Globe Skateboarding – Smokescreen
“Rocking in Kansas”
Photography by Alex Papke
Words by Conor Charleson
“Don’t meet your heroes” they say. In one personal instance of this interaction, “they” is close friend Chris Mann and the “hero” is one of the many professional skaters whose nefarious behaviour has come to light since the pandemic. On an adjacent note, watching the personalities, marketed to be idolised by children, freak out at innocent members of the public who cross their path, gorge themselves on damaging substances and casually throw around homophobic slurs have caused many utterances of that same phrase. Sometimes it can feel as if there are no true heroes in skateboarding, and that the smokescreen provided by a good editor can completely erase the undesirable character flaws of individuals, which only then become apparent when stood across the bar from them at a premiere with an open tab.
Christian Maalouf, ollie
After experiencing many moments like this, when I was asked to show the Globe team around London, I was happy to do so, but held some reservations. There were a couple of names in the lineup that I almost wanted to leave within the mythology of my teenage mind, concerned that meeting them might shatter my preconceived notions of their character as it had so often in the past. On top of that, with a combined age of 186 as a team of five people, I had some concerns over endurance and what the ratio of low to high impact spots might be. Though I was familiar with everybody’s back catalogue, I feel like it’s easy to romanticise a skateboarder’s ability by their greatest achievements and then forget that the passage of time and the pressure of a small, finite number of days is going to affect results on a trip.
Honestly, my greatest worry was simply, “please dear god, don’t let this trip ruin Mark Appleyard for me.”
Mark Appleyard, kickflip
As someone who was late to skateboarding’s golden era, I had to do a lot of homework to catch up on the classics that came before 2007. When my neighbour saw me skating outside my house, he presented me with the ultimate starter pack of Sorry and Really Sorry, The DC Video and New Blood. Of these, it was the Flip videos that got played daily, and not particularly because of the skateboarding. At the time I didn’t really have a clue what I was watching, but it was the portrayal of the characters in the Sorry lineup that really hooked me in. In the many years that have passed since then I’ve met a handful of early influential figures only to find them abrasive, or even worse, incredibly dull.
“Which one’s bigger?”
This line played over and over in my head as I cycled to the Airbnb in Old Street. Upon arrival, I found a group of groggy, jet-lagged, recognisable faces discovering the many flaws of their accommodation, which aesthetically resembled a tall vertical section of the Backrooms. Introductions were grunted and [Alex] Papke was hugged. Then it was discovered that the ground level window, that allowed light to be let into the basement dungeon that was housing Papke, Matty [Payne] and Christian [Maalouf], couldn’t be locked and could be easily opened and entered by any passerby on the street.
Sammy Montano, noseslide
While Josh [Barrow] and Aaron [Brown] frantically tried to find a last minute suitable alternative I took the crew to the closest greasy spoon (which in all honesty wasn’t greasy enough), and then everybody was bundled into Ubers over to a more suitable establishment in Waterloo.
Eventually at around 4/5pm we made it out and which of the classic London spots were we going to hit up first? Blackfriars ledges. The new and recently capped (and now again uncapped) London spot that was built for Instagram. Most of the team piled out, the duel ordeals of travel and accommodation switching had wiped them out, except Mark, I noticed, who played around with the ledge. The last person who I expected to be first to jump on the board was having the most fun.
This trip highlighted that having a team of people over 30 wasn’t just fine in terms of productivity, but might even be superior to having a team of people in their teens and early 20s. Most sponsored skateboarders over 30, who are still in the mix, will have a work ethic reminiscent of a more ‘professional’ era of skateboarding. It’s also a demographic that has passed their major party years, often instead choosing to retire to the hotel after a couple of Guinnesses and some average pub food (or often some banging Thai food, big up the restaurant above The Crown and Cushion in Waterloo). This left little room for hangover excuses and the only disappearance was Christian going to meet his dad who still lives in the UK.
Val Bauer, 180 nosegrind
Throughout the trip spots were chosen in advance and claims were made. Some skaters chose to spend their mornings exploring, rooting out spots untouched by locals and others dug through vast spot folders and scene videos to find spots to fit their specific needs. Often we would show up, check the spot, and within five minutes a decision had been made on whether or not to stick it out or move on to the next. This had us sometimes crossing London in a manner more akin to driving hours across LA, but for a small team of focused skateboarders this approach seemed to work out.
I was surprised by just how well the team worked together. Everybody knew exactly what they needed to do. Sammy still skates with the air of somebody on their first skate trip. He truly lives in the moment and is the type of person that wants to try his luck at every single spot. The noseslide shot in the article is a trick I’ve wanted somebody to do for ages so I was stoked to get to show the spot and suggest it to somebody that could actually pull it off. His positive outlook and clip acquisition rate motivated
the others to kick into gear.
Val knew what he needed to hit to guarantee himself some photos, opting for more hidden spots often near the hotel that he would discover on early morning exploratory recon missions; otherwise encouraging his teammates and charming sceptical pedestrians.
Sammy Montano
Christian’s personality is embodied in his skating. Unpredictable and explosive. His hyper-mobility surely plays a part in his ability to launch and contort himself over and onto usually unreachable obstacles. I wish he’d had more time to try all of his ideas. He’ll just have to come back.
Every spot Austyn chose from the folder and then decided to skate, was a sure thing. Limited time meant he saved himself for what he absolutely knew would end in a result and any other time was spent on stretching, strengthening and keeping tabs on his other investments.
Sammy Montano, backside nosegrind
This team-spanning efficiency was in sharp contrast to the antics that ensued when somebody had made the decision to lock into filming. There would be a noticeable change in the atmosphere as anybody who wasn’t putting the work in, was afforded a moment to chill. A number of things would happen. Firstly, as to be expected of a 30+ crew, anyone who was likely to be up next or anyone who’d just been put through the ringer would begin to engage in all manner of stamina increasing activities. Massage guns, resistance bands and rubber balls would appear from the depths of people’s bags, to help keep their bodies functioning until the evening’s sauna and compression pants combo that was waiting for them at the hotel. But as nothing good tends to come quickly, we would be treated to a career-forged masterclass in killing time at spots by Appleyard. Everything was a tool or a toy. On the first day, while Sammy Montano was breaking the collective seal with a new line at a much-visited ledge in south London, Mark wandered over with a foraged set of devil sticks that he was flipping in doubles and triples commentating in his newly adopted Pythonesque British accent.
Christian, Val, Sammy, Austyn and Mark
“Ah yes, here we go Ol’ boy. A triple for the King.”
He then tried to hand over his new source of entertainment to anyone who wasn’t skateboarding or locked into media mode. And this was to be a theme that continued throughout the whole trip. Lighter tricks, tests of endurance, feats of strength, wrestling and reminiscing were all formats that Mark employed to keep morale high. His teammates would point to the little quirks of his character and instead of getting defensive he’d lean into them.
“Look at how Mark drinks, it’s insane.”
“Gotta side sip man” Mark stated, drinking from the corner of his mouth. “It’s important to keep your vision clear and unobstructed.”
I hardly saw anybody sip straight for the rest of the trip.
Mark Appleyard, frontside nosegrind
I would have thought that years of street missions and this same relentless scenario over and over would entitle anyone to be jaded. I’m sure for many “the dream” that comes with professional skating eventually becomes exhausting and frustrating as pressures increase and your physical health and patience decay. Mark showed no signs of this. Occasionally when presented with a spot he would display some hesitancy.
“I might skate, but you know… I’ve been doing this a long time though, so… I don’t know, maybe.”
Mark Appleyard
But even if he wasn’t skating a spot, he was engaging with his friends and teammates in just the same manner as
I’m sure he did back in the early 2000s. And often, he’d eventually just throw himself at whatever it was anyway.
When Mark would decide it was time to try and film something, with absolutely no warm up and no hesitation,
he’d just start trying whatever had popped into his head, launching over, on or into whatever that may be, at full speed. He could have been sat down for hours, but the immediacy of his “process” made it clear that the natural
talent of a one-time SOTY hasn’t waned with age.
Sammy Montano, ollie
Seeing somebody in their forties, whose career in skateboarding spans over 25 years still pushing to contribute, film tricks, shoot photos and not retiring to the hotel at the first opportunity, (or avoiding skateboarding altogether and riding the waves of legacy) is unusual and honestly refreshing. There are very few pros in that bracket that aren’t basically retired, but still collect a cheque.
Perhaps this is why his legacy holds. On the last spot of the last day he spent a good while chucking himself over a bump-to-fence in east London, only stopping to chat to the occasional fan who would recognise him. Not just skateboarders, but random civilians wearing Zara and sipping matcha would approach him for selfies. The crowd that formed to watch endured until the end, recognising the rarity of the moment and although Mark wasn’t successful, he was cracking jokes and took the time to speak to them all.
“Thanks for coming out,” he said, shaking their hands in turn.
Austyn Gillette, backside 180 kickflip
Mark is the embodiment of an essence that the whole Globe team exudes. They are professional in every sense of the word, aging pros and aspiring young skateboarders would do well to follow their example. They have put the work in for years, they’re sore, but they press on, knowing what’s required of them with no drama or entitlement and still finding joy in sitting around on some dusty street in some distant corner of the city that no tourist would ever dream of visiting.
Sometimes meeting your heroes is a lovely thing. If you’re reading this Mark, cheers to you Ol’ Boy!
