Cody Chapman #3.

The Cold Dawg had a very respectable 2023 with a couple of video parts and a shoe design for Lakai. Cody is from the Santa Cruz area and turned pro for Omar Salazar's Doomsayers before Evan Smith asked him to ride for Uma Landsleds in 2021. I like how he's been on Lakai this whole time. In addition to blasting around on all manner of transitions and parks, Cody has a mean hardflip out in the streets.

The photo is by Dave Chami.

Thrasher - September 2014 Volume 35 Number 9

Una Farrar & Sam Narvaez.

Good omens.

Una turned pro for Krooked in the spring of 2023. She's from Vancouver and has been in the sponsored spotlight for a little while now. Rick McCrank is her neighbor.

Sam is from Key Largo, Florida and lives in LA. Her sponsors include Krooked, HUF, and Adidas. She's into cooking when she isn't skating.

Thrasher - July 2023 Volume 44 Number 7

John Shanahan #3.

Doubling Down.

John had a rock solid 2023 with a Thrasher cover, a pro model shoe for DC, and a couple of great video parts.

January has gone so quickly and it feels like I didn't do anything with the time. I've barely skated at all due to weather, which I didn't realize until yesterday. Our weather wasn't even overly wintery, but I guess it was blustery enough to prevent skateboarding. We usually luck into some dry patches or a mild weekend. The time off, which I probably needed, didn't even feel relaxing either. Strange days and weird vibes.

Thrasher - December 2023 Volume 44 Number 12

Jimmy Wilkins #3.

He's literally street skating on vert. No hands needed.

Brian Shamanski's ladder gets the photo credit.

Thrasher - October 2014 Volume 35 Number 10

Chandler Burton.

Castle Freak.

Chandler had a goth infused full part for There Skateboards. It featured drops-ins, street gaps, wallrides, backside nollies, handrails, and full Cabs down big sets of stairs. The part also had swords and castles.

Thrasher - November 2021 Volume 42 Number 11

Rob Pace.

Rob is from the Central Coast area of Australian. He caught everyone's attention by grinding a lot of very long handrails. Rob is a mechanical engineer who works at the family business doing metal fabrication on heavy earthmoving and mining equipment. I think that's really cool.

Eric Palozzolo took the photo.

Thrasher - September 2023 Volume 44 Number 9

Reece Knobloch.

Arrow & Beast is a skateshop with locations in Germany and France. I simply like the graphic design of the ads. Reece is on their team and had a solo part for them that went on the internet this past summer. They also put out a shop video that featured Dennis Busenitz, Austyn Gillette, and Mark Suciu at the end of 2023.

Thrasher - December 2022 Volume 43 Number 12

Taylor Kirby #3.

Numb.

Taylor dropped a Ringworm scored part for Spitfire in August of 2023. It featured him skating around LA and other places doing a variety of manuals, ride-on grind variations, and street gaps. I'm a fan of his approach to skateboarding. He rides for Deathwish, Ace Trucks, and Vans.

Thrasher - November 2023 Volume 44 Number 11

Antonio Durao #3.

Return of the judo redux.

Antonio had a productive 2023. He scored the cover of Thrasher with a switch 360 flip to noseblunt slide on one of the famous handrails at Houston's Tranquility Park. That trick and a whole bunch of other bangers were in his opening part for John Wilson's latest video, Johnny's Video. I think he might still ride for Skate Mental, but I'm not sure. Does anybody even skate for them any more?

I don't know what Hardbody is. I guess it's a clothing company that has some boards. Maybe? It's getting difficult to figure out what some of these newer brands or small companies are doing. The cryptic names and vague marketing, while very cool, don't offer much insight into anything.

It looks like the photo is credited to Vic. I have no idea on a last name and the internet wasn't being helpful.

Thrasher - September 2023 Volume 44 Number 9

Elijah Akerley #2.

My friend called me up one day this past fall to tell me that Elijah skated his local park and that he was the best skater he'd seen in person. As he is talking to me, I realize I'm wearing an Akerley shirt. In fact, I have two of his t-shirts. I'm kind of glad I wasn't there because it would have been a dreaded awkward fan moment.

The photo is by Chris "Rhino" Rooney.

Thrasher - June 2023 Volume 44 Number 6

Chris Gregson #2.

The real SOTY.

Chris films all the transition parts and park contests while still having the motivation left to create a part of his own skating on said transitions and parks. If that was me, my part would be all ledges and curbs.

The photo is by Tim Aguilar.

Thrasher - April 2023 Volume 44 Number 4

Miles Silvas #4.

Sacramento Royalty.

Miles picked up Thrasher's best of the year award for 2023 with an enjoyable video part that was heavy on technical street skating and Bay Area vibes. The part felt authentic with the vague intangibles that separated it from the rest of the pack. He had the Crailtap hookup back in the day by riding for Royal and Lakai. I think he was getting boards from Organika in 2012.

I dug extra deep into the archives for a few of the best of 2023 posts.

The Skateboard Mag - May 2012 Issue 98

Karim Callender.

"Just inspiring the world, dude."

If SK8TV was still around, Karim would probably be a Style King of the Week. He's from New York City and used to ride for 5Boro. He worked in pizza shop for five years before getting hooked up so he could skateboard full time. Karim rides for Limosine and Nike.

The Limo kept on rolling for 2023. I like their videos and how they have created a real team that skates together. They even dug up an old Fuck Buttons tune to use for music in one of the clips.

For anybody wondering about the snow in my area, we didn't get what Buffalo got. It's cold and windy here, but we got maybe 2" of snow at best. It was sunny and clear all of yesterday. There might be more white stuff headed our way soon. These storms are varied and unpredictable so that makes it difficult to forecast. It's also very possible for one area to have a lot of snow and another area that is 5-10 miles away to have nothing.

The photo is by Ben Colen.

For the quote: Thrasher - February 2024 Volume 45 Number 2

Thrasher - March 2023 Volume 44 Number 3