It’s funny how much the mere existence of a quarterpipe within the Tompkins fence recalibrated the way that place is skated, and the tricks people do there. A few months ago, having heard that the Anti-Hero team is at T.F., nobody would fault you for thinking, “Why the hell is the Anti-Hero team wasting time at Tompkins? Wouldn’t that time be better spent at the Chelsea park?” [Spoiler: they make it to the Chelsea park. Phew.]
But instead, you have Gus Gordon climbing atop the brick pillars back by the bathrooms (both the perma-under-construction ones and the makeshift one that was born out of necessity), and Grant Taylor using that very same quarterpipe to stall atop of them. With that and the perpendicular couch ollie seen above, you likely have the two highest clearance tricks ever done at Tompkins. (Look at bro in the background wearing the green shirt.) Can’t wait to build a loop there when we make our first million and recalibrate shit again.
This is probably four clips shy of being a capital-P *part*, but our dude and Bunt Jam sharpshooter, Rezza Honarvar, has a new one for Miami’s Andrew Skateshop. Still surreal seeing tricks go down on that CBS ledge in 2023. Loved the fakie ollie, too 💪
Dustin Henry now rides for Frog. If you know anything about Dustin Henry’s extensive sponsor history, you know that it had to happen. Frog dropped a lil’ welcome video, but the real heavy hitter clips are in that Vans video Shari White has on the way…
Spezzatura and squad have a new Milan scene video out: Panorama 2.
Back in October, we asked QS visitors to choose their favorite video parts of the 2010s. If civilization and skateboarding were to end today, which five parts would you bury in a weather-and-nuclear-proof time capsule for post-apocalyptic earth dwellers to reference when they rediscover skate culture of these past ten years?
QS prides itself as being a destination for people who think a lot about skateboarding. Rather than poll a few close colleagues for their favorites, we felt we had a wide enough reverberation in the skate nerd universe to try and crowdsource a canon of the 2010s from anyone willing to sit down and think about it. I can emphatically say that in reviewing the mountain of ballots, everyone took their votes seriously — save maybe the guy who voted for five Micky Papa parts.
As we tallied the results, consistent trends in the count were apparent. Any fears about a recency bias went out the window; there’s only one part from 2019, and the average year of the top 25 is 2014. QS obviously has its own breed of skate nerd audience — this poll would look different if taken by Thrasher or Free — but I would bet that their lists wouldn’t be TOO far off from this one.
Presented without comment for the top 25-11, and then via a lot of favors from writer friends on the internet for the top 10: here are the 25 best video parts of the past ten years.
It’s one of those “more words than videos” weeks :)
“But skateboarding’s worldview can often become so totalizing that commitment to it far into adulthood, past the age when it’s socially acceptable to ride around in a school bus smoking weed and listening to Slayer, can look like protracted adolescence. This is why skateboarding, for a large chunk of the country, will never fully outgrow its degenerate associations. And that’s fine.” It is notoriously difficult to produce a genuinely great piece of writing about skateboarding, but Noah Gallagher Shannon’s profile of Grant Taylor ticks all the boxes. Send it to your mom.
QS Sports Desk: More excited for the off-season, than we were for like, the entire second half of the postseason. And if you think Lebron is coming to the Knicks you need to move to Mars.
Quote of the Week: “Hell no I don’t watch soccer. A bunch of buddies kicking balls? I’m good.” — Meatball
QS is perpetually giving 90% of skate video editors a hard time for their uninspired marriage to Big L + and this idea that basically all rap still needs to sound like nineties rap (how boring does that sound tbh?), but we’ll throw you guys a bone here because there’s a substantial chance you haven’t heard this one before, and it’s really fun:
Waiting for Logan to emerge from his lair (which may or may not still be upstairs from the old Quartersnacks office) and begin working on the 917 video.
Waiting for famous house DJ, Challex Olson, to climb out from the twelve-foot-tall mountain of “Lover” hoodys and drop some new footage.
Waiting for Transworld to learn how to spell Cyrus’ name right. Or at least waiting to meet this emotional “Cryus” creature that they attributed their cover to.
Waiting for Drew to say “YOOOOOOO” longer than the last time he said “YOOO.”
Waiting for Ishod to admit he inherited Lebron’s headband collection.
Waiting for Johnny to start eating cheeseburgers and making weekly video blogs again, reclaiming the banner of productivity that he held so tightly from 2012-2015.
Waiting for Max to find a metal crevice that he can’t send his board through.
…I think Andrew has a longer “YOOOOOOOOOOOOOO” in him, but for everything else, we’ll have to keep waiting, and waiting. In the meantime, here’s a video from some of those guys forcing us to play the wait game, and a couple guys with their names on skate shoes skating throughout the south this past spring.
