10.11.00

Forever.
by Jason Karl

	This was going to be a straight out photo essay, but I thought some of the photos needed explanation. The photos that follow have been taken over the span of 15 years, starting with my very first skate board, a Toys R Us Nash special. As you can see I was very proud of my board even though the wheels were a hard plastic that barely rolled more than two feet per push. My older brother and all his friends had "real" boards and I was often left behind as they sped away from me in pursuit of steep hills and banked concrete.
This all changed when my brother got a new board, and I inherited his Brand X skateboard. Its cool graphics, fat wheels, and board accessories made me feel like a real skateboarder. Back then it was all about what protective gear your board had on. Copers, tail bones, rails, and nose bones were all the rage. After all, nobody wanted to scratch that cool graphic on the bottom of their board. Anyway, I soon was jumping off of every object I could find with my board. Skate magazines fueled this quest as my confidence began to take shape. We built mute ramps out of plywood and cinderblocks, hunted down local hot spots, and became friends with the best skaters in the area. Well the best skaters in the area could barely ollie, but that's not important. What was important was the fact that we were doing something we loved, without the provocation of our parents to do so.
	Ok, now if you don't know who that is on my tee shirt you should hang your head in shame. Please excuse my mullet while I tell you about the greatest skate video of all time. Back in the Mid 80s Stacy Peralta helped produce a landmark film about the love of skateboarding. It was called "The Search for Animal Chin." The Bones Brigade starred in it and they completely ripped! Watching this video on a daily basis helped elevate my skating to the next level.
Animal Chin inspired me to take my skills to the half pipe. All my friends and I pooled our money together and we bought a half pipe from a kid who didn't skate anymore. We trucked it to my backyard, and became instant ramp junkies. I rode it every day, as you can see here on one cold, rainy morning. It did lack vert and coping, however these things were foreign to us, so we didn't know we were missing out on anything. However, just as everything seemed to be going so well, my skate friends began to quit the sport.
As my Junior High years passed I grew apart from skating. I still skated, but not in the caliber that I did when I was younger. This all changed when I entered High School and started hanging with a bunch of "straight-edge punks" who would soon become my closest friends. These years were filled with many late nights in distant towns seeking out terrain that was once inaccesible to us. We were outcasted by our classmates, yet this only strengthened our bond as friends and as skaters.
	College brought on it's own challenges, as high school friends moved away, or cut back on their time spent skating. I too fell victim to this "I must be growing up" syndrome. I also broke my wrist for the third time. I remember people telling me I was too old to be breaking my wrist skateboarding. However, my desire to ride never went away and I soon found myself back on my board. This time, I had a renewed appreciation for this sport, and I realized that I didn't have to be good to enjoy riding everyday. College ended and I quickly picked up a real job as a teacher in the same Jr. High I went to as a kid.
So this is now the present. I have a real job, and I rarely get to skate more than once a week. Yet, I have come to accept that even though I'm not skating these days as much as some, I will always be involved in this sport. I have seen so many enter then leave skateboarding. It's comforting to say that I'll outlast many of the younger skaters out there today. As I continue to skate I continue to diversify my "bag of tricks." I can lay it down old school, or spend a day trying to land the industry's latest tech trick. I can ride ramp, street, ditch, or flatground with confidence. I have my own fasion. I have my own skate style developed over 15 years. I am old. I am diversified. I skate alone. I don't know anyone in the industry. I've never made money from skating. I'll never have a signature model. I buy all my products and clothes. I wear wrist guards. I've broken my right wrist three times. I'm a photographer. I've never been published in the glossy mags. I know who I am. I am one of a million others. I may be just like you. I may be completely different.
I am a person who loves to skate. period.