Courtesy X Games 3D: The Movie

Danny wants to keep prgressing beyond anywhere he’s been before.

When you watch something like Danny Way’s dramatic slam at X Games 14, it’s not hard to see why some people call him skateboarding’s Evel Knievel. Way has been pro for almost 20 years and spent the first half of it competing like any other skater. But over the last 10 years his name became synonymous with large ramps and record-breaking stunts. First was the Super Ramp and his bomb drop from a helicopter. Then came the Mega Ramp and his jump over the Great Wall Of China. Then the drop in from the Hard Rock sign in Las Vegas, and on and on.

Way was instrumental in bringing the MegaRamp to the X Games in 2004, going on to win the event three times. But on Friday, Way announced he’s opting out of the Big Air at XG15 to focus on the Rail Jam that he’s convinced X Games to hold on this year’s Mega. He says the move will allow him to focus on what he loves most: innovation and progression. “My mindset with skateboarding, from a little kid until now,” Way told ESPN Skateboarding, “was always, ‘What’s next?’ You know, looking to the future. What drives me is progression.”

The MegaRamp was first seen in Way’s closing segment for the 2004 “DC Video,” and Big Air has since become a staple of the X Games. In Way’s eyes it now stands on its own. “The MegaRamp was a part of the progression. I skated that out in the desert and knew it had a life of it’s own beyond just myself in a video part. To see it in the X Games, it’s at a point where I feel that with or without me it’s a genre in skateboarding.”

“Bob [Burnquist], Jake [Brown], and Pierre [Luc Gagnon]—those were the guys that I felt would be caught up to speed and be competitive real quickly and you look at the results and they have done the best,” Way said. “Creating a genre like this within our sport and seeing it stand on its own, was amazing for me.”

Way seems content with what he has done in the Big Air event. He will continue to be instrumental in the Big Air and all other MegaRamp events, whether through his MegaRamp company, which he part-owns along with Bob Burnquist or as a commentator alongside Tony Hawk at this year’s broadcast. But he wants to look to the future.

Courtesy X Games 3D: The Movie

Danny takes a spin on Bob Burnquist’s backyard monstrosity.

Way stressed that he’s not “backing out” of Big Air; rather, he feels he’s returning to where he’s most comfortable: skateboarding’s cutting edge. And for him, that’s now the Rail Jam. The event will take place on the MegaRamp, with a rainbow rail placed to span the gap of the initial jump. “I did the rail five years ago and it’s taken five years to get the rail in the X Games. This year will be the first year and it is important. My sole purpose for skating Mega was not to prove myself above or beyond anyone else. It was driven by pushing myself and now I feel the next thing is the Rail Jam.”

Recently, Lizard King, Ryan Sheckler, and Pat Duffy all stepped to the MegaRamp and landed the gap. However, Lizard King and Sheckler slid out before the vert quarterpipe and Duffy tried but failed to skate the vert ramp, breaking his tibia in the process. Way feels their ability to pull the gap suggests a possible merging of the Mega with street elements and different kinds of vert elements.

“Lizard, Sheckler, and Duffy had the same issue—they all aired the gap but jumped off at the quarterpipe because they don’t know how to skate vert. All the street guys want to jump the gap, but they don’t have the skill set to skate the quarterpipe. So, my mindset is, ‘How do I create the event to get all of those guys involved?” says Way.

Way’s answer is something he’s calling “The Hawaii Project.” Located on a piece of property he purchased in Hawaii, Way is circumspect on any details of the Project since it’s still in the planning stages. But the gist is a giant MegaRamp course with street and pool elements—huge jumps and huge hips. “I have this really crazy plan that I’m going to start working on. It’s a new kind of structure—I think there are so many other things on the MegaRamp scale that are possible.”

Plz visit Josh Brooks blog and view the original interview @: http://espn.go.com/action/skateboarding/blog?post=4340201

Adam Salo

Terry Kenney nosebluntslide.

So, the street course has a bunch of recreated spots from Barcelona and Rincon…
San Francisco—Pier 7, 3-up-3-down…Rincon—San Diego…picnic table, probably any old high school…

If you could make one spot to skate, what would you remake? Like, your favorite skate spot.
Sylmar rails.

Pacoima’s got those now, right?
Yeah.

Who’s skating good out there?
Ah, Sierra Fellers…yep…Kevin Long. I like Heath Kirchart. That’s my favorite skater, right there (for the rest of the interview, click read more).

He’s always killing it, huh?
Yeah.

Let’s say you won the hundred grand and you had to spend it all in one day, like Brewster’s Millions , what would you spend it on?
Oh, a Lamborgini.

A Lamborgini?
Yeah.

Is that a hundred grand?
You could probably get a used one for that.

How much is a new Lamborgini?
360 [thousand] to 150. Normal it’s like 150 and supped up, it’s like 360.

Damn, I can see you’ve been shopping around for it.
[Laughs] Yeah.

It’s like “Eventually…eventually.”
That’s right.

“A few more paychecks…”
Exactly. Easily, if I had the chance, I would.

So, what do you think about the competition in general?
I think it’s dope. You see dudes who never skate contests—they’re here. I mean, look at me. I don’t really skate contests, but I’m here. I started skating contests here [at Maloof] last year. I mean, I don’t really skate contests, but I’m like, might as well.

Do you think it’s a money thing or…
I think it’s like…last year Rob Dyrdek and Reynolds built the course. This year, it wasGeoff Rowley, so they have skater input. The forum is right.

It’s just a bunch of dudes sessioning together.
The people who are involved with it completely know about skating, top to bottom.

It’s like the Maloofs put the money in and everyone else takes care of the skating.
Yeah, exactly.

Who would you bet on for top three?

Ummmm, Chaz…Sheckler…Chris Cole.

You think those are top there?
Yeah.

Some rearrangement of those three?
Oh yeah.

His injuries are a thing of the past, and Hype is part of his future. Roll over to the Hype website and peep Kurt’s new footage.

You may know Kurt Winter as the guy who switch backside flipped the Santa Monica triple set in his Smoke and Mirrors video part. With an ankle injury that required two surgeries (the first didn’t do the trick), Kurt’s had some sponsor changes and some down time of about two years. But, he’s worked through it all, using David Brent as a reminder of how not to act while filling his time at Melbourne’s Street Machine skate shop. Now he’s back on board, touring through Europe on his way to the States, as the newest addition to the ever-growing Hype! Skateboardteam. Surely good things are coming his way. After all, he lives in the future (Australia’s a day ahead) and he said that everything’s pretty nice around those parts.

So where you working? It’s just this skate shop in Melbourne. I work here a couple days a week. It’s pretty sweet.

What’s the name of the shop? Oh, it’s called Street Machine. It’s just a local shop in Melbourne.

Really? I think San Diego has a Street Machine, too.

Yeah, it’s weird. We have people come in here asking us, “Is this the same Street Machine as they have in Europe?” I’m like, “What? Um, no. I don’t think so.”

I was on the Ashbury website and I read that one of your inspirations was David Brent, the boss from the original “Office” TV show. What’s your favorite episode of “The Office?”

I would have to say it’s the one where they have the customer training day or the one whereDavid gets the guitar.

Andrew PetersMr. Winter’s crooked grind could tell us something about our own futures, since it looks like it’s probably somewhere in the future, lik Melbourne, Australia. But, what? Look hard for an hour and then you’ll know what your future holds.

Have you ever tried to use any David Brent work environment tactics at the skate shop?

[Laughs] I wish. I don’t know. That stuff’s hard to pull off in real life.

[Laughs] Well, tell me about Hype! How did you get on?

Well, Chris McLean is from around here and he was trying to get Hype! distributed to Australia and I had just lost my board sponsor with Chocolate. From there, I spoke to Mike Crum andMike Hiskey and I was interested, so that’s how it all happened.

How many times had you been to the States before you decided to ride for Hype?

Last time I went was a couple years ago&#1512007, I think. I had got a year before that as well. I think one Mike Crum saw my footage on Bill Weiss’ computer and that’s how they first saw me. I guess that’s how Mike [Crum] first knew me.

That was the footage from the Smoke and Mirrors video, right? How long did that take you to film? Was that all in the States? Or did you film some of it in Australia?

Um, I probably filmed most of it in the States. That was the only time I wasn’t properly injured. But, when I came back, I had to just chill—that’s been the last couple years, where my ankle’s…I had to rest that up, because I had surgery. But, I was filming for that a year before I even imagined going out to the States.

What happened with your ankle?

I don’t know. I just kind of hurt it skating around. I had a weird landing and I heard it crunch. I thought it wouldn’t be a problem, so I just kept skating on it and this little pain developed and it got worse and worse. Then, I went in [to the doctor] and they were like, “There’s structures here and we need to get that out,” so I had surgery and that actually made it worse.

It made it worse?

Then, I went back in and they fixed it for good, but it’s sucked.

What did you have originally? Bone spurs?

That and scar tissue in my ankle that they cleaned right out, you know? When I went back to the hospital for the second surgery, he just cleaned it out a lot more than my previous surgery and it’s been so much better since that.

Sean FenningKurt’s poke on this frontside feeble is not unlike David Brent’s charity dance moves.

So, you’re ankle’s feeling better and you’re going to Europe in the next couple days, right?

Yeah, I leave tomorrow. For the first time, my ankle’s doing quite well. I’m pretty excited. I don’t know anyone over there, so it will be cool. I know Jascha [Muller], the Adidas TM. I’m going to be staying at his place in Germany. I spoke to a couple of dudes, but apart from that, I don’t know anyone.

You’re kind of going blind to Europe. Have you ever been before?

Nah, I haven’t. I get in to Germany and then I’m going to Barcelona and London, so it should be a pretty good experience.

You’re going to get to see spots you’ve seen in all the videos, so that’s cool.

Yeah, I know a lot of people who have been there and they say it’s just amazing, the spots and the lifestyle and all that. I’m psyched.

Is that an Adidas trip or are you going on your own?

No, Adidas is sending me over there. Then, from Europe, I’m going over to the States to hang with Mike Crum and Hiskey and all the Hype dudes. I’m staying at Hiskey’s house.

It’s probably a lot better than Melbourne right now, right? It’s winter there, isn’t it?

Yeah, it’s been rainy and just really windy in Melbourne. Some days are perfect, but it’s just unpredictable here. The other day, I spent ten hours walking around in the rain, trying to find a good covered spot to skate.

Who’s your crew there?

Mostly, I’ve been skating with Steve McInnes , who will be riding flow for Hype Skateboards.Jack Crook , another Aussie ripper. And, we skate with Nugget when he’s not in the States. He should be back soon, even though I’ll be away. Bryce Golder , and a few other friends likeSpewbert and Aaron Winsbury. It’s a pretty huge crew, but those are the regulars. It’s a pretty big skate scene in Melbourne.

Are you guys connected at all with Sydney and Perth or the other cities?

Sydney’s a pretty far drive away, but I pretty much know all the skaters in Sydney. I actually haven’t been there a lot, though.

http://hypeskateboards.com/

Plz check out the original article @: http://espn.go.com/action/news/story?id=4382391