Wall crawler

Wallrides shouldn't work. To the untrained eye, a skater on a vertical surface without the visible connection to the horizontal plane via a transition just doesn't make sense. But that doesn't mean they're not possible. Though others may have pioneered the trick earlier, Natas Kaupas' wallrides [especially his cover shot from Thrasher magazine in September of 1984] blew doors off the competition leaving his fans and peers dazed and confused. And yet, since those early days, wallrides and, their cousin, the wallie [an interesting mix of the ollie and a wallride] have become staples in any creative skater's repertoire. Here, Ben Gore goes the distance on a stylish frontside wallride. (Photo: Allen Ying)