Thrasher twenty five years

Jake Phelps

This photo feature is a 25-year encapsulation of raw, rip dog thrashing. The spots, the people, the tricks all come and go. Here's a quick blast of gnar. Get ready for the Skate and Destroy book, it's going to be a real barn burner.

--Jake Phelps 2005

1981

The get-rich Fat Cats built 'em by the truckload ... skateparks, that is. Mike McGill fakie ollies while the bulldozer looms, just before the darkness

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Steve Rocco really wanted to be a vert skater. Underground freestyle, hidden shame

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Brad Bowman was stylish and good. Backside ollie somewhere in time

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Boards were tanks, and the gear it took to ride them stunk to High Heaven. Bob Serafin nosegrabs a classic Salba bevel at Marina

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1982

The end of Lakewood meant contest. Classically trained park wizard Lance Mountain grabs a frontal in the clam

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A Beautiful frontside air performed by Neil Blender at Pomona pipe and pool

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Micro-midge Chris Miller grinds the fullpipe on his home turf--Upland

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Broken bones, broken windows, broken hearts. This one's black

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Skate gangs rule the wasteland. No helmets, no rules, no worries

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1983

Simulated vert: Cab goes off on rise Thrasher Summer Tour 1983

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Monty Nolder gay twists the channel on a cold day in St Pete, Florida

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Don Vitello, Promotions lead to profits

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1984

Jeff Phillips, Clown ramp in Dallas--check the alley-oop lien on his way to first place and 300 bucks

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Christian Hosoi gets Elvis while cruising through a whopper of an Indy at the 'Mar

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Mister Mark Gonzales mocks vert in the 619, San Diego

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The urban wasteland--where else is it fun to get dirty and break shit? Natas, car Bertleman

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1985

Mark Rogowski was the definition of the word ripper. This slob fastplant at Del Mar came on the 26th wall of his line. Prison must suck

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Humid and sticky, Holmes lays back in the islands

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Tommy Guerrero fence-plant Andrechts at a schoolyard in the middle of the Pacific

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This air should've been aborted, but Orb and Oakland Tech hook up and have the baby

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Forget tranny. Natas runs and jumps up on them walls

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John Grigley follows the Gonz in Sacto; 110-degrees in the shade

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Down for Steadham

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"I'm so confused;" McCauley Hawklin

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Dogtown attitude still alive, 10-years down the line. Scott Oster slays a curb and lets you know

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1986

Edgers mean the difference between light and darkness, Dave Hackett, running towards the end of the tunnel

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"Hey, move that jump ramp over there ... No there ... wait, I got it over there ..." Gonz, either a wash or history; you choose

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Rodney Mullen always knew where the juice was

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Lester is a descendent of the House of Kasai, which basically means "In the code of the Samurai, there is only dishonor at the flatbottom." Launched or what?

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1987

Straight up and down, Mike Vallely gets busy before you little queers started waxing this shit

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1988

Frozen in time, for all eternity, Hosoi totally mastered the stuntwood, Lien Judo in OZ

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Things get Cramped and spooky while Rodney flosses the prody

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Told he was disposable, Jason Jessee learned to play the violin. What a sad song it is

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Check the date: 1988. Everything has been done before. Mark G

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1989

Taking a page from the Book of Hosoi, Natas wallies out with some sort of Spandex regalia underneath

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The Wave pool in Arizona hosted a street and vert event

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Vert was dying, street was coming. Danny Way changed 'em both. Ollie fakie, pro debut

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No band inspired more carnage than Suicidal

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Early Portland/SF migrant Danny Sargent relearns the hills of his roots by snapping over a hydrant

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Part of the SF Bay Bridge collapsed during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. It took six months to rebuild. Jim Thiebaud lipslides a once-in-a-lifetime ledge on opening day

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Early hustle master Jovontae Turner rode for three different companies at the same time, got paid, and split. Smooth and silky Wallenberg nose-dinger

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1990

In the blink of an eye, skating went Rambo, Frankie Hill was leading the charge--he's one of the reasons you're doing big shit today

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Wounded gull John Cardiel was everyone's fave. Check the hands: one up, one down. Skating gets shocked by the kid from Lake of the Pines. Shifty

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The hair, the style; Kris Markovich was easy on the eyes and went full-speed ballistic--K-grind with wheels that look like rubberbands

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The first to carve to the big bench, Julien Stanger quick-ups to 180 the bank over the gap. Never heard of it.

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1991

Ground-zero for street skating in the '90s, Huntington High turned out and turned on hitters. Ed Templeton one-foots a Speed Wheels bench: world champ soon afterwards

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The hills are alive with the sound of skating: Curtis Hsiang (dead), Ruben Orkin (dead), and Blake Von Knopka (living) commence to ripping in the Berkeley Hills

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Sean Sheffey has his own way of burning down Christmas trees

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Same costume, different dudes: Sheff and Tae-Tae. "Who wants drama?"

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"If it's free, I'll take it." Willy Santos re-defines the word thrifty

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1992

Classic dude, epic trick. Salman Agah tailgrab one-foots to fakie at Studio 43. Horns abound

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Thrasher gear has infiltrated the globe. OG EMB were down for free gear

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1993

After Gonz did the Four at Wallenberg, everybody tried to get some. Cards wanted it bad and it hurt like hell--against the wind on sub-45mm's

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The crowd's gone and it's just you and Chris Miller alone on the vert; he's gonna win. 540, picture-perfect. Sacto, fool

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Al Petersen can chuck a backside ollie anywhere, ant time. Berkeley, courts, high like a jet

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JR master Mike Carroll levitates in front of the Venice locals. Japan over California

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Chad Muska frontside flip gross-beefs at a new-era concrete park, Santa Rosa

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1994

Daewon already Rick-flipped it, so Howard had to frontside half-Cab flip it. Beryl, blood

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Dan Drehobl is always down to try and hurt himself

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While Corpsy eggs him on, Andy Roy commits at some demo, some day, nowhere

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1995

At 19 years-old, Bob Burnquist came to America to wreck shop. Switch 5-0 at Max's right before he won vert in Vancouver. Bob-gnar don't play

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New-wave pool shark Kale Sandridge could give a shit what you think is cool, Slob over ladder at Colossus

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Satva creeps on a Muska multi-kink. We used it in the mag on a blow-in card ... It's a make

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Thrasher contest on the wharf? Ethan Fowler snaps over the Ferris wheel. On 10-days notice, there were 175 entrants. I'd say the mag has juice

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1996

A true master of all disciplines, the late, great Phil Shao grinds the top bar at Miley. A rare outtake of an incredible trick

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Schoolyard hips need benches and picnic tables. Jason Dill, nosegrind

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Skate machine Wade Speyer will kill any mini-ramp in sight. Lien in yer face

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"Frontal invert through corner" should be on everyone's before-I-die checklist. Eddie Alioto wrote the book and cashed the check

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1997

Before Baker, Andrew Reynolds kept Birdhouse legit. Nollie krooks before the Drunx hit Rolling Stone

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1998

One of the early money back lips, Greco burns one in the Long Beach furnace

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Rowley and Sturt: Two certified mental cases

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Al Petersen slappies up some Fresno metal and goes waist-high

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Steve McQueen pool, SF, Thrasher had its own key and Gonzales had a magic carpet

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Can't break more ground than Rowley's three-flip lip

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On his way to SOTY, Tony has it dialed. Dog pisser at that one bunk Alameda park

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Anything goes when filming a Zero vid. Jimmy ponders while the Eagle counts down

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1999

Koston, nollie heel nose. Things started gettin' spooky

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2000

On a broken board, John Cardiel lit up Marseille like a Christmas tree. 360 backside off the hip into a lien air on the seven-foot bowl. Absolutely out of this world

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2001

Before the Twin Towers imploded, Muska was dropping bombs all over LA. Last shot says it all ...

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Drehobl knows he sucks. Pivot fakie in SF

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Westside Smolik

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Rob Welsh kickflips a ball at the new EMB

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Skating and partying will always be a part of Pat Duffy

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Ryan Johnson and Vagabond, bonded by blood

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The Finnish and the French

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2002

Edward Scissorhands? No--Corel Duffelburger. Tall 50-50 in nowhere-land

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Nothing says it better than danger. Peter Hewitt at the "new" Upland

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KOTR is King of the Roadtrips

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2003

Burning Man? No, burn it to make it rideable. Washington Street is hot stuff

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2004

Big tall ledge, Johnny Layton nosegrinds to flat

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Best weekend of all time; Carbondale

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Born in the finals, Ryan Sheckler backside flips in the real OC

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2005

Sensitive? Curious? Peter Ramondetta, straight fuck you. Thread the needle kickflip

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COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group