The Only 5050 Kickflip That Ever Mattered

es le dome

Even in 2015, there’s a commemorative éS block at Le Dome. It honors the millions of dollars in skate tourism the company brought to France these past fifteen years.

It seems like after every trip to Europe, the first order of business back at the QS office is to reconcile with Menik Mati. While every critical adult skate nerd writes it off, that video really planted the childhood seed for our European travel bug. Some kids wanted to go to California and skate a schoolyard; we wanted to go to Bercy.

Is there a spot on earth where one of the best tricks done on it was legitimately a 5050 kickflip? Maybe a curb in front of some 12-year-old’s house in Alaska? Noseslide shuv-its, willy grinds, varial flips up until just recently, 5050 kickflips — all of these tricks begin getting phased out halfway through high school. They’re kid tricks. “I’ve never done a flip-out trick — well, besides a 5050 kickflip — but that doesn’t count.”

So could you believe that a 5050 kickflip ranks as a peak achievement at one of the most iconic spots in all European #sk8 #fantasy? (Lord knows why, not like any of us can skate anything besides the three stairs there…)

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SremmLife

bk landmark diner

Landmark. Photo by Brian Kelley.

In honor of Paris Fashion Week, our interns GIF-itized most of Flo Marfaing’s tricks down the hubba ledge at Le Dome / Palais de Tokyo — which, as you are well aware, is the site of many prominent #PFW shows. Been waiting for that ledge to have a bit of a resurgence a la how Clipper has come back into fashion these past ~two years. Watch some trend-setting skater switch back 5050 it (assuming it’s too high to no comply into?) in an artsy photo and the floodgates will open.

Luis is the best.

The future is NOW — #jkjhnsn is now @jkjhnsn.

Lenny Kirk was / is a psycho.

The bro Adam Zhu got a chill one-minute part at the 3:30 mark of this video.

Frozen in Carbonite examines Gold Goons through the lens of the latest Drake album, while Boil the Ocean uses it as a springboard to contemplate the 5-0 grind’s place in the modern skate trick canon.

This guy is a bit of a cult hero around here: Andy Bautista’s circa 1998-99 Thrasher Firing Squad outtakes via Jim Hodgson. The original part can be found here. There are a lot of really good nollie back heels in it.

Check Ciber Wave, the new vid from the crew at Humidity Skateshop in New Orleans.

Cutty shared part between Tom Penny and Javier Sarmiento can be found at the 13:20 mark of this Spanish video. It’s dimly lit and 90% in skateparks, but you know… Javi.

Skate Jawn has a clip of the Paych dudes’ trip to Puerto Rico and Colin Sussingham is selling a 48-page zine of photographs from the same excursion.

J.P. Blair uploaded a throwaway reel of some guys who skate in New York.

Someone who’s really good at bump-to-bars once observed that “after you do two or three, they all start to look the same.” Adidas isn’t into that line of thinking.

An interview with Dan Wolfe about the low-key classic I-Path promo.

Ollie up, early grab gap to 5050 on those two ledges under the High Line is intense.

Ever wonder what happened to Scott Kane? Here you go.

The ~30th attempt at a skateboard fashion blog: Kit Report.

Rich Homie Quan seems like a really nice guy.”

Rest in Peace Sam Simon. No piece of pop culture has made me laugh throughout my time on this earth like The Simpsons has. Thank you.

QS Sports Desk: Maintaining our position that Russell Westbrook is the greatest basketball player to ever live is really tough with Steph Curry doing things like this. Also, if you think James Harden should be MVP, please leave a comment so we have a record of your IP address and can ban you from visiting this website.

Quote of the Week
Observant Gentleman: “Sometimes I see people wearing bootcut jeans with actual boots, and I think ‘Oh wow, that doesn’t look that bad.'”
Will R.S: “Bruv, you’re a fucking dimwit.”

It’s over:

spring

P.S. If you’re going to be one of those assholes complaining in June about how 85 degrees is “too hot,” you can live comfortable knowing you’re worse than the “James Harden for MVP” guys ;)