Mike Vallely – Powell Suburban Diners (1994)

Ollie master class.

I won’t lie. This Mike Vallely part from Powell’s Suburban Diners passed me by in 1994. That year 20 Shot Sequence came out and I was all about Gino Iannucci, 101 and Menace. Recently, a nostalgia instagram account resurfaced Mike’s massive 360 flip over a hip from this part so I had to dig it out and take another look. Mike’s trick repertoire counts a dozen tricks – no more no less – and he does each of them perfectly.

In an age of switch kickflips over picnic tables (RIP Keenan), Mike was popping massive fakie ollies over hockey goals and kickflips over oildrums atop the old HB ashtray pyramid. Frankly, Mike’s pop and snap is enviable. Mike has always skated to the beat of his own drum and it sometimes takes a couple of decades for people to realise he had great rhythm.