POWELL PERALTA
ROCKY MT. HIGH
INTERVIEWS by DAN LEVY
PHOTOS by DEVILLE NUNES
The Powell Peralta team made the trek to Colorado to check out the epic skateparks and backyard pools that are abundant on the Front Range. The sheer talent of the team is evident in these amazing images by Deville. Read on to learn about a few of the locals that make up the backbone of this incredible DIY skate mecca.
SHANE BORLAND
Where are you from and when did you start skating?
I’m from Topanga Canyon, California, and I started skating when I was like three.
Rad. What do you think about the strong DIY scene in Colorado where people are building so much stuff to skate in their backyards?
I think it’s sick. It’s really cool.
Why do you think Colorado is so lucky to have so many epic public skateparks?
I don’t really know why it is, but I wish it was like that over here because those are some of the best skateparks I ever skated.
What was the best and worst part of about skating in Colorado?
The best part was how good everything was and the worst part was probably the altitude. I remember sometimes I got out of breath and stuff.
What’s your favorite food on tour?
Thai food.
What was the most surprising thing that happened on the Colorado tour?
It was probably when our filmer got hurt and we had to have a whole other filmer. That was kind of crazy.
What was your favorite place to ride?
It was the first park we went to and it had everything. It was super good. It had a big snake run. I think it was called Arvada. That was the best place.
Who was the tour MVP in your opinion?
Pretty much everyone killed it. The first half of the trip they skated a bunch of street and then I got there for the second half of the trip and skated a bunch of tranny and stuff. It was mainly me, Charlie and Mighty skating. Everyone was killing it.
If you could give advice to skate crews going on tour, what advice would you give them?
I guess most skaters get up late and then skate. Most skaters eat breakfast at lunchtime, but when you’re on tour, you’re up and skating early. So skate early and skate all day and keep going.
Do you remember who the best local was that you saw?
There was this one guy where we skated this pool in this backyard that was built to skate and this one guy was really good. He was wearing no pads and just a helmet. He was an older guy and he was just really good. I don’t even think I ever got his name, but we were sessioning this pool and he ripped.
EDDIE MORENO
Where are you from and when did you start skating?
I’m from Guerrero, Mexico. I started skating at age nine or ten. My dad had a board laying around that he used to skate back in the day, so I just picked it up one day and I was hooked on it.
Sick. What do you think about the strong DIY scene in Colorado where people are building so much stuff to skate in their backyards?
I think they’re really dope on that because out here people don’t put much time into building stuff because we have so many skateparks. Over there, the whole skate scene is way big. It’s like a big family and I really respect that.
Why do you think Colorado is so lucky to have so many epic public skateparks?
I think they’re lucky to have so many good parks because a lot of builders live over there too and they all skate. They put all their heart into whatever they build because they know they’re going to ride it too and they want people to enjoy it.
What was the best and worst part of about skating in Colorado?
The best part is that you can skate at least five or six parks in a day and get a bunch of clips and you don’t get kicked out and you can smoke weed anywhere you want. The worst part was the weather for me because I’m not really used to the cold. Where I’m from, it’s so hot.
Who do you think are some of the unsung heroes that make Colorado such a good place to skate?
I was super pumped to go there because this dude, Whiskey Tee, lives over there. He gets everybody together to skate, so that pumped me up a little bit.
Cool. What’s your least favorite tour habit of your crew?
We don’t really have any bad habits except sometimes we get mad at each other if thing are not going our way and it gets kind of weird, but we all get along pretty well.
What’s your favorite food on tour?
Thai food is always bomb. Everyone likes it, so we always try to find a Thai food spot to hit right after we skate. In every town, we always bet Deville. It’s like, “If I land this trick, can we go get some Thai food?” He’s like, “Yeah!” That is tight.
What was the most surprising thing that happened on the Colorado Powell Peralta tour?
Oh man, we were filming this line, and my friend was trying to get a line on this rail, and our filmer was filming it. Out of nowhere he fell and he broke his thumb on the second day there. We were like, “Is the trip going to be over?” Then we found another kid that came and filmed with us and he pretty much saved the trip. He took us to a bunch of spots and stayed with us. He was only supposed to stay with us for a day, but then he called his job and told them what he was doing with us and they were like, “Just stay the whole week. Everything will be fine here.” He dialed us right in and it was so tight. It was crazy. The trip could have been over only two days in and we had two more weeks to go. That kid really saved the trip.
That’s solid. What was your favorite place to ride?
My favorite place was either Whiskey Tee’s house or the Recycler. Both of those spots were really fun and everyone was vibing and just kicking it. It was sick.
Who was the tour MVP?
I think the filmer for sure, because, if he didn’t come with us, we probably would have been screwed.
Nice. If you could give one piece of advice to skate crews going on tour, what advice would you give them?
I’d probably just say, don’t rush anything. Make sure you have enough money and a place to stay. When you go to spots, don’t try to go all out right away. Pace yourself and do things that you know you can do. Sometimes you skip steps and you do stuff you know you can do, but sometimes you just shouldn’t do it. Hold back a little and don’t do anything really crazy with the whole team so you don’t get them in trouble.
[Laughs] Right. How did the altitude in Colorado affect your skating?
I don’t think it affected me too much, but I guess I was getting a little tired a little faster. It kind of tired me out a little bit when I was trying to breathe. Besides that, it was cool. I didn’t notice it much.
Do you remember who the best local was that you saw?
Whiskey Tee [Terrill Schmidt]. I always wanted to skate with him because I know he’s been skating for a long time and I like the way he does stuff. He’s straight O.G. He’s into pool skating and keeping it alive.
CHARLIE BLAIR
Where are you from and when did you start skating?
I’m from Fullerton, California, and I started skating about 17 years ago.
You’re old, dude. [Laughs]
[Laughs] Yeah!
Rad. What do you think about the strong DIY scene in Colorado where people are building so much stuff to skate in their backyards?
I think it’s rad. I think they should keep doing it. When people get together and start doing that, there’s going to be mad spots, ya know?
Yeah. Why do you think Colorado is so lucky to have so many epic public skateparks?
I don’t even know why. Maybe because of the money they’ve got, I guess. The parks are epic with nice smooth concrete.
Who do you think are some of the unsung heroes that make Colorado such a rad place to skate?
There are a bunch of hesh-ass fools. With all the legal weed smoking they got going out there, you have mad people trying to come out there to skate. It’s a cool spot to be.
What’s your least favorite tour habit of your crew?
Everybody being a bitch. My least favorite thing is driving around and being stuck in the van.
Who decides on the room assignments?
Deville picks his room and then we get our room and we all fight for beds. Me and Eddie being older get to pick our spots. I usually get a bed, but if somebody is kind of broke off, I’ll hook em up and I’ll sleep on the floor and be a cool guy.
That’s super cool of you. Sick. What’s your favorite food on tour?
My favorite food on tour is hot wings and In N Out 4 x 4 with cheese, trying to clog some arteries.
[Laughs] What was the most surprising thing that happened on the Colorado Powell Peralta tour?
Finding out that weed was legal out there and you could just smoke walking down the street and have cops light up your joints for you. That was pretty tight.
What was your favorite place to ride?
I would have to say that my favorite place to ride in Colorado was that big ass park with that huge snake run. Arvada. That park is insane. It’s got everything you could want and more.
Who was the tour MVP in your opinion?
On that trip, I would have to say everybody because everybody killed it.
What was the funniest thing that you learned about each of your comrades on the tour?
The funniest is when everyone has been together too long and they start getting pissed off at each other. It’s funny to see the anger come out.
[Laughs] If you could give one piece of advice to skate crews going on tour, what advice would you give them?
Have fun and don’t take it too seriously.
That’s good. That’s perfect. How did the altitude affect your skating in Colorado?
It was hard. It was a change. I had to get used to the altitude. For the first couple of days, it was kind of hard to keep skating in the thin air. I got used to it after a while, but it was hard at first.
Do you remember who the best local was that you saw?
That’s a hard one. All the locals ripped. Everyone was killing it with us.
