Friday, July 08, 2005

Skateboarders Jumping the Shark?

Thank you to Michael of Spilt Wine for pointing out that sometime tomorrow, professional skateboarder Danny Way is going to attempt to jump the Great Wall of China on a skateboard. You can check the ramp plan and details for yourself by clicking crazyman rolling.

Skateboarding, like the great mother ocean that our surfing brethren love so much, comes and goes in waves. In the forty-odd years since skateboarding's origins, it has gone in and out of style at least four or five times, and I'm wondering if Danny's attempt to clear the wall could be another high water mark, signifying a coming plunge into obscurity for the sport.

I suppose it will partly depend on whether Danny pulls off the stunt or not. Here's hoping that he does. But even given a successful run, the attempt has something of an air of desperation about it. Perhaps for skating to survive, the industry will have to ease up on the "extreme sport" image they have been pushing for the last decade, and return to the fun, wholesome, rollin' down the street and hopping curbs image that attended the sport's inception.

How about a "Top of the Great Wall Flatland Skateboarding Tour"?

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