Chris Joslin Creates Skateboarding History

Heading for smoko on an otherwise mundane Tuesday morning, I sat down in the beaming Australian sunshine and sipped through the crust of my beatdown coffee mug. Although neglected, this “special” artifact reminded me of my body as a rapidly aging forty plus skater. Sticking with the safe routine, I pulled out my equally battered phone and began the doom scrolling. Not the healthiest of habits but at least I can drift off into the ether for a few minutes of peace and quiet. Suddenly, I was hit with a bolt of inspiration, which is becoming a rarer commodity in this instantaneous and apathetic world. Before I go any further, to give this story the respect it deserves, I will have to briefly step back through some skateboarding history.

Located in Southern California is a citadel of skateboarding culture. Known as “El Toro,” this behemoth set of stairs stands as one of the ultimate tests in skateboarding. Towering at twenty stairs in height, any trick landed down it has instantly pushed the boundaries of skateboarding. Most of the initial bangers were thrown down the lengthy handrails during the late 90s. For the uninitiated, check out Heath Kirchart’s lipslide in Birdhouse “The End” or Aussie Matt Mufford’s frontside smith in Transworld’s “The Reason.” These tricks lead the way for a plethora of career defining clips from some of the biggest names in skateboarding.

While these heralded momentous advances in the scene, things really started to get out of control when Don Nguyen launched an ollie down the set in 2001. Basically, redefining what was physically possible on a skateboard. Simultaneously, it also opened a new frontier at the pinnacle of skateboarding. Testament to the size of this gap, the only flip tricks landed down it in the ensuing two decades were Dave Bachinsky’s 2006 kickflip and Jaws’s kickflip melon grab. Many other notables have since tried, with none managing to claim an NBD* (flip trick).

Not only does rolling away at this spot require tricks to be on lock, the sheer size usually limits even the most hardened pro to a handful of attempts. Combined with the build up and recovery for each visit to such a heavy spot, it’s understandable why a lot of tricks have never been done here. Probably most debated of the near misses or makes, depending on your take, was Chris Joslin’s tre flip. Across a few visits some years ago, he successfully stomped a burly tre flip down the set. Unfortunately, disaster struck when mid roll away his truck snapped, stealing a certain make at the last second.

Broken and boardless, I can only assume Chris accepted the situation knowing he had landed it, just without the final rollaway on tape. Content with his work, a return to the spot would have only been for the viewers. Meanwhile the internet was in a frenzy with people arguing over “whether it was a make or not.” Although I’ll never know how Chris himself felt, I’d guess he had some lingering frustrations about this and may have considered going back to take care of business. Unfortunately, soon after, this option was taken away when the site was renovated and rendered unskateable. With the chatter eventually dying down, it seemed that this could be the last act at another legendary but extinct spot.

Now, fast forward back to my break today, when I happened to scroll onto a post of Chris. There was a photo of him, distinctly catching a massive tre flip down the unmistakeable El Toro stairs. I started to dismiss it as another internet hoax doing the rounds, even though it was adorning the cover of the legendary Thrasher magazine. That’s when I spied the new skatestopped rail, added after his earlier visits, and realised he had returned. When I finally comprehended that he’d gone back and shut it down by stomping the trick, my body suddenly began to buzz with electricity. As the pins and needles shot down my spine, I was both inspired and strangely happy for a someone that I’ve never met.

Although, I don’t believe in blindly jumping on bandwagons, this was truly one of the most inspiring things I’ve witnessed in a long time. This victory over adversity and bettering of oneself, without any detriment to another human being, is what epitomises skateboarding to me. While we may not be able to tre flip El Toro, we can take inspiration from Joslin’s refusal to leave before the job was completely done. As a random observer, the message I took from this is don’t give up so easily, don’t accept second place, find your El Toro and go tre flip the shit out of it! We should also definitely celebrate that he has just done something so insane but I’m sure most people are doing that already. Well done, Chris Joslin and long live skateboarding.

*NBD - Never Been Done, is skateboarding parlance for a new trick. Usually in reference to an already invented trick at a new location.