This looked like a freakin BLAST dude. Great crowd, great riders, getting psyched on stylish simple tricks, they way skateboarding should be. Now you have to land a switch frontside big flip to blunt to 540 flip out to somewhat impress anyone and if you fail at it people will think you suck... -_-
it was never about the tricks, it was about the vibe. they were out having fun and rippin’. that’s why skateboarding is what it is now, everyone is so competitive and the vibes have been lost over time. it’s a shame but it is what it is.
Hey Tommy and Jake- I was out there in the early 90's on a moving job. We were moving people out of the projects, so they could rehab- tear out the asbestos. Anyway, I remember we were right by the dish, in the back of the moving box truck with like our first load from the house, when a gun fight broke out. Me and the guy I was working with hit the deck while this went of for a minute or two. When it stopped and we got up, there were a number of holes through the walls of the truck- easy to see 'cause the light shone through. *I consider the Tenderloin my Major, and San Francisco my Alma Mater- def. prepared me for the rest of the world. Thanks for posting this footage. BTW- If you could dig up the very first Thrasher Video Mag, that'd be great. I called Bryce out to film a house in Navato, with the ramps inside and I know it made the final cut- but it's outta stock. Anyway, it's my 5secs of fame. My best to you guys, all you do- and the City by the Bay, *Andrew (currently in Austin (remember running into Jake at a skatepark in Prague, years ago when I lived there:))
I love this video. I love the skating, I love the crowd, I love how fun it all looked... but a lot of people are saying it's better than today's skating when there is no real way to compare it. skateboarding, like lots of other things needs to evolve and the change keeps it fresh and exciting, and I know Lots of today's parts by some of today's best can become repetitive, seeing people hit huge handrails constantly, but there could be a group of kids right now that are skating differently, and new. That keeps the change going.
C-R-A-Z-Y! I was there. And went all the crap went down at the end, I got bum-rushed by a mob of people and beat to a pulp. Thank God that in the middle of all that, a Van pulled up and the door slid open. Mike Johnson yelled "Get in" and I broke from the mob and did a dive roll into the van. I think Turukey was driving and Jake and Sean were in the Van also. They got my Joe Lopes board that I ditched before getting beat up and then they drove me to SF General. Saved my fricking life!!!
We lived south of the city and would make midnight trips to the Dish on a pretty regular basis. I can remember at least 4-5 late night acid and mushroom trips there which we realized later weren't such a good idea, but at the time we'd never even been vibed there. The naivete of youth. But don't let the nostaligia fool you -- THESE are the good ol' days -- right now. Today is the day.
When I was younger I had wanted to go to the Dish. I remember going to Skates on Haight with my parents and asking for directions to it. The people working at the shop wouldn't tell us though. They said that it was too dangerous for me to go there and wouldn't give us directions. I think it would have been a fun place to skate. Anyway, this is when skateboarding was so pure and fun. I really do miss those days.
I stayed. I was only 15 (although I looked older) and I started playing with some local kids. We were rolling left over skate wheels at the wave and seeing how much air we could get. Nobody seemed to notice me even though I was the only non-black person still there. There was one guy who walked by and said, “you got guts!” But other than that, no one else bothered me or said anything. I didn’t have a ride and came to the contest by bus/skate, so I didn’t have a lot of choices. I just tried to seem as young as possible; maybe they thought I was friends with the local kids I was playing with, but no problems. I do remember it started with a black girl who threw a bottle, and people unfortunately reciprocated. Crazy day!
Unless you are from SF, you can't understand how crazy this spot was. While San Francisco was the Mecca of skateboarding, the 80s were kind of the bigger years of its popularity. The 90s it was a very underground thing, and it was not welcomed with open arms by the city. This was the ONLY skatepark in San Francisco for at least 20 years, probably more like 25, and this was the center of Hunter's Point- the Westpoint and Harbor Rd. section, and in the 90s and early 2000s, this was the most dangerous neighborhood I have still ever seen. The police station was in the projects but they were chased out by the residents who shot up the little station and set it on fire. The project houses looked like something out of El Salvador. You knew you were in a war zone. Mike & Greg Carrol along with their dad got chased out of there by a bunch of brothers with various weapons? And for many years the bowl was filled with broken bottles and various trash and was a no-go zone. I saw a dude get pulled out of his car and beaten to near death by a mob of at least 50 people. SF has changed a little bit. Crazy times, good memories
So much good in this vid, why are there any thumbs down?! And are they for real making a sk8 park there? With that, the new park off duboce, balboa...and the street? SF rules for skating.
I’m proud to say I skated this place because I’m from frisco. We called it the duck pond. It was in Hunters point which is a very rough neighborhood housing projects in San Francisco
loved this! great feeling everybody hyped as F* skaters rippin that S*!! damn!that was the 80's man! glad they record that to pass on to future generations of skaters!
I remember cutting school in Alameda in like '84 or '85 and taking the BART to the Shifty hoping a couple buses and going to this dish and a very damp like 12' high and 16' wide on a hillside in someone's back yard. It was an epic day!!! There were so many gangsters hang in around the Dish!
It was just called a blunt, before the "ollie blunt" came around, and then that just got shortened to blunt. Eddie Reategui, Bill Danforth and Kevin Staab were all doing them on vert a year or two before this... and that dude in the red shirt was Camden Scott.
I was at my park a few months ago and saw an older guy do one on one of the tall ramps. It didn't look like a difficult trick, but his was really loud and the everyone there (including myself) went CRAZY after he did it. It was awesome!
I skated that dish on a visit to SF back in 86. I think I was 12 or 13... T-Bone was there (Tommy Guerrero's roommate). Looks like he may have broken his ankle in this video... He had a cast on his arm the day I was there...
I was around back then (though not by much) and can tell you that if you could do more than roll and tic tac, that was impressive. Most of us sucked. It took forever to progress compared with today. I skated for 10 months before I learned to ollie and I was considered average (for east coast).
the hell are you talking about. Most kids learned airs and inverts on vert within an year/two years. Today they dont even have the guts cus they're to "cool" to use a helmet
Actually it's a shame that they're getting rid of this spot. Yea I know a new park's nice and all that but look at the creativity that this place brought out in skaters. This is why a lot of skaters still prefer street to parks because of the variety of spots that exist and the styles used to skate them. 😈
I am 52 and skate a ditch with much younger guys. Yes, they can do ollies and kick flips to everything but it looks too conventional. In the 80s we all had unique styles and tricks.
Subjective. I'm 38 and I grew up in the wake of all that 80's skateboarding. Whereas I LOVED that era and idolize those guys (as i was a VERY young boy when these guys were in the scene) by the time my generation was emerging to the streets, it was like a totally different scene. We took to it and embraced it the same way you dudes in the 80's did. I can relate to what you're saying because when i look at skate videos NOW, they seem oversaturated with the same tricks over and over and it's not fun to watch. HOWEVER, if you do follow skateboarding a lot today then you're seeing how ridiculously far they're pushing the envelope and it's totally undeniable. I guess my point is that the progression of skateboarding is always going to inspire the young people watching it.
Hunters Point was or is a mean sceane. I remember a group of locals came out of nowhere with bats and golf clubs stealing kids boards. I hid out on the roof of the bathroom and waited. Thankfully these two Samoan brothers let me in their house until my ride came back.
I'm guessing that skate park resembled a wave since skateboarding back then was like surfing on land or as it started. That's probably why there's no pipes too.
this just solidifies my theory that skateboarding is the best thing on this planet
6:50 blown ACL. Look at him trying to figure out the severity. Poor dude he had great style.
Now imagine if it was scootering instead, it would’ve gained no traction.
Not a theory but fact
Contests in those days would get you so hyped to skate, it was unreal. Everyone was passionate about skateboarding around that time.
You should see venice Beach today!
The five forty kick turn a good move back in the days of old school skate board ing
DAMN DUDE! LITTLE JEFF WHITEHEAD IN THIS! Jeff Whitehead is the dude from Leviathan for all you Black Metal fans out there.
the one in the black right?
This looked like a freakin BLAST dude. Great crowd, great riders, getting psyched on stylish simple tricks, they way skateboarding should be. Now you have to land a switch frontside big flip to blunt to 540 flip out to somewhat impress anyone and if you fail at it people will think you suck... -_-
Mustangandtang I like how everyone went silent when that one guy tried to kick flip. Totally different from nowadays.
it was never about the tricks, it was about the vibe. they were out having fun and rippin’. that’s why skateboarding is what it is now, everyone is so competitive and the vibes have been lost over time. it’s a shame but it is what it is.
This is sooo true bro
This got me so hyped to go shred
theres so much encouragement from the crowd haha
Josh Mehrtens That's how skateboarding used to be. Those days are gone.
and i fucking |ove it
Hey Tommy and Jake- I was out there in the early 90's on a moving job. We were moving people out of the projects, so they could rehab- tear out the asbestos. Anyway, I remember we were right by the dish, in the back of the moving box truck with like our first load from the house, when a gun fight broke out. Me and the guy I was working with hit the deck while this went of for a minute or two. When it stopped and we got up, there were a number of holes through the walls of the truck- easy to see 'cause the light shone through.
*I consider the Tenderloin my Major, and San Francisco my Alma Mater- def. prepared me for the rest of the world. Thanks for posting this footage. BTW- If you could dig up the very first Thrasher Video Mag, that'd be great. I called Bryce out to film a house in Navato, with the ramps inside and I know it made the final cut- but it's outta stock. Anyway, it's my 5secs of fame.
My best to you guys, all you do- and the City by the Bay, *Andrew (currently in Austin (remember running into Jake at a skatepark in Prague, years ago when I lived there:))
I love this video. I love the skating, I love the crowd, I love how fun it all looked... but a lot of people are saying it's better than today's skating when there is no real way to compare it. skateboarding, like lots of other things needs to evolve and the change keeps it fresh and exciting, and I know Lots of today's parts by some of today's best can become repetitive, seeing people hit huge handrails constantly, but there could be a group of kids right now that are skating differently, and new. That keeps the change going.
C-R-A-Z-Y! I was there. And went all the crap went down at the end, I got bum-rushed by a mob of people and beat to a pulp. Thank God that in the middle of all that, a Van pulled up and the door slid open. Mike Johnson yelled "Get in" and I broke from the mob and did a dive roll into the van. I think Turukey was driving and Jake and Sean were in the Van also. They got my Joe Lopes board that I ditched before getting beat up and then they drove me to SF General. Saved my fricking life!!!
Wow!
Wow I love the energy that old school skaters emit.
We lived south of the city and would make midnight trips to the Dish on a pretty regular basis. I can remember at least 4-5 late night acid and mushroom trips there which we realized later weren't such a good idea, but at the time we'd never even been vibed there. The naivete of youth. But don't let the nostaligia fool you -- THESE are the good ol' days -- right now. Today is the day.
When I was younger I had wanted to go to the Dish. I remember going to Skates on Haight with my parents and asking for directions to it. The people working at the shop wouldn't tell us though. They said that it was too dangerous for me to go there and wouldn't give us directions. I think it would have been a fun place to skate. Anyway, this is when skateboarding was so pure and fun. I really do miss those days.
I stayed. I was only 15 (although I looked older) and I started playing with some local kids. We were rolling left over skate wheels at the wave and seeing how much air we could get. Nobody seemed to notice me even though I was the only non-black person still there. There was one guy who walked by and said, “you got guts!” But other than that, no one else bothered me or said anything. I didn’t have a ride and came to the contest by bus/skate, so I didn’t have a lot of choices. I just tried to seem as young as possible; maybe they thought I was friends with the local kids I was playing with, but no problems. I do remember it started with a black girl who threw a bottle, and people unfortunately reciprocated. Crazy day!
Unless you are from SF, you can't understand how crazy this spot was. While San Francisco was the Mecca of skateboarding, the 80s were kind of the bigger years of its popularity. The 90s it was a very underground thing, and it was not welcomed with open arms by the city. This was the ONLY skatepark in San Francisco for at least 20 years, probably more like 25, and this was the center of Hunter's Point- the Westpoint and Harbor Rd. section, and in the 90s and early 2000s, this was the most dangerous neighborhood I have still ever seen. The police station was in the projects but they were chased out by the residents who shot up the little station and set it on fire. The project houses looked like something out of El Salvador. You knew you were in a war zone. Mike & Greg Carrol along with their dad got chased out of there by a bunch of brothers with various weapons? And for many years the bowl was filled with broken bottles and various trash and was a no-go zone. I saw a dude get pulled out of his car and beaten to near death by a mob of at least 50 people. SF has changed a little bit. Crazy times, good memories
So much good in this vid, why are there any thumbs down?!
And are they for real making a sk8 park there? With that, the new park off duboce, balboa...and the street? SF rules for skating.
damn a visionary on how old phelper is, then a clip of him 30 years before
A simpler time.. everyone so hyped and happy to be there
I see that Phelps has improved his skating in last 30 years.
Skateboarding. The way I remember it. Man it was FUN!!
I love everything about this. The style and the spot. Tommy G was a massive influence on me
I’m proud to say I skated this place because I’m from frisco. We called it the duck pond. It was in Hunters point which is a very rough neighborhood housing projects in San Francisco
miss you jake you will be remembered
Back in the days everyone's run was all about individuality, unique lines, unique tricks. I miss this.
Imagine the reaction if some did 360 flip.
it was the same reaction that they did it when it was done a couple of years after that by Rodney.
@@fernandomaron87 Rodney did 360 flips before 1985. No one gave a damn about them though until Jason Lee started doing them in '87.
wouldn't have gave a shit
Unless he did that tres flip to some grab or grind, that poor freestyler would get his butt kicked. /s lol
I started skating in 87 and this is totally what it looked like then. However I stopped for many years, wish I could say that wasn't so.
The black guy with a Santa Cruz shirt on backwards and the foo with no shirt and white pants are straight shreddin
It's wild to see how much skateboarding's evolved since back then
loved this! great feeling everybody hyped as F* skaters rippin that S*!! damn!that was the 80's man! glad they record that to pass on to future generations of skaters!
I remember cutting school in Alameda in like '84 or '85 and taking the BART to the Shifty hoping a couple buses and going to this dish and a very damp like 12' high and 16' wide on a hillside in someone's back yard. It was an epic day!!! There were so many gangsters hang in around the Dish!
Wow the black dude with the red shirt on did a blunt to fakie. Didn't know they did that in 85.
+todd chesney they probably didn't even know what to call it back then lol
It was just called a blunt, before the "ollie blunt" came around, and then that just got shortened to blunt. Eddie Reategui, Bill Danforth and Kevin Staab were all doing them on vert a year or two before this... and that dude in the red shirt was Camden Scott.
Dudes were doing tail taps in 12 foot pools in the 70s. same as a blunt except they didn't pop em back out, they grabbed them
Damn those boards look so fun to skate
Steve Roetter! A true Legend. This is killin, thanks for posting.
that early grab backside 360 @5:15 was sickk. this videos awesome
The guy at 4:40 ripped with mad style.
He skates again at 10:44. Dude just has insane liquid flow. Looks like his name is Camden Scott and he took 1st place.
At 11:30 he did one of the coolest airwalk i've ever seen
Fuck yes Keith Hardy reminds of him
Not a surprise given the proximity to Hunters Point. Those projects were pretty rough in 85.
"SACTO RIPPER RICKY WINDSOR" Sick Boyz
SACTO SSD IDOL to this day
So much fun. Feels like Chin was there that day.
Super cool to see Archimedes and Winsor in their prime. Never really seen footage of either of them before. And was that Jeff Kendall at 3:43 or so?
No Kendall
i always wanted to see old footage of this place. i skated it a few years ago the neighborhood was still pretty sketchy
the 80s, when you could feed your dog beer.
you still can..
Funny how stoked people got over a power slide back then lol
I was at my park a few months ago and saw an older guy do one on one of the tall ramps. It didn't look like a difficult trick, but his was really loud and the everyone there (including myself) went CRAZY after he did it. It was awesome!
💯😂💯😂💯
Powerslides are hella sick, just not for a video part haha.
I'm the first skater after Tommy and Jake!! I had no idea that this existed!! How cool!!
All I feel like sayin, is....YEEEEAAAAAAAAH!!!!=]
I skated that dish on a visit to SF back in 86. I think I was 12 or 13... T-Bone was there (Tommy Guerrero's roommate). Looks like he may have broken his ankle in this video... He had a cast on his arm the day I was there...
7:49 layback ollie?
Arco! That was rad.
Is there footage of the fight after the contest?
Probably not. It's a miracle that anything was filmed back then given how people didn't think about documenting everything like they do now.
@@Nominay and camcorders being basically just a toy of the rich or hobbyist/career photographers and film makers.
@@blakfloyd pretty much
@@blakfloyd no normie they weren’t. My blue collar dad bought one back in 85.
@@AlexKomnenos uh oh...someone called me a normie in a comment section. Must be a slow day on reddit for you to be gracing us with your presence.
I liked Arco's and Julian's style the most. The rad slappies and street plants. pretty chill when you meet him in person 7:47 9:25
that style and flow of skating is where its at.
Phelps pull up your pants. At your age, men have their pants up to their neck.
Julian's style always been the sickest
9:03 fuck yes, ricky winsor on film! Definition of style.
SACTO SSD
That story was legend in my town.
I was around back then (though not by much) and can tell you that if you could do more than roll and tic tac, that was impressive. Most of us sucked. It took forever to progress compared with today. I skated for 10 months before I learned to ollie and I was considered average (for east coast).
the hell are you talking about. Most kids learned airs and inverts on vert within an year/two years. Today they dont even have the guts cus they're to "cool" to use a helmet
this shit is wayyyy more interesting than another 20 years of handrails
That dude with the red shirt had that madridboard with that massive tail
That was pretty sick the vibe seems real chill looks like a fun time!
This vid hits a solid 10 on the YEEAAHHHH meter
Arco killed it!
imagine going back in time and doing back 3 on that
Forever old school skateboarding my life 😉🤘🛹⚡
Where else can I find Ricky Windsor footage? I didn't know that this existed.
Actually it's a shame that they're getting rid of this spot. Yea I know a new park's nice and all that but look at the creativity that this place brought out in skaters. This is why a lot of skaters still prefer street to parks because of the variety of spots that exist and the styles used to skate them. 😈
These dudes get rad as all hell. Great video.
i wasnt even born and these dudes were ripping!! outshredding!!!
Wow! That just made my morning, so awesome.
The Airwalk at 11:30 was insane
I am 52 and skate a ditch with much younger guys. Yes, they can do ollies and kick flips to everything but it looks too conventional. In the 80s we all had unique styles and tricks.
I still try to invent new tricks for myself- im 14 :)
Subjective. I'm 38 and I grew up in the wake of all that 80's skateboarding. Whereas I LOVED that era and idolize those guys (as i was a VERY young boy when these guys were in the scene) by the time my generation was emerging to the streets, it was like a totally different scene. We took to it and embraced it the same way you dudes in the 80's did. I can relate to what you're saying because when i look at skate videos NOW, they seem oversaturated with the same tricks over and over and it's not fun to watch. HOWEVER, if you do follow skateboarding a lot today then you're seeing how ridiculously far they're pushing the envelope and it's totally undeniable. I guess my point is that the progression of skateboarding is always going to inspire the young people watching it.
I’d like to do flip tricks easily but in all honesty I like the feeling of riding around just doing simple tricks.
What happened to the winner!! Camden Scott!! This ripped!!
phelper forever that layback was sick
Thanks for sharing this good to see some black faces in the mix as well
They all ripped, especially Camden scott
phelps is always killing it with the bails :)
I literally skate this park and everyone was always was saying I remember when it was a big dish and I was like huhhhh. And now I know
Hunters Point was or is a mean sceane. I remember a group of locals came out of nowhere with bats and golf clubs stealing kids boards. I hid out on the roof of the bathroom and waited. Thankfully these two Samoan brothers let me in their house until my ride came back.
awesome , love seeing some of the old graffiti and style! very cool vid
Real owner, riding krkd, sweet graphic doe.
It's all the same. Real pros ride krooked boards, it all comes from deluxe.
so much style........ So much hype........ So much awesome!
Adrian Macabeo and way better then modern skateboarding modern skateboarding is so boring
So grateful board's aren't shaped that way anymore.
100% SKATEBOARDER Jake Phelps is the original Thrasher 100% and isn't changing for anyone
Camden was the man. Glad he won it.
That was a fun day!!! I think it was the next year when the Red Devil Firework Factory blew up during the Comp and burned up Rip Off Press Comics.
WHOOOO YEEEAAHHHH
Damn! Dishes are hella fun to skate
This video shreds the gnar…
Just think how sick varial flip would have looked back then
Skateboarding was Dam rad back then I'm glad to say I was a skateboarder back then 😎
So much style man.
RIP Jake Phelps
who else wishes they kept the dish instead of renovating it?
INSANE DUDE. OLD SCHOOL LOVE THIS SHIT !
how did they predict id watch this video it told me i sucked in spray paint on the bowl
I'm guessing that skate park resembled a wave since skateboarding back then was like surfing on land or as it started. That's probably why there's no pipes too.
That was like ten years before this. At this point guys were skating mostly vert ramps doing inverts and big airs.
3:50 wait a longboarder in 1985?! WTF?!
Yeah i saw a compilation of 70's skating footage and there was a guy longboarding
Longboards were always there from the beginning, Sam Smith did fs grinds on 42''board in Paramounts 17' vertibowl and it was mid/late 70's
That was great! Memories of a more carefree time before corporate sponsors and skate rock stars. What is Camden Scott up to these days?
Attitude Adjustment ✌️
links to more like this?
What a great time in skateboarding
I found a new video to get me hyped up to skate!
good vibes all around
its kind of crazy, if you skated this way nowadays, people would think you sucked lol. This is more like street surfing
Wait...did i just see a saran wrap? Bwhahaha!