. I bring all their names up cause it shows how lucky those of us who started in the Albuquerque scene were, when the only other guys to skate with were so much faster and more experienced. All of those guys have been skating for a decade or four and done real well for themselves and I’ve got mad respect for all of them.
“It’s a little cliche, but skateboarding really is a form of expression, but it can also be your hobby, passion, lifestyle, mindset, and/or meditation.”
What about skating made you want to spend so much time doing it?
I’ve always been an adrenaline junkie, and I’ve tried a lot in my life. Parkour, dirt biking, skydiving, and I used to be really into team sports. I played Water Polo for a decade. Skateboarding is the individual sport you can do with or without your buddies. It’s a little cliche, but skateboarding really is a form of expression, but it can also be your hobby, passion, lifestyle, mindset, and/or meditation.
Eric Martinez photo
How important have Joes been in your journey?
Every scene should have a Joe-like-person, someone who has been around skateboarding for a cool minute and seen a lot. However, working at Joe’s made me realize that if skateboarding was going to be a job, I wanted to do it my way. Joe always made a big deal out of the “graduates” that went through his indoor ramp, which involved fulfilling certain requirements, like ‘axle stall on this’, ‘drop in this high’, and whatnot. I love almost all those guys, but I knew I didn’t need their “Skate School Diploma” or whatever to do what I wanted to do.
Is skateboarding your job?
Somehow this year, I’ve been able to pay bills working odd jobs and traveling. I’ve gotten helped out from different sponsors, but mostly it’s just being willing to work weird hours to make it work. I call it non-employment. For example, in the last 4 months, I worked as an skateboarding extra on a Mel Gibson movie in New Mexico, then worked 3 weeks in a warehouse in Cali, and skated for 3 weeks. Followed by working 2 weeks at a security job in New York, then skating for 3 weeks in New York and New Mexico. Two days house painting in Colorado paid for the trip and six days of skating. I’ve been willing to travel to different places for that work too, which allows me to skate different hills with different people, which the sponsors love. It’s a rad life. Now I’m headed to Austin for the winter.
“I’ve gotten helped out from different sponsors, but mostly it’s about being willing to work weird hours to make it work. I call it non-employment.”
Do all skaters work side jobs?
I don ‘t know. I guess the real pros, with pro models, you’d think probably don’t. On the other hand it’s not like they have personal assistants.
Gordon Adam photo
Can one sustain this lifestyle indefinitely?
I don’t know yet. I would assume you could do it, but there’s definitely sacrifices. My dog and most of my shit lives with my parents. Having a steady girlfriend would be tough.
Is it worth the sacrifice?
I think so. Most people are so bound up in what they think they are being; like a doctor, a server, a student, that they close themselves off to opportunities to travel, because it’s scary and disruptive to their routines. It’s a super rad life.
“Most people are so bound up in what they think they are being; like a doctor, a server, a student, that they close themselves off to opportunities to travel, because it’s scary and disruptive to their routines. It’s a super rad life.”
Where would you draw the line?
I don’t want to say. I might meet a wonderful girl, or get an amazing job, or one day just decide I’m over it. I’ll let you know when that happens though.
How do you level up?
Huh? Grind out the tricks. You wanna land a tail slide? Go out and do it until you can.
“…go out and do it until you can.”
Andy Russell photo
How is your way different?
I mean more like an individual experience. Working at the Skate School and seeing the inner workings of a world known brand like Timeship was an incredible experience, again made possible mostly through a small scene and being in the right place at the right time. But it was a job, and I was a cog in the machine. And for the first real time, the skateboarding world became sort of a drag. So when it came to pass that I left the shop, I refocused my energies on just having fun. Three months later, in November of 2011, we had a race in New Mexico, organized by a Texan transplant and indispensable dude Eric Martinez. He got me an introduction to Big Myth Skateboards.
What parts of our world can get you down?
Oh man, where to start? Congress’s 20% approval rating? America’s 37% voter turnout rate? Or the crippling student debt turning my entire generation into indentured servants? Or perhaps the genuinely frightening militarization of police, which is particularly poignant because the Albuquerque Police Department shoots more people per capita than any city in the country. Or the fact that the insane cost of medical bills makes paying for medicines and treatment the number one cause of personal bankruptcy in the US? Maybe it’s the billions and trillions being spent on little spots around the world, forcing our influence out on them, all the while we’re like a dead star, there’s still energy coming out through space, but there’s nothing left at home. My generation sees the true priorities of our government when they see trillions spent on the abject subjugation of tiny countries on the other side of the world, while millions of people in our country are left without heat, health, food, or housing. We see the wealthy getting richer, and the rest of us are supposed to fight for the rest. OxFam issued a report that the poorest half of humans, the poorest 3.5 billion people on the planet, control as much wealth as the richest 85. How that’s for fucking depressing?
Adam S. photo
Is your skateboard a tool to dismantle or an ideological escape from this mess?
Unfortunately, skateboarders have an incredible amount of disestablishment leanings. If you try to lead them, they will go another way out of orneriness. This is what prevents skaters from ever really unifying, be it for an event, or for a positive political change and this is what keeps skating an escape, instead of tool for positive change.
However, if we can get enough skaters together for say, the Million Skater March in Washington, to demand municipalities across the country recognize skateboarding as a legitimate form of public transit, and to stop the discrimination against us, that would be a positive use.
What is a Big Myth Skateboard?
Big Myth is run by Harper McDaniel, down Texas way. It’s a lineup of legit all maple boards. I’m pretty sure they went under. I haven’t seen them post anything in a very long time.
How did you hook up with Otang?
I got fantastically lucky. In spring 2012, Brian Cortright gathered some people for what would become the Downhill and Trill Tour. Rachel Rayne, Brian Belcher, and Eric Douglass rolled through Albuquerque for SLAP and I hopped in for a trip towards the Northwest. I knew Kyle Chin from SLAP, as well as he was my contact for Orangatang when they sponsored our local events. I forgot what the event was he sponsored for us, but I mentioned I was getting on the bus and heading to Utah and Maryhill, and he hooked it up with a stoke package of wheels out of the blue to shred on the bus ride. In appreciation I made sure to get a couple pictures snapped, and sent them to Kyle. He offered me a place on the Otang Ambassadors, which was a dream come true.
Jesse Littlebird photo
After that last paragraph, it makes sense that you and Chubbs are pals.
I like to think so! I was pretty impressed with Chubbs that whole trip, and the ending of it, he was working on getting on with Caliber. Obviously he did, and has done super well for himself. Plus dude’s a reader and has a sesquipedalian vocabulary, and I always love those folks.
Was landing sponsorship important to you?
Getting and being sponsored was always a means to an end. Even a couple of years ago I think it was probably easier to get sponsored than it is for kids today. I knew I wanted to be able to travel and skate with other people, and being sponsored has definitely made that easier. But mostly I wanted to improve, and have fun, and if I impressed some people along the way, that’s not so bad.
What makes it harder now?
One thing I think, is that there are way more people doing it. The media generated by the companies goes further, and has a bigger impact on our scene and the whole internet. I definitely got helped out by being in the right place at the right time, and I don’t know if there are still available opportunities like that to the kids coming up.
David Hiltbrand photo
Is there anything special about being an Otang Ambassador
I’ve met people representing companies big and small. I guess it boils down to the fact that I like the way they support us. I mean, they want us to be people too, not just skaters, ya know? When I got my paperwork for the team, one of the things on the mission statement was “Don’t be an ambassador for our brand, be an ambassador for longboarding as a whole.” I liked it.
And you can tell it blends into the team. Every one of them I’ve met has great vibes, and seems to be in it for the fun, not the fame. We have some of the sickest riders, and we all get along really well. I like and respect every member of the team I’ve met, and have absolutely no reason to suspect that the rest aren’t chillers too.
Some people may call us kooks, but you know longboarding wouldn’t be the same without Loaded/Orangatang.
Lo-tang? We need to coin up an umbrella name.
I always think of them as Loaded and Brotang.
Why were you so hooked on DH?
I grew up riding motorcycles everywhere, since I was a little kid, so I think the speed part came naturally. We’ve got the ditches in Albuquerque, and for a long time, all I wanted to do was keep up with my buddy Kyler on his old flexy Sector9 Pintail. We’ve gone into the high 40’s down Indian School with a rare tailwind. I already had helmets and jackets from riding motorcycles, so when I decided I was going to go hard on the roads, I was already set up. A noisy, smelly, fast motorcycle is a wonderful thing, but there’s definitely something special about snaking down a mountain nearly silently, only you, the wheels, the road, and the wind.
Adam Stokowski photo
What were the hardest things to learn?
I still think toeside predrifts are scary. Maybe it’s my size or proportions or something, but they scary.
Does your gigantism offer any advantages?
Dubler called it “Team Speed” last time I skated with him in Cali. I mean we don’t have to try to go fast, but them tricky corners can get ya. I’ve also noticed that if I’m right behind a stranger in a heated run, they get a little nervous about the big guy right behind them. Scared of my speed hugs or something. But the guys I skate with all the time just know that they’re gonna get bumped.
Who is Ryan Ricker?
Ricker is a Santa Fe OG, who moved out to San Diego maybe 4 or 5 years ago? He’s now got a new pro model from Gravity called the “Slick Ricker”. (which feels great under the feet ya’ll!) Ryan’s rad because we never really skated much when he was in New Mexico, but we’ve run into each other several times on travels, and its always been super chill. It’s funny you ask because I skated a bit with him this week actually, he’s in town filming and we got a chance to shred the local mountains. It was the coldest run I’ve ever done. I did the math on the windchill, and it came out somewhere between 9F and 7F.
Old Burque Crew
How important are OGs to grom development?
I feel like in downhill, if you don’t have faster people to chase, you can kind of hit a plateau with your skills. Chasing faster and more technically skilled riders is a great learning experience and a great test of yourself. I feel like a grom when I skate with Dusty Hampton or Trevor Baird, but damn, its fun to chase them dudes!
Where have you clocked the most skate miles over the years?
Over all the years, it’s probably still Indian School Ditch, or 3mile Ditch. I spent weeks in those ditches. Also the local gnar DH run is a 13 mile run an hour from town. When it’s summer, I’m out there dawn patrolling every chance I can get. It’s got two halves. Top half is 7 miles, maybe 7 or 8 hairpins and a lot more sweepers, and you’ll see 55 twice on a fast day. Bottom half (or the Soul Jam, as we call it) is 6 miles of 45+ sweepers. The Soul Jam just got repaved, and it’s exquisite.
Ditches over hills?
I don’t really know if they’re that comparable. To me, ditches are one of the most crusty, carnal skate sessions you can do. It’s also worth mentioning that there’s nothing like crashing in the ditch, or getting a ditch slap, as we call it. If you’re unlucky, you fall from the top of the ditch bank six feet into the flat bottom. At speed. If you’re lucky, you fall from the flat bottom into the wall. At speed. I’ve seen them both claim some skaters in a seriously bad way.
Every ditch has different features, and every skater brings a different style. It’s hard to describe to those who haven’t done it. It’s a banked half-pipe, but the side goes out for miles, slightly sloped downhill. So going down is a combination of downhill and banked slalom motions, and if you hit the parking blocks and the flat concrete aprons lining the sides of the ditch, you need a dash of street or park skills. Some local homies like Ross Porter really have a lock on amazing freeriding technique on the banked walls too. Powersliding the bank is a trick, but once you’ve got it, taking the ditch in a fast freeride style is a blast.
Whereas downhill is more like skateboarding’s elegant hot sister. It’s all about perfect lines, aerodynamics, proper postures, keeping speed, and beautiful scenery.
Daniel Luna photo
The elegant sister with a mean streak?
I don’t think so. She might’ve been cold to others, but she’s been real real good to me.
What was your first race?
My first outlaw race was a Timeship event in Santa Fe organized by Dave Price in…2008? 09? Four of my buddies and I drove my open top 4Runner up to Santa Fe in the rain. Some Colorado guys rolled down. Frankly I only remember thinking “Yeah, I’m in third! Not last!” Then James West used my draft to pass and I was like “Oh my god, my draft must be huge!”. Pretty sure some Colorado guy named Kyle Wester won that outlaw.
My first sanctioned race was the Atomic Bomb in Los Alamos, New Mexico. May 2011. It was on the hill up to Pajarito Ski area, a gnarly canyon bomb with a huge right hander (where I crashed a couple months prior) followed by a left kink, and a 55mph tar-snaked straight to the finish. I got my first set of leathers, a 2-piece that fit me length wise, but had a 54 inch waist. On a side note, I ask you, where is that guy? And what motorcycle is holding the 500 pound human? Anyways, I got some velcro tailored on the waist, and sort of pulled in together accordion style and velcroed it into place. They were incredibly baggy, but I needed leathers to compete. I ended up in my first heat with fellow New Mexican Will Brunson, human rocket, and Justen Ortiz from Landyachtz. I did not advance.
What did you learn from those early experiences?
Push until you can’t push anymore. Every heat.
Work on your draft. In the mirror, learn about the properties of aerodynamics, practice in the ditch (which is a wind tunnel in a headwind).
Going down is easy. Slowing down is harder.
Gear doesn’t really count for a whole lot.
Cops are the same everywhere you go.
Do you read a lot around skateboarding?
I read a lot about everything I can. I have always been a voracious reader. Reading is the best way to learn new ideas, which is what it’s really all about. I don’t mean learning useless school facts like math in roman numerals, but real wisdom.
How many bookish skaters exist?
Thats a good question. Books are incredible but to some skaters its definitely anathema. I know some skaters that do enjoy a good read. Chubbs, Trevor Baird and Nic Escamilla all have some cool ideas, and I know they’re not scared of a big book. There’s got to be a lot of reader skaters out there, but we’re just underground. Bandy’s probably a reader. Maybe Aaron Breetwor? Big Dave? I know they’re out there. They’re not better or worse than other skaters, I just think the readers and I get along.
Wanna share some wisdom with the unread?
There’s a lot of information out there. But it’s thinking about what you read that brings wisdom. And self awareness is not just a bunch of amino acids bumping into each other.
“The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
What’s happening in your local scene these days?
Our local scene is always growing. Even a couple of years ago it was pretty slim pickin’s of people to skate with. In maybe… 2010 a couple of scene supporters named Timski Elwell and Eric Martinez started the Duke City Bombers. They are named after our old Triple A baseball team, the Albuquerque Dukes. I came on board later to help organize some of the events and now 3 or 4 years later we’re having a regular stopping clinic with 25 or 30 regular faces instead of the three when I started skating. We also hosts outlaw races, ditch events, and other sessions around the state.
Last April we hosted the first DCB Family Campout in southern New Mexico and were joined by 8 or 10 texans from Carve Skate Shop. It was so much fun for our crew to meet new people, and the Texans were freaking out on the hills. Joey Specht said “This is the highest in elevation I’ve ever been, furthest west I’ve ever gone, and the longest run I’ve ever hit.” (3 miles at 9500 feet in South New Mexico).
Click here to view the embedded video.
What’s your relationship like with Texas?
Actually, as I wrap this up, I’m sitting in Austin Texas at the Hippy House. Both New Mexico and Texas seem to want to skate more together. Texas has these wee little hills and parking garages, and has a enormous scene unlike any other. New Mexico has some incredible, untouched terrain, and our scene is small compared to any scene in the world. I know we’d skate a lot more, but there is about 12 hours of East New Mexico and West Texas between us in which there is lots and lots of nothing. Flat, featureless scrub brush for hundreds of miles. But I’m out here for at least a month, and personally, I think I’m pretty friendly with them. My bushing sponsor Riot Boardsports is handmade and based in Texas. I’ve got lots of buddies through the years I’ve met, and we’ve bonded over being the two guys from the southwest at the canadian event or something.
Same with the other states around. I know and love skating with dudes from Arizona and Colorado, but it’s just a cool minute between sessions. We need regional skate events!
Why do you put on clinics?
Mostly because I know how easy it is to get over your head in downhill. For example, you can give a kid a short deck, and teach him how to ollie, but he’s not going to go out and do a 13 stair. But you can give a kid a longboard, teach him a shutdown slide, and suddenly he thinks he’s ready for that one big hill. But he’s not.
I’ve had helmets save my life twice and known two people who died from head trauma. As we speak, that number may become three, my friend was in a car crash yesterday.
And head trauma is one of the highest causes of death in men 15 – 24. Sound like any skaters you know? It’s just gnarly how people get bricked off because they don’t have simple stopping skills like a strong footbrake. Remember that video from earlier this year where the 3 dudes almost get hit head on? Totally avoidable with a foot brake.
Nick Danielson pic
That’s a bummer bro. Sending lots of good vibes your/their way.
What have been your favourite years in skateboarding?
I don’t know how I could beat this year.
2014 has definitely been the most amazing year as far as my skateboarding has gone. I’ve been to California 5 times, Colorado twice, Arizona, Oklahoma, Texas, New York, and I’m now moving to Austin for a bit to work with Dave’s Hippy Oil.
What is Dave’s Hippy Oil?
Hippy Oil is an innovative company making essential oils and organic salves for road rash and other extreme sport related injuries. It’s kind of come out of nowhere to become a company used and respected by the top names in our sport. I’m extremely excited to be offered an opportunity to be a part of its growth.
Any good results?
As far as races go, this year I made top 16 at Davis City Downhill in Oklahoma and won first in the Sector 9 Skate Scavenger Hunt push race and garage race in Texas.
Got 2nd in the Leadville Blaze The Belt competition, a 6 mile push and downhill race at 10400 feet in Colorado where I got picked up by Dave’s Hippy Oil.
I was invited and raced at the Catalina Classic, the best race I’ve ever been to. Got clipped in practice and got my back riser shattered so I raced with a bunch of plastic bolted into shape as a back riser. Still had an absolute blast and can. not. wait until next year.
As far as great runs, I skated the old BBDH course in Rado, the fish, ECC, SMR, and dozens of other Cali runs, SoMo and Pins in Phoenix, New York runs with Anthony Flis, a handful of Austin, Texas runs, and parking garages in LA, Denver, Lubbock, and Austin.
DevonTalleyBailey pic
Did you do any off hill skating?
Again this year, I’ve skated 4 parks in Colorado, between 5500 and 10000 feet above sea level. Also got to do the Outdoor Berrics, Venice, the Cove and others in LA. Davis City Downhill had a skatepark at the event. Catalina had a ramp. Santa Fe Skate School indoor park every time I’m up there. Couple local ramps back home around Albuquerque.
Anything else cool happen this year?
I met and skated with homies from all over our country, as well as Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, France, Puerto Rico, Germany, and probably some more I’ve forgotten. I also started contributing as a reporter this year to Heelside Mag, Australia’s premier skate media magazine.
And in the middle of it all, in June I was trying to donate some bone marrow and was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect that I had to receive cardiac surgery on. Eight days later I was living in California and working at the Loaded warehouse.
It has seriously been a hell of a year, and it would not have been possible without phenomenal support from my family at Loaded Boards, and to a slightly lesser degree, my other sponsors and new sponsors, Riot Boardsports, Dave’s Hippy Oil and HeelsideMag.
Are you Tony Stark in disguise?
A kajillionaire? I wish. No it was an extra electrical pathway in my heart that was causing me some troubles. I was in and out with heart surgery, a “cardiac ablation operation” all in a Friday. I was super weak for like 5 or 6 days, couldn’t lift a gallon of milk. Two Mondays after the operation I was landing in LA at the Loaded House.
Ameen shot
What do you like about Cali?
First, it never gets cold. I’m not a cold person. Probably part of loving it was leaving New Mexico in January at 30F and arriving at the Loaded house at 70F. Second, the runs, especially that famous one, actually are what they’re cracked up to be. Huge tuck bombs, and the twistiest, most dangerous cliff-huggers, are all in a days menu.
Third, my Loaded family. They really make a man feel welcome, every time, and I couldn’t ask for a better crew to play wigglesticks with. Ethan and Nic hold down the Loaded house, and I feel like a housecat coming home after a long walkabout every time I make it over there.
What’s your role in LoadRangatang?
Loaded House Cat.
How will you be enjoying the rest of your year?
I’m in Texas for a bit, enjoying some warmer weather. Hopefully I’ll get back up to NM this year for a bit to try that new Loaded Algernon snowboard. I’m looking forward to releasing a video that was filmed last year, but due to budget problems, I’ve been unable to get it edited. It’s a really cool project outside of my sponsors, using quadcopters and the ditch to create a really flowy video. Look for that soon!
Who should we interview next?
That’s a really tough one Gbemi. David Angeles and Madison Atwood are both rad homies in Texas who run their own companies. Ari Chamasmany, Dustin Hampton, Nic Escamilla, or Trevor Baird would all have some cool shit to say from Cali. Oh dude, Stephan Reinhardt in SF! He’d be hilarious and has seen some stuff. I skated yesterday with Levi Dane in Texas. Dude rips so hard, and is deaf, so I’m sure he’d have some interesting perspectives to share.
Derek Showers shot
Pick 3 numbers between 1-20.
17, 19, 6
17 – What is Victoria’s secret?
Actually I know this one. Founder of Victoria’s Secret was a man. Who, if I remember right, sold his company for 4 million, two years later, it was worth 500 million and he was bankrupt. Jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge.
19 – Tommy Watson asks who would be in your dream race heat?
Definitely Tommy Watson, I love racing that guy. My buddy Kyler Willoughby, and Daryl Freeman, and Luke Skywalker, Dustin Hampton, and Dustin Hoffman.
6 – if you could have any super power what would it be?
Probably something cliche. Wolverine’s healing powers were always appealing, but I think it todays world, something like Magneto powers, maybe just the ability to control machines, would be the best.
Feels sad to end this, really enjoyed this interrogation. Stay rad and seek you somewhere, someday.
That’d be rad. Come to the desert!
Steve Eichner
Any last words?
Uh, Instagram? @cademan505
I’ll just try to mention everyone who has been so supportive of me and my crazy journey this year, and probably still come up short.
Mom, Dad, Tyler, Grandma, All my cousins, Uncle David, Aunt Cindy, Rob, Rochelle, Ethan, Darren, Adam, Dane, Dustin, Rak, Trevor, Nic, Skatie Perry, Ty Weaver, Ty Keith, Fiss, Miguel, Gerardo, Celon, Camilo, Flis, Panda, Jimmy, Joe, Gary, Colin, Justin Suryanata, Dubes, Joe, Ricker, Timski, Emilia, James, James, Porter, Jory, Denesh, Seth Gouker, Madison Atwood, David Angeles, Kurt Nischel, Daisy J, Bonesaw and the Peace Out crew, the DCB, Joel Lipovetsky, Luke Fitch, Zion, Zadok, and Mateo Miller, Gabe Hogan, Eric Martinez, Jake Sharp, Joey Specht, Greg Peeples, Andrew Mercado, Lynette O’Connor, Che, Burger Pete, BK, Katy, Alex, AJ, Adam, David and Jacob.
Thank you for this year my friends.
Links
Loadedboards.com
Loadedsnow.com
Oranagatangwheels.com
Riotboardsports.com
Daveshippyoil.com
Facebook.com/dukecitybombers