The Brian Henson Interview

I recently took a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada and had the opportunity to skate with an old friend of mine Brian Henson who runs the website Las Vegas Skating. His site offers some great pictures/video of the skateboarding action going on at the Las Vegas Skateparks as well as local Pool coverage, and some vintage photo galleries including a Big O Skatepark Gallery. I have known Brian for over 25 years now and he is one of the coolest guys that you could meet. Many of you may know Brian as “Manimal” from the Concrete Disciples forum. When Brian and I skate together I still think of Brian as the teenage kid that I use to skate with back in the late 70’s and early 80’s.

Here is an interview that I had with Brian to talk about the Las Vegas Skateboarding scene and beyond. Enjoy!

Brian HensonHow long have you been running Las Vegas Skating and what motivates you to keep the site going?
The Las Vegas Skating site was born in June of 2002. I basically started it to get sessions going with other skaters in the area and that’s pretty much the reason I keep it up today. Although the original idea was for local heads to get together we’ve had skaters come from all over the country come to skate and party/gamble/whatever here in Vegas.

Do you run the site by yourself or do you have others that help you out?
I’m the “manager” but it’s pretty much self governed. Anyone is free to post as long as its skate related. One of my oldest friends Steve Zirwas helped a lot by providing many of the older pictures that are on the site. He had most of the Big O shots including the Gold Cup pictures. I know its not Vegas related but it was something I thought that other skaters would be stoked to see.

How does the Vegas skate scene compare to the skate scene in Southern California?
Skaters are skaters wherever they are. Since there’s a smaller population in Vegas the numbers are smaller but the dedication and passion for skating is the same. There are a few older guys like me that I skate with like Troy (Tboy), Bryan Smyth (Shoe-pad), and Carl (Mauiboy). There’s also a few younger guys that tear it up like Paul Smith and Ryan Fabry, those guys are amazing and really the core skaters in Vegas that I know.

There are now over a dozen skateparks in the Las Vegas area. Which skateparks do you recommend for someone looking to skate while visiting Las Vegas?
For awhile there were only mini parks here and even then they weren’t that good. Planet Plywood was a pay indoor park that was decent but they lost their lease and they closed. Then the city built Desert Breeze. It’s a bigger park but what a joke. They have this bowl that looks like it would be pretty fun, then when you get up to it you notice a big nipple in the middle. It looks like a bunt pan; it’s pretty funny but what a waste. The best park right now would be Anthem. It’s got smooth cement and a good flow design. Only thing with Anthem is the bike traffic is crazy. Buffalo a.k.a. Pro Park is good and designed very different then any park I’ve ridden. The design is very cool, it’s just one huge bowl with just a little too much flat bottom. However the construction was terrible. The ten foot bowls never reach vert, just banked but still fun. I would also include Bunker Park, even though it’s a mini park it’s got flow and the concrete is smooth. There’s also Skate City an indoor mini ramp park that’s good if your into mini ramps.

Ryan Fabry - Anthem Skatepark I had the opportunity to skate the new Anthem Hills skatepark in Henderson and on the day that I was there the park was being overrun by bmxers. Do most of the skateparks in Vegas allow bikes? If so, how do the skateboarders in the area deal with this?
All of the parks here allow bikes and it blows. I don’t mind riding with bikers except that they have different rules of engagement. Most skaters wait until the last skater is done before dropping in, most bikers will drop in on you anytime. There’s not a lot that can be done about it. I’ve spoken with the parks and rec people and they understand but feel they have to allow bikes, oh well. To be honest Vegas is a biker town, they out number skaters. We live in the desert so bikes are an obvious choice of transportation for kids. TJ Lavin even lives here so it’s just something we deal with.

I recently had the opportunity to skate with you at Kirks pool, Wagon Wheel, could you provide some background about the pool and maybe share some stories about some of the sessions or parties that you have been at?
The Wagonwheel rocks! Kirk is a Vegas native. He use to skate for Alva back in the day and ripped, hell he still does. He built the pool a few years back just for skating. It’s very close to the old park pools of the late 70’s and 80’s. All kinds of people come from all over the country to skate the Wagon Wheel. Last year Lance Mountain came out with Neil Blender, that was a cool session. A picture of Lance from that session made it into Transworld. Rene “The Walrus” brought the Sacrifice team out too that was wild. I helped set up the session which swelled from 10 Sacrifice guys to 22. Kirk was cool about it and Rene bought pizza and beer for everyone and there was a raging session. The Punk Rock Skateboard kids were just here. Those kids rip pools and bowls. If those kids keep skating the future of pool skating looks very bright. Kirk’s had a couple of Wagonwheel parties. WagonwheelInc.com is his “mature” humor t-shirt company. In order to promote the company he threw a couple of parties with bands and beer. The turn out was good and the sessions were heated. If you get a chance you should come to one.

Carl “MauiBoy” - Wagon Wheel

Besides Wagon Wheel, how is the pool scene in Vegas?
Pools? Just because it’s the desert and there’s a drought you think there’s pools…there’s no pools in Vegas, next question.

My in-laws live outside of Vegas in the city of Henderson. When I last visited them I started to pay closer attention to the drainage ditches in the area and spotted plenty that looked skatable and actually skated one that was a blast. Are there an abundance of ditches to skate and do you ever check them out?
There are tons of ditches. Personally I haven’t skated any here but when my son Mark is old enough I plan on starting him off by taking him to skate the ditches. Ditches are way better then parks for learning because there are no people around to interfere and lots of room to learn. A good long ditch can help a beginner learn how to do flowing frontsides and backsides and get the basics for style. My first real skate spot was the El Cerrito ditch just outside of Corona when I lived there in 77. I skated that thing non stop when I first started riding.

You are usually out for the Concrete Disciple Skate Blitz’s. Any props for JED and the boys and girls of Concrete Disciples?
Jeff gets tons of props, the CD site was probably my first exposure to a skate site. He’s got many megabytes of info, old pics and video that are cool to browse. I’d have to say along with the Texas Pool Sharks site his site inspired me to start mine. The couple of Blitz’s I went to were fun, well worth the drive.

Allen LosiWhere and with who did you skate with when you were a young lad? Any skateparks that you wish that we could dig up and skate again?
Ok I grew up in Corona in the 70’s. I skated with a small crew that lived near me, Steve Zirwas, Greg Devine and Gerry Gagner. Those guys were a few years older then me but I was able to hold my own skating so they always let me tag along. They all had cars so I was able to get to the parks with them. Corona was pretty much equal distance from The Ranch in Colton, Pipeline and Big O, where I met you. We went to all of them but mostly Big O, that’s how I ended up getting on their park team. After making the park team I got to skate all of the parks in socal during the ASPO contests. I skated against guys like Gator, Kevin Stabb, Roland Cobalis, Tim Glavin, John Lucero and Todd Joseph, those guys ripped. After the parks went away I skated a lot of ramps like the Norco ramp with Squirt and Ron Yerman’s ramp in Fontana. I skated the Chino ramp a few times and Marcus’ ramp in Upland. We also had the Bird ramp and Wally’s. There was also another ramp in Fontana it was huge but I don’t remember who owned it. I only skated it a few times and the last time I was there Al Losi caught a screw with his knee and split it wide open, that sucked!

I wouldn’t dig out just one park but pieces from several to build a dream park. I would have the capsule from Big 0 (that pool ruled), the clover and full pipe from Whittier, the bank slalom run from Del Mar, the upper keyhole from Marina, the half pipe from Lakewood, the Combi from Upland, the snake runs from Colton (that’s right) and even though I never skated them I would add the Winchester pool and everything from Cherry Hill so I could skate them.

Any closing comments or shout-outs to your homies lol?
Yeah thanks to Steve Zirwas for catching all those old memories on film, priceless. Thanks to Kirk for putting his money into a pool that’s rad and 5 minutes from my house, WagonwheelInc.com forever! And lastly thanks to you for thinking that I might have something interesting to say, keep up the good work on your site.

Thanks to Brian for some insight into the Las Vegas Skate Scene and sharing his thoughts about skateboarding.

Related Sites:
Las Vegas Skating
Concrete Disciples

LOCAL SKATE SCENE
By John R Gleason

Dog Town was certainly a time and a place that goes down in the history book as the holy ground of skateboarding, however, the story by no means begins and ends in Dog Town. No other group of skaters has contributed more to the development and progression of skateboarding than the Badland crew of Upland. No other geographical area has produced more skateable pools, canals, ditches, and the mother of all skate terrain, Mt. Badly Full pipe; making the Badlands the holy Mecca of skateboarding. Albeit this group of skaters helped pave the way in showing the world what was possible on a skateboard, by no means were they alone in the aggressive punk rock pool riding of the 80’s.

Corona, also known as Crown Town, was home to many ripping skaters who by lack of magazine coverage simply slid into the world of the unknown. The Crown Town skaters incorporated a surf/skate influence as many of the great skaters were also surf rats. Style was of the utmost importance in establishing a line. As the aesthetics of surf style was the transposition of all Corona pool riding maneuvers, this gave way to a unique poetic skate style.

The world of magazines in the early 80’s had people marveling at Duane Peter’s acid drops into the 14’combi pool in Upland, Ca. Little did the world know that Corona skater Robert Henderson was also acid dropping into the 14’combi, or that Riverside’s Coco (Coco was a well known Riverside skater) was asked to perform the first ever sponsored 360 degree loop?

Being a skateboard history buff is an interesting pursuit; however, understand the evolutionary process of our sport is to understand you as a skater. We all perform generally the same tricks or variations thereof that truly connect us throughout time. A new skater stepping onto a board for his/her first time also steps on the back of thirty-five plus years of skateboard evolution, making their pursuit of skateboarding easier understood.

This column is dedicated to all the great unknowns and particularly to the older skaters still at it to this day. I will feature some old time Crown Towners as well as a few old time Ripperside Skaters in the upcoming articles. The likes of Coco and his formation of the Ripperside crew along with all the many new school skate rats.

If you see me at one of the local skate parks please feel free to rap with me and let me know your views and the high possibility of finding yourself featured in this publication.

Until then crank the music and drop in.

SKATEBOARDING
By John R Gleason



In 25 years of skateboarding I have witnessed many different happenings. I was there in the corner of the Upland square pool in 1983 when professional skater Chris Miller fell 17’ onto flat concrete during a pro-contest in the now legendary convulsive knockout. I have skated many sessions with Tony Hawk and experienced his extreme intensity, along with many other well known skaters. In all the events and people I have skated with none leave me with more pleasure than when I see a father and son skating together.

While sessioning my new favorite skatepark Chino I witnessed the coolest thing ever. John Reilly and his son, 3 year old Jeff Reilly, took skating together in the literal sense. If little Jeff couldn’t carve the giant waves of concrete on his own he’d simply catch a ride with his dad. The fluent carves and complete control John displayed with his son fixed between his legs was truly the coolest. Hmm, I wonder who we will be seeing in the future skateboard magazines.

Skateboarding possesses many skills necessary for the development and challenges kids will face in life. Being active in today’s societal epidemic of Sega, Microsoft, Big Macs, and Twinkies is an undeniable benefit unto itself. No other sport or activity demands more physical endurance and coordination skills than skateboarding. Skateboarding requires and develops visualization, and creativity all while improving motor skills and cardio. Skateboarding is certainly not without its fair share of hard knocks and failures, however, in dealing with and overcoming one’s fear through perseverance and determination will certainly prepare one for life’s jolts.

Be original and confident in yourself and not influenced by what others determine as cool. Proper safety practices may not be the “cool” thing, however, busting the big moves with pads and a helmet is always cooler than being side lined with a broken whatever. If you desire to be a great skateboarder then pad up and go for it. Make wearing pads cool through your own example. If you would like to learn more about skateboard safety for you or your child simply contact me at Grooverun@msn.com and ask about my next skateboard safety clinic.

Until then, Crank the music and drop in.

By John R Gleason

If the Z-Boys were the Ted Nugent of skateboarding then I would have to describe the N-Men of Northern California as the Rolling Stones of skateboarding. Ted Nugent had his time; he created great music, and then slowly coasted into extinction. The Rolling Stones, however, are still hitting it hard; holding true to their predisposed nature. The N-Men are no different; they never sold out, never took industry positions, and never cashed in from the sport. The N-Men, made up of business owners, chefs, students, pilots, scout-leaders, teachers, lawyers, husbands, and fathers all find passion for life via pool riding. The intensity required to pursue back yard pool hunting/skating for better than a Quarter-Century should speak volumes as to the make-up of this crew.


Hunting season starts May 1st -25 years running- in which the highly practiced and proficient N-Men emerge like the CIA into all neighboring cities and towns on the hunt for the choice pools.

Randy Katen (44) has lived, eaten, and breathed skateboarding for over a quarter-century and as a result has developed the most artful form of pool acquisition I have ever heard of. Many high tech methods such as satellite imaging surveillance are incorporated in the search; as this is easily accessible via the internet.

Skateboarding today isn’t the punk-rocker/rebel go to jail sport it used to be. Average people are more open to the idea of pool riding due to the likes of Tony Hawk and the X-Game thing, which has given way to open-mindedness in regard to convincing John Q that it’s his privilege to have us skate the pool.

Without going into specifics, let’s just understand that common people want to be a part of something cool. One old guy is so stoked to have Randy and the crew skate his pool that he rips out the BBQ every time they show up; he thinks it’s the greatest thing ever. In stream-lining the process the N-Men take down given address’ and phone numbers, go online to a satellite service, zoom into their backyard from space and evaluate the pools via computer. It sure beats the old days when they would research real-estate listings with pools, then show up in their trucks with signs on the doors that read ‘Pool Service’ wait until the home-owners would leave, then sneak into the backyard making the neighbors think they were servicing the pool, not sessioning the pool. There were times Randy would return a friendly wave from a neighbor who probably thought what the hell type of pool cleaning machine makes that clikedy clakedy noise?

In a recent interview I had with Randy he explained some of the methods.

JG: What is the most important element in finding a skateable pool?

RK: The ground hunt! First you must have solid understanding of the city in which you’re hunting in. Certain roads and areas are better, and remember, timing is everything.

JG: Are their any reliable year-round pools that are guaranteed?

RK: In the month of March most public swimming pools are empty. That’s all the freebees you get man.

JG: What are some of the characteristics you look for in a city or town that may indicate skateable pools?

RK: Older neighborhoods! They are set up along lengthy avenues and boulevards, if you drive along at a precise speed you can look directly at a fence and it becomes invisible allowing you to look for pool sweeps and ladders, hence pools. Document these pools and visit them year after year, it can pay off.

JG: What are some pitfalls that should be avoided?

RK: Don’t be an idiot, don’t vandalize while you’re in someone’s back yard, and don’t bring people you can’t trust. If you practice these cardinal rules you can experience multiple sessions in one pool, bust-free.

JG: You mentioned earlier some alternative methods of intelligence other than driving up-and-down the boulevards.

RK: Yes, we have many methods that believe it or not have worked. Rent a helicopter. A bunch of you guys go in on the cost. Then, take cell phones, Thomas maps, and deploy a few cars on the ground. Simply spot possibilities and pass the info on to the ground crew.

JG: Randy thanks for taking the time with me and sharing a little insight into the reality of true pool skating, it’s always a pleasure when I listen to your wealth of knowledge in this area.

RK: No problem, just remember that skateboarding is supposed to be fun and this makes it even more of a challenging game.

JG: Don’t forget I will be making the trip
in early June, so tell Mark to have the pool ready.

RK: I will have at least two pools located and ready, I will even wait to skate them until you arrive just to make sure their still available.

JG: Right on.

If you strip away the commercial aspect of skateboarding and remove the layer of B/S you find guys like Randy Katen, Mark Anolik, and all the other hard-core N-Men. When it’s all said and done you can rest assured that somewhere in time and space, Randy and the crew will be pulling wheelers in some other place and always in search for a skateable pool.