Skateboarding
Ryan Decenzo raises the bar yet again by traversing a 20ft (6m) winter creek gap on his skateboard using nothing more than the landscape for power.
Ryan Decenzo is no stranger to an outdoor skateboarding challenge: bookending his equally brilliant 2021 Thrasher video parts 1990 and Sender Bender, the Canadian has been game enough to take skateboarding into unanticipated terrains, like 2019’s Wheels On Woods and Petrified Park projects.
To bring that theme of natural challenges to its logical conclusion, snow seemed like the only way to go.
This new back-country creek gap mission drew inspiration from Rick McCrank’s Menikmati sessions, but the amplitude of what Decenzo undertook has once again turned the stakes up a notch or two in terms of sheer gnarliness. Nothing is guaranteed in such conditions.
Read on to hear from the man himself as he discusses battling that winter creek gap on his skateboard using nothing more than the topography of the landscape for power.
Make sure to check out the Winter Creek Mission episode of Skate Originals in the player above now.
Hi, Ryan! So, this isn’t your first time skating in nature; how did this project compare to Wheels On Woods and Petrified Park?
But this project was similar to both in the fact that we were far away from any close shelter, food or medical help. This one was more similar to the Wheels on Woods project since it was a similar set-up with downhill out in the forest and skating on a narrow wooden path the whole time.
Which was the most dangerous?
This one was definitely the most dangerous. There were just so many factors that made it so much more difficult and sketchy, like the snow getting all over the wood and basically making it super-deadly as well as the board and trucks getting wet, loose and wobbly. Not to mention the gap was 20 feet [6m] long and four feet [1.2m] wide.
Not many people are prepared to step to tricks with fast runouts, how much of it is rolling away just by feeling alone?
Realistically, you just gotta be ready to slam going that fast and know how to slam going that fast. But, yeah, once you get the feeling of landing the gap with something basic, like an Ollie, or a 180, then you just apply that feeling of making the trick with the addition of the board flipping. Once it's caught, the rest is just by feeling alone.
Most skaters find it hard to travel Frontside Flips as far as straight Kickflips, what’s the secret?
I dunno… I guess I just kind of stretch it like a Frontside 180 and reach my legs in front of my body, then allow the rest of my body to catch up to my feet and the board when I land.
How sketchy was trying to turn it to Fakie on wet wood?
It was definitely sketchy. Ideally, the landing would have been twice as wide, but getting that wood up the mountain was no easy task. As for the wet wood, I just tried to land as calculated as possible even when I was kicking them out. I also tried super hard to keep that landing as dry as possible.
Were you worried about getting injured through the cold?
I got a really bruised hip from slamming so many times, but I had so much adrenaline that it didn't kick in until the next day. In the back of my head there was a lingering fear of a hyperextended knee on that landing, with the snow and wet spots lurking, but you've go to conquer that kind of fear and shut it down as soon as it pops into your head.
Is it fun to work on set-piece creative projects like this, which aren’t months or even year-long commitments like traditional video parts can be?
Yeah, it's awesome. I love it so much. It's like you just get to go absolutely hammer time for like a day or two on some sick never-been-done type stuff and let the imagination run wild. It's rad, because the pressure is on and you're about to skate some gnarly, sick stuff. But as soon as you realise it's possible and get past that first sketchy try, then all you gotta deal with is a few slams before the make, and that's what we live for.
Do you have any other one-off projects like this up your sleeve that you'd like to try?
Oh, man, I have a few really sick ones that I've been trying to make happen. Some are a little bit more manageable than others, but they are all something different and almost stunt-oriented. Seriously, I can't wait for the next one!
