Wes Driver spent most of last weekend taking pictures at the Action Sports World Tour stop in San Diego, capturing some inspiring images of vert skating, and even went so far as to document the experience with some words. Check out vert skating as it’s rarely seen, and get a sneak peek at an upcoming ONE exclusive profile with vert ramp wonder Takeshi Yasutoko.
Mission Beach was blowing up today, compliments of inline vert, which was back in full force after being absent from the last stop of the World Tour. The return was inspired by the consistently stellar performances of the Yasutoko brothers from Japan, Australia’s Shane Yost, and the USA’s own Marc Englehart. And this stop was no different, as these guys definitely had the crowd on their side. And being that vert finals was one of the last events of the day, the crowd had a chance to surge, and it was great to see the amount of energy and support that the fans were giving these riders.
When the dust finally settled (it was a fight to finish for sure), Takeshi took first place once again with his flawless first run that included a double flat spin that took him at least 10 feet off the coping. On normal airs he had to be at least 14 ft out, repeatedly demonstrating his reputation as the high flyer on today’s vert ramp. It was amazing to see someone on the inline skates going higher than any of the BMX or Skateboard pros that competed earlier in the day.
Finishing in second place was Marc Englehart, who landed a beautiful 900 with the precision of a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon. Having fallen on his first run, Englehart made a tremendous comeback to take the second place spot away from Takeshi’s older brother Eito. It was a tough call in my opinion, because Eito was skating in top form. At the last event I saw him skate in he was injured, so it was good to see him ride at 100%. The crowd went crazy when threw down his signature “California roll” 1080s in both runs. Other skaters that were obvious favorites were the only two girls competing in the event, Fabiola Da Silva and Ayumi Kawasaki. They both pulled flawless 540’s and backflips as well, displaying skills that bladers of any gender can envy. And of course there was a handful of the emerging crop of future vert talent on hand as well, preserving this often overlooked side of our culture. All in all it was great event that showcased the best inline vert talent in the world. –Wes Driver
Arlo doing his MC thing for the cameras.
Eito with what, a 12-foot high AO Mute?
Fab lofts a big Method.
Random hessian gutter blader. Nice.
Shane Yost laced this cross-grab rocket 540 like only he can.
Englehart with a large Stale.
When Takeshi takes flight, the guy on the deck looking up says it all.
Great skating is rewarded with medals and prize money, and a smile from the champ.
its about time someone gave these vert dogs some respect…I still remember buggin out at woodward 8 years ago watching Cesar do 10 ft high back flips…wordemup dude…
Good job on this “One” Wes. Isn’t it weird how vert is almost like a totally separate sport now? And it’s kind of funny how you can almost mark the down fall of rollerblading at the same time two started to become separate(out of mainstream vids, out of print mags, etc.). I don’t know maybe it’s a huge coincidence but it might be cool to start putting it a little bit in the print mag. Bring us all back together…One you could say…
totally agree with justin, but at the same time i would be lying if i didn’t say watching vert skating got really boring, it was like it was becaming more and more about professional consistent safe runs and less about doing ill shit. there should be more best trick comps for vert, and those vert doubles comps were dope
I was lucky enough to get to skate with and watch eito and takeshi for the last two years i was in japan. If your ever in Japan you have to drop by GSKATE on Roku Island and skate with them. They are super chill and very kind. Also Both of them always take the time to help the lil kids at the park learn new stuff.
back in the days, there also used to be vert sections in “street” skating videos…
justin, vert is TOTALLY like a separate sport right now. with a few exceptions (Thumper, Fabiola… ), it’s like most of these skaters know nothing about what’s happening on the slider bar at their local skatepark or what a guy like Chris Haffey is up to. someone at the event said that watching some of the competitors skate was like looking back in time to the mid 90s (exaggerated by the big pads and shorts, but also by an abundance of dudes rocking OLD skates). i can’t really disagree. and i find no fault or anything like that, but i find it incredibly fascinating that there is such an obvious disconnection. can street skating be that cool if even other rollerbladers ignore it? you took it a step further though, with the whole “downfall conspiracy”–nice touch. you could be right. just think about the little things, like (street) rollerbladers not even showing up to watch a pro level vert comp with a big purse that’s being televised. what’s that about? i’m not talking about this event in san diego, because dudes like the santee crew and Shima, Haffey, Stockwell, Steinmetz and more were there just checking it out, but even back to old comps like the X and Gravity Games… there’s bound to be less people in the crowds when what should be a built-in audience–rollerbladers–doesn’t even show up in the stands. and that’s just one little, tiny aspect that could negatively affect rollerblading’s image with big media and the public. truly there are many more. but to wrap this little tirade up, yes, street and vert skating are like totally separate sports right now, but i think that the individual who is able to bridge that gap and be at the top of the game in both disciplines will not only do a lot for their own career in skating, but potentially help propel our blade deal back to the front of the public’s short, yet valuable, attention span.
look for more vert coverage of an as-of-yet-undetermined nature in future issues of ONE.
definately.the whole “cool” underground street scene thats dominated for the past near decade has earnt us no respect from the general public.
it seems as though we hav shunned vert,therefore the whole separation thing happened..
vert is a spectacle,big,raw,exciting and respected and i think this,if pushed,can bring skating back in the limelight,bringing needed $$ into the industry.
not some scruffy street rat waxing up a curb,but an athlete shall earn the appreciation of others. (not badmouthing street,ive skated street for near 10yrs).
NE1 remember tim ward? the aussie who,amongst others, ripped it up on whatever he skated,sk8n wasbig.hmm,anybody else see the corelation? we need to be more all-rounded,not focus on grindgrindgrindgrindgrind.
wasn’t haffey skating vert for a while there, at the Vans park in socal somewhere? imagine if he dominated (or at least was competitive with the other high-level competitors) vert and skiing like he does street skating… that’d be an ESPN producer’s wet dream: quiet, modest all-american dude conquers one sport and extends his domination into two others (or one other and the underappreciated wing of his present sport, whatever)….
Vert takes crazy nerve and skills. Getting that high off the ramp and doing misty flips, rocket airs, double flatspins, and landing on your feet. Those guys (and gals) have just as much marbles as any street skater. We should definitely welcome them back and close this nearly decade long rift between the two rollerblading factions.
good words good words that i know will lead to somthing big for both Vert and street skaters, you are sure on to somthing, the best thing we should try now is to make vert ramps accessable to local skate parks which will give rollers weather they be novice or a street skater the oppertunity to know how to do vert and do both and the trend will start and within a estimated 5 yrs things should lift up to where they should be and combining street and vert in terms of what we do on the vert will help expand the variety of moves and style, eg rolling up the 7ft roll in doing a 360 Mizu or a back side savanah,bs kind grind.. followed by a some big tricks like double flat spin, but keeping a consistent line of big tricks will wear of if you know what i mean, so starting with some basic 180s soul grinds, and then a 360 bs royal and then basic and then somthing big like a 720 , that way the attention will be consistent with people thinking ” wow whats he going to do next” , there will be some sort of suspence where people will want to come and watch to see vert and then as people learn about the two sports street and vert and the colaboration between them,the golden path to recognition will appear and good things will come.
something I think is kind of weird is that there don’t seem to be many new names when it comes to vert skating. its like all the people in this article are the same people that were the “big names” in vert as when I first saw rollng on the xgames. when you look at street its like there’s always someone new trowing out new tricks every week. not to say that vert hasn’t progressed, it really just seems like there’s a lot less people doing it nowadays.
it’s unfortunate that from skateparks’ point of view- public or private- a vert ramp is a poor investment- expensive, takes up a lot of space, dangerous, skill-intensive, and you’re not going to have a lot of people using it frequently enough to make it “worth it”.
it’s kind of the same way in skateboarding though- tony hawk and the other x-games big names got a ton of people into the sport but very few of them stuck with vert skating- maybe a percent or two; most went into street/park skateboarding. of course it was such a massive number of people getting into the sport in any way that that percent or two translated into thousands of people, which is still a ton in absolute terms, but not proportionally. it’s ironic that the most public face of their sport (and ours) gets the smallest numbers of new devotees…
I love shooting vert and ONE loves all aspects of rollerblading… so definitely be on the lookout for more coverage of vert skating in the mag this next year.
Good words. I definitely agree with vert and street needing to unite back together. Haffey and Shima aren’t at a competitive level but they do play on it and that’s really a good start. highrollaz is coming out with a vert video and there will be clips of at least Haffey. And maybe some from Stockwell and Shima so things are in the works to help unify the sport. But they are so different. So of the best street pros can barely get above coping and some of the best vert pros would be scarred to do a 10 stair rail.
anyone interested on more about vert skating besure to go to
good point, i do see why they dont invest in vert ramps but it doesnt need tp be expensive, you can make them out of concrete useing a steel skeleton as the base and then filling the base with concrete but you dont need a huge vert to get kids to get into vert rolling, justa mini vert will do somthing that you can do basic right up to some bigger tricks.
nice article wes! i especially enjoyed the photos. i totally agree that vert needs to be more recognized within our industry… so much skill and discipline to build minute long runs with 10-12 ft airs tucked neatly together. wish i woulda gone to this one. thanks to ONE for covering it for all the slackers who didnt go.
that kid kinda looks like killgore 10 years ago
i agree with al dolega, it’s upsetting in a way that a vast majority or people that become captivated to either skateboarding or skating dont follow in the “footsteps” of their idols. For me it’s one of the most irritating ways of things. I have met so many new comers to skating that become skaters mainly because they saw named vert skaters killing it on the vert. That, in a way sickens me. Now don’t take that as an insult towards vert skating. If i could do even a quarter of what they do i would be oh so happy. I’m more or less speeking towards the gullibility and ignorance of humanity. The fact that people are so easily attracted by high flying maneuvers, but if they were to see someone do a fakie 540 topsoul, yes they would still find that in awe but not to the level of vert skating.
I love Rolling
