Corbin Harris has been so excited about this dropping all week that most people who own mags around the world must have got the message twice.
Not only does this have a slam in it that will make you wince (and prove that sometimes you have to take them to get what you want), there’s great skateboarding in this, tricks-a-plenty and a bizarre tent grind that will have you on the rewind. Good times.
Element have welcomed back Nyjah Houston onto their pro roster today. To celebrate the occasion they have posted some fresh footage of the not-so-little ripper. It’s astonishing. What a surprise.
Here’s what Nyjah has to say about his return to the company that gave him his first pro board.
“I am really excited about being on Element and skating with the team. I want to thank my family and everyone who has supported me and my skateboarding. It is a new beginning, and I’m looking forward to the future.”
Expedition One dropped a whole tonne of madness on our heads at the end of last year, featuring a monster part from the now-professional Kenny Hoyle. Of course, this is 2011, so a huge part doesn’t always cut it. Well, it did… and then some, but Expedition One don’t care, they made the most out of their new pro and have just released yet more madness in the form of this bonus part.
Ridiculous. Keep your eyes open for a review of the film coming online very soon and click the image below to see the free bonus part.
My interest in sports peaks in whatever novelty crossover Nintendo have got Mario involved in and up until this point, the italian plumber has raced in little cars that gobble shrooms and shit banana skins and has even engaged in tedious golf tournaments; but never has he jumped on the basketball bandwagon, even during the height of Fresh Prince tie-in possibilities. So the word, ‘Three-Peat‘, serving as the name for one of Chaz Ortiz’s trio of inaugural pro models, meant absolutely nothing to me other than it’s a terrible, terrible pun. What’s cute is that I’ve since discovered that a retired basketball coach had trademarked the portmanteau (a posh word sometimes used in place of ‘terrible, terrible pun’) ‘Three-Peat’ for commercial use. Thankfully, in later years, more people realised that making money out of a pun is as intensely stupid as making Mario play mini-golf so Zoo York had no legal trouble using the name for young Chaz’s three-peat success of boards. Fun fact: neither did we writing it in that last sentence. Why? Because it’s just a fucking pun.
Three-peat is the correct term however, as Zoo York have taken the tried and tested plain and simple approach and made three solid models making sure no one misses the point: Chaz Ortiz, the young gun and comp-destroyer picked up by the late legend Harold Hunter himself is a professional skateboarder and you can buy boards with his name on.
I’ve only rode one Zoo York in the past but have been equally pleased with the results. Their shape (and this comes in the glorious street skater’s dream size, 7.75″) is spot-on, complete with expertly crafted dips in the concave that help provide an instant sense of excellent board control, response and subsequently gives you more confidence while skating, which I haven’t noticed in a deck in some time. Feet-on manoevres are so simple with Zoo York, so if you’re out to learn 360s for the first time then it wouldn’t be out of line to give them a go on this. It’s mad durability may take you by surprise too. As someone who favours ugly spots that tear up decks faster than the notorious blue shell I was stunned by how intact this deck has remained. Not a single chip, no pressure crackes, no ugly grom scratches on the graphic from where it looks like I’ve been boardsliding a rock (which I had).
So this one is undoubtedly exclusively for the street skaters, but as the second ZY deck I’ve loved to ride in a row I feel tempted to make a threepeat purchase (hohohohohoho) and can only recommend that you give these a try too. All puns aside, Chaz is pretty ripping, hasn’t let the pro status go to his head yet, is stoked on school and skating. So big ups.
Stanley