Elissa Steamer #10.

American Music.

Elissa had a productive 2024 with a Thrasher cover and a feel good part in Baker Has a Deathwish 2. I was stoked on the assorted Toy Machine vintage graphic t-shirts from last year. There's nothing wrong with living in the past on some days, just not all the days.

It warmed up to the low 40s yesterday so driveway skateboarding actually felt like skateboarding. I don't mind battling the cold, but a few degrees warmer does make a huge difference.

Vert Is Dead is taking a winter break and will be back on Monday, February 10th.

Thus concludes the slapdash look back at 2024. I've got some random stuff and a week of HUF planned for the future.

Thrasher - August 2023 Volume 44 Number 8

Nora Vasconcellos #8.

Cat Powered.

I bet Nora could get Thunder to make the baseplates with the little lizards and swords on them again like they did back in the 1980s.

With Krux allegedly going out of business in 2024, a bunch of people had to find new truck sponsors. Nora pivoted over to Thunder. I say allegedly because Krux later resurfaced with a new video of a handful of the guys who always rode for the brand. It's a tad remarkable that Krux has lasted this long. It's also on the crappy side that they cut the whole team, but that's the shady skateboarding industry for ya.

I've gotten in some driveway skateboarding the last two days. It's been cold and breezy, but not terrible. The sunsets are noticeably later now so there isn't as much of a rush after work. It finally feels like I'm skating again after the last two months of unhelpful weather.

Thrasher - November 2024 Volume 45 Number 11

Tanner Burzinski.

Wallriding.

Tanner is from Vista and one of the many pros for WKND. They celebrated his professional status this summer with a clever video that featured a full part of unique ledge tech tricks. I was stoked on this fakie wallride to kickflip out.

Thrasher - May 2024 Volume 45 Number 5

Emile Laurent #2.

Faithful leap.

Emile was elevated to pro status at Polar in 2024. He's a wild one on board and not afraid of a huge gap or steep drop in.

I've been skating in a pair of Asics for the last month. To be fully fair, the shoes are not being tested under ideal skateboarding conditions. The weather has been seasonal for the season thus far so I'm getting an inconsistent read on the sneakers. They seem to skate fine, although they are wearing out on top very quickly. If it was a milder season and I could skate as much as I normally do, they would probably be completely wrecked by now. The soles feel thick and stiff. The uppers are thin and stiff, too. For comparison purposes where Sole Tech shoes are generally a solid B in terms of materials and construction, then Asics are a B-. I really wanted these shoes to be good, but they simply aren't.

With Lakai flaring out, I've been in search of some chilling shoes to replace the Manchesters I wear in the milder months. I decided to check out Opus. I got a pair of their low top Standard model in black and white. These are some nice vulcanized kicks that are well built and comfortable. I wouldn't skate in them, although they'd probably be decent. Opus is run by former Planet Earth pro Mirko Mangum. I'd say their shoes are very much worth checking out if you want to support a skater owned small brand.

I got in some driveway skateboarding after work yesterday. There was the smallest bit of drifting snow from the strong winds, but it wasn't in the way. I did some frontside 50-50s, noseslides, and tailslides. Good enough for winter. It would've stunk to have lost a 35˚ F day to high winds.

Thrasher - December 2024 Volume 45 Number 12

Alexis Ramirez.

Tony Gwynn.

Alexis is from San Diego, California and is pro for SK8MAFIA. His other sponsors include Independent Trucks and Bronson Bearings. He was on DC, but I think he rides for Nike now. Alexis is really good at handrail skating along with doing all sorts of ledge and switch tech tricks.

I believe JSVL was a clothing company done by SK8MAFIA.

I got in some driveway skateboarding yesterday. Things unexpectedly dried up. It was a tad chilly, but fine. I did some backside 50-50s and noseslides. These last two months are the least I've skated in I don't know how long due to seasonal weather.

The photo is by Dan Connelly.

Thrasher - October 2015 Volume 36 Number 10

Jimmy Wilkins #5.

Vert is not dead.

Jimmy kept the stoke going on the giant wooden halfpipes in 2024. I like how he specializes in ramps only and doesn't dabble with park or street stuff. It makes him a vert purist. I feel Jeff Grosso would be proud.

I lucked into some favorable weather for last weekend. It warmed a little and was dry after work on Friday so I got to skateboard in the driveway for about a half hour. I wound up going to Food Court Skatepark on Sunday. I was a tad leery on going because of extra traffic for the Bills game and weather potential, but the skies were clear and the drive was quiet. A friend was in the city to visit his in-laws and had the free time to skate for a bit so I met up with him at the park. I didn't really do all that much in terms of tricks, but it was good to get in some skateboarding when I wasn't expecting to. Things are looking snowy for this weekend. It was extra cold this past week.

Thrasher - February 2024 Volume 45 Number 2

Didrik "Deedz" Galasso.

Ten in the swear jar.

Deedz is from Larvik, Norway and currently lives in Lisbon, Portugal. He rides for Nike, Spitfire, and Ace Trucks. His board sponsor was enjoi, but he parted ways with them ahead of the impending collapse of Dwindle so he's been buying boards the last couple years. Deedz had a Xiu Xiu scored part for Ace at the end of 2024. He does a lot of extra long grinds on really burly terrain above very rough ground as one should do in a video for a truck company.

The photo is by Pedro Raimundo.

Thrasher - May 2024 Volume 45 Number 5

Dakota Servold #6.

It's oddly comforting to know that Dakota is probably driving around the country in a van right now looking for skate spots.

Thrasher - April 2024 Volume 45 Number 4

Tino Razo #8.

Door man.

Tino is a long time underground NYC ripper who scored a guest model on Krooked. He has ridden for Rookie, Shut, Indy, and Etnies over the years. Patrick O'Dell featured him often on his Epicly Later'd photo blog back in the day. Tino is also a photographer. He's one of the best.

Thrasher - October 2024 Volume 45 Number 10

Karim Callender #2.

"For the East Coast kids, kids all over the world, everyone, my best advice is stay positive, spread love, work hard, enjoy this crazy, beautiful life we've been given and the opportunity to create and make our mark and inspire the ones who are gonna be here when we're not. Anything you love, put your heart into it. Support your family and just stay positive and happy as much as you can."

For the quote: Thrasher - October 2024 Volume 45 Number 10

Thrasher - June 2024 Volume 45 Number 6

Grant Taylor #6.

If you told somebody in 1995 that Anti-Hero would still be relevant in 2025 and that half the team would ride for Nike, they'd probably say, "Wait, what?"

RIP David Lynch and Bob Uecker.

The photos are probably by Joe Brook and Max Scharff.

Thrasher - January 2024 Volume 45 Number 1

Nolan Houghton.

The Egg Men.

I see more Heroin boards than anything these days. To be fair, I live in small market and probably don't have the biggest field to gather data from. At the same time, people are riding them. Their football shaped boards have an absurd appeal. It must be a little boring for Mark "Fos" Foster to keep having draw variations of an egg, but he's a lifer and student of the game so any success is well earned. I like their ad photos. They feel raw and in your face like the 1980s.

The photo is by Dave Mount.

Thrasher - March 2024 Volume 45 Number 3

John Shanahan #4.

Smooth as ice.

This was my favorite photo of 2024. It reminds me of the early 1990s when guys like Noah Salasnek and Alan Petersen were blasting big airs on ramps.

The photo is by Mike Heikkila.

Thrasher - May 2024 Volume 45 Number 5

Elijah Berle #3.

Controversy averted.

I was fine with the Elijah after watching his episode of Thrasher's Vs. with Austyn Gillette.

Thrasher - September 2015 Volume 36 Number 9

Jamie Foy #3.

The People's Champ x 2.

As expected, Jamie picked up his second SOTY for his on-board efforts in 2024. He probably skated better this past year than when he won the award the first time. The other finalists for 2017 were Tristan Funkhouser, Riley Hawk, Tiago Lemos, Louie Lopez, Shane O'Neill, Miles Silvas, and Daan Van Der Linden. A very strong field, but perhaps lacking anybody that really stood out aside from Tiago and Shane. A couple of those guys hadn't fully established themselves as pros yet either. A new face like Jamie would generate the excitement to earn his first Rusty, whereas this time around, he opted to skateboard better than everybody else, like what Tyshawn Jones did.

This ad had to be some of Jamie's first major coverage after debuting to the masses in the August 2017 issue of Thrasher. Michael Burnett helmed a tour of the southern United States with a bunch of the hot amateurs of the day. The squad was Axel Cruysberghs, Corey Glick, Zach "Ducky" Kovacs, Tyson Peterson, Mason Silva, Jarne Verbruggen, Erick Winkowski, and Zion Wright. Mike Sinclair acted as the team manager for the journey. Burnett said it was the heaviest crew he had ever been on a trip with and felt they were gnarlier than peak Baker, Flip, and Zero. Looking over the list now, he's possibly not wrong about that.

The weather has been seasonal so far this year. Somehow I pieced together something that counted as a week of skateboarding over the last seven days. The biggest problem was some strong winds as it has been mostly dry. I even got in a trip to the Food Court Skatepark. It warmed to about 32˚ F/0˚ C for Friday and the wind quit so things felt comfortable at the park after work. Amazing what a couple small weather changes can do to improve a situation. Sunday wound up being sunny and dry so I could skate in the driveway for a while in the afternoon. It was nice not having to deal with the cold, the winds, or an early sunset. The snow appears to be back for the week ahead.

I've got the feature on the best of 2024 all scanned. That will be the posts for the three weeks. I'm working on a batch of HUF scans from 2015-17, but I keep finding new ones so it is turning into a mess. It will be cool once I get everything organized.

I'm on Bluesky now at justingoetz. I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing on there and still trying to figure the site out.

Thrasher - October 2017 Volume 38 Number 10