Gabbers is one of the world’s gnarliest skaters.

He nosegrinded a 21-stair rail first try, wearing a party shirt; he has taken some of the worst slams ever taken, and he is still pushing the boundaries of what can be done on a skateboard. Gabbers is also a skate nerd, so when we were coming up with ideas of things to talk about, he came up with the idea for us to talk about his 10 favourite tricks that have ever been done. I was curious to see what his direct influences were and if they give a clear explanation of his skating… Spoiler alert: they do. In the end, he came through with 11 tricks, and I think we can all agree on that extra one being completely worth it. Also, 11 sounds cooler anyways.

Heath Kirchart: Kickflip Front 50-50 - Emerica This is Skateboarding [2003]

Number one, and this is the best trick of all time, no one can argue with me about this. If they’ve seen it, they know it’s the best. The way he does it is amazing; he just looks pissed off, he goes fast, kickflips, and it looks like he just goes, ‘Fuck it, I’m going to land it,’ and he does it perfectly. I think it is the best trick ever done on a skateboard. The way it’s filmed. The way it is at night. The way it is at UCI. Black button-up with his hat backwards, looking pissed off. It has to be the most memorable trick of all time. Even people who don’t appreciate handrail skating look at that trick and go, ‘Holy shit.’ And I guess that was the coolest thing about Heath, everyone liked him. You couldn’t not like him. Even if you were a manual skater or a transition skater, you liked Heath.

Jon Allie: Kickflip Front Lip – Zero New Blood [2005]

The way it is filmed from above and the way it flips so quickly. He does it so fluently. Jamie [Thomas] filmed it, and he told me that they didn’t like the top angle, and they made him do it again. They ended up using both and I think that angle is such a good angle. The way he did it was just insane. He’s a cool guy too, we went to Barcelona together, he’s mellow and super nice. He doesn’t like skating with me, though. He was there when I had the big slam and hit my head really bad, and then I hit my head again when he was there. He was over it he was just like, ‘I don’t like being there when you skate’. He thinks I’m sketchy.

He also told me that all the tricks that he did he never really battled them. He had them so down that he would do them first or second try. The only tricks he battled were tricks down gaps. The tricks he did down rails he had done at skateparks, where he would work himself up to do it and just do it. The way he thought about skateboarding was that if he couldn’t do it a million times at a skatepark, he wouldn’t be able to do it at a spot. That’s why he doesn’t skate anymore—he doesn’t have that confidence.

Pete Eldridge: Nollie Back Heel – Mystery The Mystery Promo [2008]

It is so good. Just the way it folds and everything. I’m not just saying this so I get bigger packages next time I ask for shoes from Adidas [laughs]. Another reason it stuck with me is because there was an Adidas demo at City Park before I skated for them, and we were all sitting up the back and we were all yelling out for him to do a nollie back heel; we were basically heckling him to do one. He finally crumbled and did one and it was the exact same as the one in that line. He did a lot of proper tricks. I am a huge fan and always have been. 

Scott Kane: Kickflip Crooked Grind – Bootleg Bootleg 3000 [2003]

This clip is real good. It’s at a church and there is a priest in the background looking at him all creepy. Scott Kane looks real pissed and does it. His foot comes off, it’s really rowdy. Yeah, good trick. Him and Dustin [Dollin] were the reason I wanted to learn that trick. The first video I ever watched was Baker 2G and Dustin does what is probably the first one done down a rail.

Geoff Rowley: Boardslide – Flip Sorry [2002]

No one had ever done a boardslide down a rail that high or gnarly. He does a line after, a tre flip and nollie flip on flat and he just pulls it off. I always wonder what it was like to be pioneers like Rowley, Arto [Saari], and Heath; no one had ever done shit like that before. They had no reference. I look to those guys for reference when I’m doing big stuff. It would be so hard to get the thought that you’re not going to die off your mind, because you don’t know, you might die. At least you have references now. That type of skating was so young back then, no one knew what was going to happen when you boardslide a 21-stair rail.

Also, I have ridden away from that and I know how fast you go coming out of it. I tried to pay homage to Rowley by doing the tre flip and nollie flip after the nosegrind, and I completely crumbled on the tre flip, the board just goes a kilometer away from me [laughs]. He started following me after I did the nosegrind, and when I had that bad slam, he sent this long message that was basically a poem. It was really cool. That whole thing that they were pushing it so hard and that keen to die for skateboarding is so cool to me.

Erik Ellington: Backside Flip – Zero Misled Youth [1999]

Ellington is one of my favourite skateboarders, so it’s hard to pinpoint one trick. I was going to say this hardflip over this rail in Arizona that he did only because of this outfit he was wearing. He had sweatpants, a tank top, and one of those beanies with pom-poms on it. That’s just Ellington: he looks cool doing whatever. He can pull anything off, that’s how good his style is, that’s how sick he is. I had to go back to the double set backside flip just because of how he lands it and how he looks rolling away. Just how he lands it is so cool. 

Everything he has done is so cool. He never made anything look bad, and he has worn some bad things, which isn’t a diss to him that’s just how cool he is. He might’ve influenced some people to wear some bad outfits who couldn’t pull it off, but hey. 

Jim Greco: Nollie Backside Flip – Baker Baker 2G [2000]

It’s immaculate. I reckon he would’ve even been surprised when he did that. It was like a glitch in the matrix or something, it was flawless. The way he flips it and the way he catches it are just insane. I like how that trick looks too. I saw him once, and we both locked eyes. I was in a taco shop, and he was walking down the street. I think we knew who each other were but it was this awkward stare-off. It was weird. I think he might know who I was from getting Deathwish boards for so long and being over there, but I never hung out with him, I was kinda always scared to.

Chima Ferguson: Switch Back Tail – Vans No Other Way [2016]

This is a random one for Chima because he has done so much good shit, and I don’t think that this trick gets the love it deserves. It was the last trick in a Vans montage. The way he lands it is a testament to how he skates and how different he is from any other skateboarder. It’s like he is made of rubber. I think if anyone else landed like that, they would tear all the ligaments in their legs. That rail is big and thin, definitely not a good rail to switch back tail.

Bam Margera: Kickflip – Adio One Step Beyond [2002]

It comes back from being a kid, learning how to draw heartagrams, being a Bam fan and buying three Bam Boards in a row. That kickflip still to this day is so sick. I think it’s a trick that needs to get some love. He goes to flat too, technically it shouldn’t have even been filmed, but that’s what skateboarding was like back then and he had a really good kickflip. He was so sick skating FDR and shit, I loved that. He was so good at skateboarding, and I think people forget about that sometimes. It was back when I was a kid and thought the more boned the kickflip the better it is, so I was pretty hyped on that.

Jack O’Grady: 50-50 gap 50-50 [AKA 200 Grind] – Pass~Port [2021]

I was there, and it is the craziest thing that I think will ever be done on a skateboard. I saw him not get close at all, I thought he was dreaming. Out of two days, he only touched his trucks on the rail four times, and one of those times is when he landed it. He did it perfectly and rolled away so fast. He didn’t really have any bad slams. It was just mind-blowing. I think that will go down as one of the gnarliest tricks ever done. There will be some people who will try and bite his style and do a bigger one, but that one is untouchable.

Jerry Hsu: Nosegrind Pop Out – Enjoi Bag of Suck [2006]

That part is so monumental and is the definition of a ‘super part’ that something in that part has to be mentioned. There are so many tricks in it that are amazing. I think it would be a travesty not to have him on this list. The nosegrind pop-outs that Jerry did, especially that one, made me want to learn them because he did them so well. It’s got to be said, you know.

There we go, there’s my list, and for everyone out there who disagrees, this is all just my opinion.