Marcos Montoya – Chapel

Full disclosure: I had not heard of Marcos before I started working on this interview. I don’t have an excuse; I suppose the last few years of being a grown-up have taken their toll and now I’m one of those old guys who doesn’t know who Marcos Montoya is.

This is no slight on Marcos, because his footage is incredible. It’s a refined blend of no-fuss, Western Edition-esque ledge skating mixed in with sketchy handrail bangers. In conversation, I found Marcos humble, grounded and gracious, which made me like him even more.

If you’re also unfamiliar with Marcos’s work, you’re in for a treat. This new part, filmed over a period of only three-and-a-half months while trip-hopping around Europe, comes hot on the heels of FL Made, which I missed in the footage flurry of December 2023. I look forward to even more from the young Floridian, and can proudly say I’m now an old guy who knows who Marcos Montoya is.

– Max Olijnyk

Backside 5-0, Sardinia. Ph: Sem Rubio.

Hi Marcos! You’re speaking to me from Florida, but I heard you lived in LA.
Yeah, I was living in LA for a few years with my family, but recently I moved back home to Florida.

Right, you’re from Fort Lauderdale originally?
I’m from Broward County. I was born there and grew up skating there. We moved to Cali for a few years, and I made the move back about seven months ago.

I looked at your weather report and it looks pretty nice.
It’s actually pretty rainy right now.

I’m in New Zealand, so the higher temperature looks quite appealing.
Oh yeah, it’s a bit too hot, it’s humid. You don’t even think of skating before 7pm.

Spanish grind, Sardinia. Sem Rubio.

You moved to Cali with your family, as I understand. Did they move back with you as well?
Nah, they’ve all stayed there. They made the move over and have all pretty much settled in, they have their own things going on there for now. I like it in LA, it’s great for skating – but I just wanted to be back here.

It’s always been the destination – if you want to be a pro skateboarder, then you have to be close to the skate industry, so that’s where you have to go. Is that still the case?
I think it’s sort of died down, in a sense. Things are a lot more international now and you can maintain a presence in skateboarding through your own Instagram and whatever. It’s important to be there (California) in a way, to make connections with people in the industry, but even that has shifted.

And Florida is having a real moment in skating. It’s always been strong but there’s a lot happening in Florida now and a lot of people moving there, too.
Yeah, a lot of pro skaters from Florida are moving back, and there’s a strong scene here, a lot of energy. I feel like it’s similar to how New York was a few years back.

Who were the local skaters you looked up to growing up?
I’d say  Elliot Suchman, Mikey Dezi, some locals from Broward.

I was going to ask about your rail skating – was Jamie Foy an inspiration?
By the time I started progressing with rail skating and stuff, he was already gone, so most of my inspiration was just from my closer homies and just getting more comfortable skating bigger stuff. But I was seeing it, seeing all the footage coming out was definitely inspiring to all of us.

Your last part came out in December of last year. Is this new part all footage from 2024?
Yeah, completely. And that’s why I wanted to put it out through you guys, because apart from one clip I filmed in LA, the entire part was filmed in Europe. Some of it was in London, Germany, Sardinia, Switzerland. I was almost going to leave that one LA clip out but then I was like, nah, it’s fine.

One clip that stood out is when you ollie up onto that narrow ledge and do a little slide before the next trick. It’s funny how little details like that stand out. I don’t want to diminish any of the tricks you do but there’s something so crispy about that, it gave me early Chocolate video vibes.
Thank you! That spot is in Sardinia, it’s made of super smooth granite, and it curves inward. So I had to ollie up backside, and I was going fast because I wasn’t trying to push in between the ollie up and the trick off the ledge. Yeah, just the angle of it and everything was crazy – sometimes I’d ollie up straight into a power slide. The one I landed got a little drift but I liked how it felt, so I was glad I was able to pull the line together. It was just happening natural.

Backside 50-50, Switzerland. Ph: David Gutierrez.

The other trick I wanted to ask you about was a back 50 on that long rail that changes direction halfway down. It looks so sketchy and cold.
That was in Switzerland. You can’t see in the footage, but right underneath where the rail turns to the right is a bear trap rail, so it was kinda scary. But it was hella cold that day. I had a hat on, I had a puffer sweater, I had thermals on.

I always love footage where the skater’s all rugged up – especially the hammer gloves. That’s when you know it’s really cold.
It makes you want to get it more. When I was trying it, that was all I was thinking: “I need to get out of this cold as fast as I can”.

Am I wrong or did you get more than one clip that day?
I got three clips that day! I was just breathing, keeping it going, “Gotta get out of this cold,” haha!

Were you travelling by yourself or was there a crew?
I kept on moving around; like there would be one trip, then I would meet up with another crew and keep it going. We had some adidas events to attend, but I managed to get a lot done and link up with a bunch of friends along the way. Everything worked out really well and I got to film a bunch of clips.

Adidas is a big crew. Is there anyone you’re especially close to on the team?
I mean it is big, but it’s also just tight, like family. I’m really close with a bunch of the team so it doesn’t matter who is on a trip, it’s always good vibes. It’s definitely a big family but I’d have to say I’m closest with Lil’ Dre.

How far do you go back?
I want to say seven years, but I don’t remember exactly. One thing a lot of people know, but maybe not everyone knows, is Lil’ Dre is my sister’s boyfriend. He didn’t know she was my sister at first – we had already been skating together and stuff, so it was kind of a surprise. But they’ve been together for years now and we get to chill together all the time, so we’ve become extra tight because of that.

I guess if he plays his cards right, you two could actually be brothers one day.
We are brothers ngl!

Backside flip, Sardinia. Ph: Sem Rubio.

What are your plans for the next few years?
I’m just trying to skate as much as I can, go on trips and get footage, basically keep working at it and keeping my sponsors happy. Maybe one day I can get a colorway, you know? The main thing is to stay happy and keep my family proud.

I’m sure they’re very proud of you already. Hypothetically if you were to get a colourway, what would you choose?
I’m not telling, unless some other fool takes it.

True! Good thinking, you have to sit on that information.
TBC – to be continued, haha!

Well, that’s about it. Are you planning any more trips?
I’m not actually planning any for anytime soon. I’m hyped to be back in Florida; I’m in Miami right now, skating a bunch, chilling with my wife Chloe.

Oh, you’re married?
Yeah, we just got married in July.

Wow, congratulations! So, you’re literally in the honeymoon period.
Well and truly, yeah. We already got married but we’re planning a big wedding that all our family can come together for, so that’s coming up.

I did the same thing! We got married at the registry office then had a wedding which was supposed to be just our family and a few close friends, but it blew up and became a huge party.
That’s what ours is turning into, fully.

It was quite stressful leading up to it, but it turned out to be one of the happiest days of my life. I felt like a champion!
I’m looking forward to it now. Yessir!