A lot of the best tricks that have happened at Emerson were never photographed or videotaped. Here is an illustrated list I have compiled with the help of friends.
Words and illustrations: Nathan Cary
George Evans- ollie off the incline and over the end of the box. (2008)
This is certainly one of the most creative things I have seen at the park. George made a visit to the park and as usual, he ripped. He ollied up the box full speed and used the incline to launch himself over the end of the long part to flat. Upon seeing this in person I immediately thought “What a cool idea, let me try” and plowed my way towards the box to try it myself… no dice. Not even close. Since that day I have told many about George and his bionic leap and dared others to try and other people have tried but still… nobody has been able to recreate it.
Paul Vaughn- backside air from quarter to the far bank (2004)
Okay, so I have been told that there have been a couple of guys to pull of this transfer after Paul did it, but I have yet to see any actual proof. Nevertheless, Paul was the first to do this giant transfer. It was a typical day at the park in 2004 when Paul showed up and was ripping the park to shreds. He had mentioned that he had been “away” for awhile, and this was his first time riding a board for a month. Within two tries Paul cleared this giant gap. I was in shock. Afterward, he ollied up the tall side of the box, did a manual down and kept manualling off the box and onto the concrete then hopped into a feeble grind on the flat bar. I hadn’t seen anything like that before at the time and complemented him on his “Tony Hawks Pro skater-like” abilities. Cheat codes maybe?
Chris Kendall- Hardflip to backside lipslide down the handrail (2005)
This is a trick that I had heard about for years but I wasn’t actually there. What I heard from a friend was that Chris stood with his board on the sidewalk outside of the park, and with an incredibly determined look his his face. Next he tossed down his board pushed at full speed came off the fun box , launched his board into the air with a hard flip and came down into a backside lip onto the handrail. The people attending the park let out a loud gasp, as they could not believe what he had just tried. After about 20 more tries and 30 minutes later Chris finally put down one of the most amazing things to ever happen at the park. This was with no filmer and no photographer. If only Instagram had existed…
Joey Corey- fakie five O to treflip out. (2008)
This one I just found out about recently. I’m guessing it was around 2008 but I’m really not sure. What I have been told is that Joey had just came off of an ankle or knee injury and was taking it “light” by not going down massive drops and keeping it more technical. That’s of course if you can consider a fakie 5-O treflip out as taking it “light.”
Dorien Wren- switch crooked grind across the big bar (2005)
Dorien has always had something that every other skateboarder wishes they could possess. That is finesse. No matter what trick he does on a skateboard it always seemed to just pop, flip and land perfectly. This trick was no different. From what I have heard he did this trick multiple times going full speed across the big bar. Most can’t even ollie that high. He did it switch.
Part 3 of 3 “Honorable Mentions”
It’s the honorable mentions section. It’s tricks that we wanted to add at the last minute to give gratitude to some of the ripping-est dudes at the park.
Part 3 of 3
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