so happy to finally get a proper Phil Shao post up on Chrome Ball...hard to imagine what he'd be doing now with all these new concrete parks.
taken much too soon. r.i.p.
Chrome Ball will return on Thursday.
big up to dennis and the slap pals.
quartersnacks x chrome ball incident. respect.
UPDATE: a few of you were talking about this one in the comments page and my man Kevin sent over a photo to post up for those wondering. thanks kevin.
16 comments:
I remember some photo from some European park where he was grinding this insane bar, and the caption was so great-- "the top bar at [park name] has waited a long time for somebody to grind it. Luckily, Phil Shao was born to skate" or something like that.
Thanks so much for that post man i've been waiting along time for that one. his styles like Cardiel and Julien mixed or how phelps said gonz and hosoi. so gnarly but o so smooth. R.I.P to one of my favorite skateboarders ever.
In the first 411 I ever saw, it was #12, the opener had a, lemme think about how to put this...fucking MASSIVE backside 180 by Phil Shao, it was a bump to bump, I think Santa Rosa park or Palo Alto. I swear he must have pumped around the whole park to hit it though, it is just elephantine, HUGE, yet very very clean. He had great suspension on his landings, As John (see above) says, one of those people you see skate and say, "okay, this makes sense he was born to do it."
Respectable that he was at the U.C. as well.
It's a strange feeling when you get older than someone that you held in such high regard...you just expect them to be ripping forever...r.i.p...
So sick, big wheels when everyone was riding small ones. I was a little young when he was around, i wish I had been more aware of him back then. Do you think that the black and white ollie into the ditch is the spot that Sammy Baca skates a bunch? Cheers for the post.
Tully.
Remember seeing him at the first Slam City Jam. I couldn't go to the street contest, so I went to the vert contest on Sunday. I heard they didn't have enough skaters for the contest so there was some street dudes in it, even Jake Phelps was in it!
Anyways......... just remember Phil with the hugest grin on his face the whole time. ripping
R.I.P.
I only talked to him once. But after he passed away, I could see why it affected people so much. Skateboarding ability doesn't always go hand in hand with good qualities as a person; what stood out for me was that he seemed like such a good guy, and decent human being.
The guy was nothing short of incredible.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r8BPeAwpKg
Is that the 411 opener someone mentioned above?
That no comply sequence in his interview is gnarly, that thing is still at that park to this day haha. That place sucks.
Oh wait no, that thing isn't there anymore, that's the old park, they changed it up and it sucks now.
thanks for doing this post. phil was one of my closest friends and i love when people remember him well. he was obviously super-talented and it was such a pleasure to skate with him all the time. we went hill bombing in SF the day before he passed and it's something i'll always remember- it was such a perfect last session. anyhow, beautiful style, wonderful friend, great person. miss him all the time. thanks again for doing this, i got it linked on the slap homepage and in the forum, too.
oh, and:
john: phil said that grind you mention was the hardest thing he ever did.
that ditch is in vegas i believe, not sure what bacca stuff you reference though. dawes photo, 1996.
and yes, graduated from uc berkeley while at the peak of his career. solid.
simply put.Phil was the best on and off the board.I think about him everyday.
I never personally knew him, but Phil was a part of my life day after day through video. He could skate transition and street like there was no difference, in a time when there seemed to be a dividing line between the two. Plus, it's nerdy, but I was always stoked on him repping classical music in his 411VM rookie part (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1LPi78O6z8). Then there was Dedication, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HgUHQGWMA0. He made skating to Beethoven's 5th seem completely legit. I loved that.
thanks guys. felt good to post this one up... always felt like i rushed and kinda blew phil's first cbi post. so this one took a little longer to try and get right.
thanks for finding that b/s 180 411 opener man... still so amazing.
Thanks for the links and support, Mark.
You too, Josh.
Tim, just started working on a post of your just the other day. Stoked man. Thanks for the comment.
I was lucky enough to live in PA when Phil was coming up and skate with him quite a bit. Was on my way to stay with Paul Z. and Phil the day he passed, a terrible day.
Without a doubt, one the best people and skateboarders I ever met.
Thanks for this post and thanks Phil. You are missed
Jeremy
One of the finest ATV's of all time. RIP. Think had a real solid team back then...
Amazing timeless skateboarder! R.I.P ahh I love that fs smith down the white handrail! So classic. It was in Thrashers Skate and Destroy video game. You should post up the photos from that game with the names! Cards was on the main menu.
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