The old barefoot, in the snow, uphill, both ways tale...

Photographer Geoff Kula shot these two photos of me back in the summer of 1995. I was 16-years-old at the time, living in Milwaukee and getting set to enter my junior year in high school. I didn’t give a damn about school in those days. I just wanted to hurry up and graduate, so I could move to San Francisco, a then skate Mecca.

Kula was in town for a week that summer shooting photos for an article Transworld Skateboarding Magazine was planning to run on the Milwaukee skate scene, which wasn’t much at the time. Now I have love for the “Brewtown,” but back then, that place had to be one of the least skateboard friendly cities in the entire country. Sure, there were some decent street spots, but they were all a huge bust. The cops in Milwaukee are seriously the worst when it comes to skateboarding, ridiculously quick to issue tickets, and sometimes, depending on the officer, even throw your ass in a holding cell for hours on end just to f*ck with you. I can recall three separate instances right off the top that I’ve been arrested for skateboarding in that town.

Also, let’s not forget that the weather in Milwaukee pretty much sucks year round -- it’s either too hot or too cold, and the closest skatepark after the Turf closed in 1994 was all the way in Rockford, Illinois, a solid hour-and-half away.

Both photos below were taken within a couple days of each other. It’s funny, I didn’t film either of the two tricks at the time Kula shot the photos, but that’s just how it was in those days. Video cameras weren’t nearly as accessible as they are today. Not only that, but carrying a camera around was a chore. We had no dedicated filmer in my crew, so we'd roshambo to see who got stuck having to film. (Sorry if this is starting to sound like some big fish tale about walking ten miles to school, barefoot, in the snow, up hill, both ways.)

The Milwaukee feature appeared in February 1996 issue of Transworld Magazine. I was disappointed to see that neither of my two photos made the cut. However, Kula later graciously sent me the slides for my personal use. I’m glad I have them for my archives. It’s hard to believe that almost fifteen years have now past. I still remember shooting each of them as if it were yesterday.

This first photo is kickflip down the eight stair at O'Donnell Park in downtown Milwaukee. This still stands as one of the cleanest kickflips I've ever done in my life. There was a large crack at the top of the stairs, and I remember on this particular try, the one I landed, I sort of "Chinese Nollied" when I hit the crack and everything came together perfectly: pop, flip, catch, roll away. It all happened in a flash.

Side note: Take a look at that beastly set-up I'm riding: 8.5” Powell blank deck, big Indy's with riser pads and fatty 60mm Beer City wheels. The wheels are what actually trip me out most. Also, can't forget the all black Etnies "Sal 23" shoes with the white laces! The no socks is a nice touch.

This second photo is a switch frontside kickflip down the big seven at UWM. Kula took both me and Grimey Rob Owens out to shoot this particular day. I remember Owens was straight ripping. He filmed a sequence of an ollie up a long five stair with a quick kickflip off – there was seriously no set-up time. Unfortunately, however, his sequence wasn’t used for the article either.

It took me about fifteen tries to land the switch frontside flip. I think the photo looks good, but doesn't really do the trick justice. It definitely would have looked way better as a sequence. I remember thinking the same thing at the time, but never spoke up. It's all good; I still think it’s a dope photo nonetheless. Again, I’m riding the same beastly set-up as described above.

Can’t forget to add that Tom Penny (still the best) inspired my love for the switch frontside flip, which at the time was my staple, “go to” trick. Too bad I can only do one or two out of ten on flat these days. Ha!

You can check out some scans of the February 1996 Transworld Milwaukee article HERE. Thanks to Tim and Josh at Wiskate for scanning that feature, and thus inspiring this post.