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Introducing…The Quartersnacks One-Spot Part Map

Features & Interviews July 14th, 2021 · 12:00 am · 39

A week away from the first Olympics to feature skateboarding, you will no-doubt see mainstream publications taking a “global” lens through which to view the Games’ new inclusion. To anyone who actually skateboards …it’s like, “yeah, no shit.”

But it’s not because we are all aware of some nebulous concept of who the “best” skater from Brazil, Sweden or Japan is. Given the sprawling worldwide growth of skateboarding that has accelerated alongside the internet, we can now know who the “best” skater of a literal acre or two of city land in some Scandinavian country is. We know the architectural intricacies of completely arbitrary train stations across the globe. Give me a Pantone book, and I’ll show you the color scheme of Tennessee’s capital building because of one guy’s skate footage. Have I been to Tennessee? No, not yet!

A one-spot part is a way to deify one’s name alongside a place, but not in a championship or gold medal sense. It is more Kobe’s 61 points at MSG than it is a title. It is a story. Better yet, it’s mythology: “So-and-so only filmed at this city block for a year and figured out ten new ways to skate it.”

Stevie’s 1999 part in The Reason is often cited as being the earlier influential “one spot part.” It may not be the first, but something about a guy at the pinnacle of his powers choosing to skate his local while the rest of the professional skateboard world was flying to Barcelona resonated with people.

Bobby’s 2014 “Hometown Turf Killer” part is the one most often cited as the part to kick off the current craze of one-spot parts that we find ourselves in. (He cites the Stevie part as an influence.) COVID and everyone being stuck home with no travel only snowballed this phenomenon: 36% of the initial 46 parts listed here were released in the past 18 months.

Inspired by the endlessly fascinating Maps on the Web website, we began to wonder what it would look like if this pursuit was laid out geographically. This has revealed itself to be a largely American, European and Australian undertaking. Even after having reached out to contacts well-versed in the skate culture of China and Japan, we came up short there. There has got to be something that fits the criteria in Brazil.

Now, the qualifiers. Compilations and documentaries have been excluded. This is for parts and videos that carry some intention of a person or group of people purposefully making a video at one place that you can pinpoint right down to a street corner on a Google Map. Yes, we’re giving the 16mm Pier 7 tricks in Stevie’s Reason part a pass. Yes, there was an office debate about whether the Thrasher “Plazacation” series counts, but honestly, the Majorca one feels like a part/montage. In our age of increased lack-of-definition regarding “what a part is,” let’s just say that you know when you see one ;)

This is intended to be the initial unveiling of what hopefully becomes an updated work in progress. Feel free to submit any omissions in the comments, e-mail or DM.

Use the button in the top left corner to reveal the map legend. All pins include a playable video, so just click the thumbnails ♥

If you prefer to view on the Google Maps page, click here.

Thank you to Free Skate Mag (who actually leads in the charge in pushing one-spot parts), Place Skate Mag, 4Ply Mag, Yo Sawada, Matthew Evans, Nick Boserio, Farran Golding, Flippin’ Goods Distribution, and Kukunochi Distribution for their help ♥ ♥ ♥

39 Comments

  1. Yoooo absolutely amazing content thank you!!!
    The only omission I could think of is Rowan Davis at Civic Central!!

  8. Some of you don’t even look at the thing huh? :)

    Thanks for the Bledsoe one, putting on the add-on list, totally spaced there.

  11. Glass carousel was filmed a block over at the triforum/city hall east not at LA city hall

  14. Feel like these qualify as parts:
    Strobeck’s “Pigeon” (Love Park)
    DGK – DIY Josh Kalis (Clemente DIY)
    Butter Goods: Casey Foley Imax Tapes

  17. Just updated it with 15 new ones that people suggested :) thanks everyone for your submissions. We’re up to 61 parts/spots.

  28. Great idea. Immediately Mike Carroll’s part in Questionable (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImTlxRFfEmI&t=27s) came to mind as a maybe – that part has some footage outside of EMB but it’s almost completely filmed there (I’m not gonna do the math, but I counted around 25 clips not at the spot and it’s a 6 minute part), and I remember something about Carroll wanting the part to document the scene there. Also there’s the Wallows section in Animal Chin (https://youtu.be/ZgBm0Ly5Rmg?t=23), and I dug up the address for that one: 325 Anolani St, Honolulu, HI 96821.

  30. Just updated with the suggestions that checked out! Included Javier’s “Wheels of Fortune” even though it’s 30sec long because it’s 411, and it’s Javier …and it’s …the Banks ;)

  31. Yo Snack, the building is called August Wilson Center for African American Culture. We call the spot August Wilson

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