Five Favorite Parts With Salomon Cardenas

📷 Photo via Jeff Cecere

Salomon got back with his ex [sponsor], took a stop by The Bunt, and now, we asked him to list his five favorite parts. This is maybe the first time anyone has properly acknowledged Chris’ It’s A Secret part — and from here on out, it’s ok to treat it as one of those that gets mentioned all the time because …yaknow, look around.

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Austyn Gillette — Cosmic Vomit 2 by Grant Yansura (2013)

(Part begins @ 10:22)

There’s something about a skater making kind of a …joke part? But they’re also doing …really good tricks that are hard as hell?

It’s not a joke part, but it totally is, because he’s skating to Juicy J and there’s tough guy B-roll in the tank top in it. It’s so funny and weird. There are so many questions about how Austyn was down for this idea, but that’s the beauty of skating. This dude is a world class skateboarding athlete who is tre flipping bump-to-bars in this part, but it’s still kind of a joke. Imagine being able to fuck around at this level. But damn it’s such a shame there’s guest footage in this part.

Gilbert Crockett — Venue: Old Dominion by Will Rosenstock (2013)

This is a really pretty part. There’s something about a classic VX part made by two good friends in their hometown. This was already after Gilbert had gone out and done the California pro skating thing: “I’m going to be the goat in my kingdom.”

He’s skating empty-ass parking lots in the middle of the night, which may seem like nothing special, but there is something so classic about that middle America skate video vibe.

This is a funny note to it: when I was watching this when it first came out, there’s a guest clip by Trey, who works at Supreme here in New York. He has a guest clip in this part, where he front boards down a handicap rail, and right after, Gilbert boardslides up it. When I was younger, I was so dumb, and thought it was Gilbert doing a switch front board down the rail …but then you actually watch it and it’s clearly a black guy front boarding down the rail. I told Trey one time and he’s laughing, “How the fuck did you think that was Gilbert?” Really dumb. So hyped I’m stupid.

The back lip at the end is also so beast. Very poignant skating.

Chris Milic — It’s A Secret by Diego Meek (2015)

I feel like this part is the most influential part of that era. It was so huge to me; I’d watch it every day. Watching it was realizing, “Oh wait, there are no rules at all, and it’s really about feeling as free as you can out there.” It’s not like Chris was trying to do this with this specific part or anything, but there is so much “toughness” in skating — which is cool, and adds its own spice to things — but he went to do some completely other shit. It is such a sick mix of fun meets crazy skill, plus a one-of-a-kind brain. He’s one of the most unique skaters to ever live.

I can picture some back-in-the-day team manager seeing this part and being like, “What, man? Nah, you can’t be doing shit like that.” Well, he’s doing it, and it’s fucking sick. When you’re younger, you feel pressure to do, act, and skate certain ways, like how you try to fit in in school. But ultimately, that attitude kills the creativity.

Also, the fact Diego Meek made this video — you can tell how good friends they are. Diego probably thought, “I’m going to make my friend look so dope in this part.” This part is almost like a look into their friendship and Mango’s brain.

Rowan Zorilla — Baker 4 (2019)

It is a really solid classic Baker part. I was at the premiere of this, and it was definitely one of the top three most popping premieres I’ve been to in my life. There was damn-near a riot in the streets of L.A. after it. It is really sick to see that many skaters celebrating. It is pretty epic.

Rowan is so talented. He doesn’t even need to do super hard tricks to shine. In this part he does everything. It is such a nice blend of creativity that is also well-rounded, but it doesn’t feel like he is trying to show you how good he is.

You also think the part is done, but then he does that insane nollie full cab flip down the double-set in San Francisco. It blew my mind when I saw it. I was yelling at the screen at the premiere. It’s dope they switched to the iPhone angle after, which is some Baker shit. You can tell he’s so relieved and maybe a little blown away by how good he did it. It’s a heartwarming clip.

Jake Johnson — GX1000: Right Here For Pablo (2022)

(Part begins @ 41:34)

I know everybody always chooses Mind Field. This part is so clean, random, and he does so many impressive bump-to-bar tricks. He really showcases his abilities in this part. Then the friends section in the middle of his part is such a good homie vibe full of random bangers: Sean [Greene] does like a back 360 stalefish off a giant kicker over a gap.

He switch flips the car wash bump-to-bar on the Westside Highway so perfect, then does the nollie 180 switch wallride straight into dapping up the homies — you can tell there are so many dope victories in this part. You can tell everybody was tripping when he was rolling away from a lot of these tricks.

I’m a firm believer in the full-length. The anxiety about putting a video out that’s too long feels like worrying about the wrong thing. You know when it feels right.

Honorable Mentions (all full-lengths): The Baker Deathwish Summer Tour Video (2009), Brad Cromer & Pang’s Lo-Fi (2012), Welcome’s Monarchs of Magic (2014)

Previously: Diego Todd, Ish Cepeda, Will Marshall, Grant Yansura, Ryan Lay, Nikolai Piombo, Hayley Wilson, Frank Gerwer, Gus Gordon, Max Palmer, Etienne Gagne, Jacopo Carozzi, Nicole Hause, Matt Militano, Evan Wasser, Ryuhei Kitazumi, Sarah Meurle, Vitória Mendonça, Andrew Wilson, Ben Kadow, Chandler Burton, Pedro Delfino, Johnny Wilson, Nick Michel, Wes Kremer, Jordan Trahan, Ariana Spencer, Elijah Odom, Greg Hunt, Zered Bassett, Neil Herrick, Trung Nguyen, Nick Boserio, Elissa Steamer, Casper Brooker, John Gardner, Bobshirt, Brandon Turner, Shari White, Nick Jensen, Tony Hawk, Naquan Rollings, Jack O’Grady, Josh Wilson, Maité Steenhoudt, Jahmir Brown, Una Farrar, Chris Jones, Mason Silva, Beatrice Domond, Mark Suciu, Justin Henry, Breana Geering, Sage Elsesser, Bobby Worrest, Nik Stain, Anthony Van Engelen, Dom Henry, Bing Liu, Andrew Reynolds, Cyrus Bennett, Jacob Harris, Jamal Smith, Paul Rodriguez, Gilbert Crockett, Ben Chadourne, Tom Knox, Louie Lopez, The Chrome Ball Incident, The Bunt, Lacey Baker, Andrew Allen, GX1000, Brian Anderson, Gino Iannucci, Josh Kalis, Sean Pablo, Wade Desarmo, Chris Milic, Chad Muska, Hjalte Halberg, Danny Brady, Bill Strobeck, Aaron Herrington, Jerry Hsu, Brad Cromer, Brandon Westgate, Jim Greco, Jake Johnson, Scott Johnston, Josh Stewart, Eric Koston, Karl Watson, Josh Friedberg, John Cardiel, Pontus Alv, Alex Olson, Jahmal Williams