12 year old lands 1080 with an asterisk
A few people have 900’s under their belts but the first kid to land a 1080 is 12 year old Tom Schaar (no relation to Steve Claar) who did the whole thing in front of a few people and not a televised sporting event packed with spectators. The asterisk comes from the fact that it was done on a megaramp specially modified just for the occasion. The feat is spectacular, amazing and Extreme!™ but it would seem harder to accomplish on a regular size ramp. Of course, your beloved author can’t even land a 360 on a regular ramp, much less attempt anything on a megaramp. Tom landed it on his fifth try!!! (!!!!!) Where did it happen? Woodward West, with a little help from Red Bull. I kind of feel bad for this kid, like he got robbed of his chance for a spectacle. He’ll never get a Pizza Pocket endorsement now. Tom needs a better agent. Video after the jump. WARNING: both videos autostart. I can’t turn it off.
– Thanks to Boy Ipoh for the tip.
That is pretty clean, but does make you wonder was no one trying this at the Burnquist residence already? The ramp probably made this possible more than the talent. As much air there is to be had a 1260 is probably a weekend away… a weekend and a million dollars of RedBull’s resources.
More the ramp than the talent? Worst theory ever.
That kid is awesome, don’t get me wrong… but till someone pulls a 1080 on a traditional 12′ half on the fifth try. Only then I’ll eat my words about the theory.
What makes a 12′ half traditional? You’re limited by your personal perspective and preconceptions. My limited personal perspective tells me 8′-10′ halfpipes with no flat are the truer “tradition”, but no one wants to ride those when they try to spin anything over 540
8′-10′ with no flat? Downright prehistoric.
It’s the first. Well done kid. Seriously. But certainly won’t be the gnarliest 1080. (Tony’s first 900 is still the gnarliest 900, followed closely by Bob’s fakie to fakie tail grab 900.)
It counts. What’s with the lame ass anthem rock?
I thought that’s what all you guys in the US listen too?
…and not related to Max Schaaf either, duh.
Autostart? There’s a pause button.
I feel stoked for the kid but that’s not a half-pipe.
Hell it is a 1080 and done by a 12 year old very cool but no t in a half pipe
I’m not hating on the kid, but this accomplishment doesn’t move me at all. I couldn’t be less interested actually. It’s about as meaningful in my skateboarding life as Tony Alva jumping 10 barrels (or however many it was) back in 76. Circus tricks.
Looks like a legit 1080 to me. I’m not super pro air baby but I was impressed. I think Gio Zattoni had a pretty good looking 9 not too long after tony hawk did his, on a regular ol’ vert ramp.
yeah, i couldn’t do it but that ain’t a half pipe, and doing the last 360 below the coping. great achievement though, and he kinda looks like a chipmunk.
moral of the story- skateboarding means one thing to purist old men who’d rather obsesses over Duane’s toe placement on a front rock and another to red bull sponsorship speaking children who equate success in rotations and $s.
Skateboarders ride skateboards.
I prefer the Duane/purist aesthetic, but somebody else is assuredly fired up on mega jump stuff.
Both are rad. Eye of the beholder. No rules. Ride the damn thing how, where, and when you see fit.
Agreed 100%
who cares?
Regardless, this kid is the ONLY one to stomp a 1080 on ANY size ramp. Also, NONE of you (including myself) can do a 720, 900 or 1080. Skateboarding rules! Crying about specifics is gay.
mezmer is gay
…Yep but not nearly as gay as the 440 suckers that pretend to “like” your shitty band.
Red Bull and 12-year-olds don’t mix.
i could have done this, it’s just that i can’t skate fakie.
You need a “skate mentor,” duh!
how would you like the title – Tom’s mentor?
What ABEC are his bearings?
I watched this video less than a minute ago, and I’ve already forgotten about it.
what’s next, snowboarding in half pipes?
…and I only had 5 redbulls too, so yeah im the best.
http://gizmodo.com/5899205/is-it-easier-for-a-kid-to-land-a-skateboard-1080
Interesting look at the armchair science of…
just reinforces the fact that midgets are good at skateboarding due to lower center of gravity.
No, it just reinforces the fact that you have to be a bit of a spaz (tony cough) to get caught up in quantity instead of quality. I’d be quite content to have never seen Hawk’s 900, but I’m glad to have seen various of Sandro Dias’s fives on ramps with bowled parts, or in big bowls, because you don’t have to keep count to see they’re great. But as for this not “counting” because it’s on a megaramp, y’all are precious.
Though I didn’t see the part about a bridged gap… so yeah, maybe it would “count” more had it been done on, not so much grandpa’s vert ramp, but on a “traditional” mega, because he’s trying to have “all the advantages, none of the disadvantages” of his size… so, one could say it’s “not to scale”.
It counts, certainly does. It’s just not as wowing. Imagine doing a 720 ollie on flat ground, that’d be an impressive feat. Give someone 15-20 feet of air to do it and it loses it’s luster.
That’s still a big ramp needing big balls, so kudos to that kid.
A 720 ollie on flat ground would seem, well, impressively inconsequential… or wait, is that what Jake Brown was doing when he knocked his shoes off? And nobody gets “give”n 15-20 of air… except, okay, insofar as they are skating a “cheater” ramp, but the bridged gap is the only thing that makes it so… cuz YOU CAN’T HANDLE THAT AMOUNT OF AIR!
Then again, it’s not like bailing to bigger transitions is tough… with pads. But my point was, I’d much rather watch, say, Rune flow the twenty foot walls of the Shanghai park without pads, or Sandro torque not-so-plain-ol’ 540’s, cuz the way those are pulled impresses me more than that the new trick on the block got done. (I can wait a week for the steeze edition.)
Besides, in the future, people will be able to skate in slow motion… so any number of spins will be whatever… but you had better have style.
Actually, what I am really impressed with is that we haven’t picked on little Tommy’s mentor even more. And what doesn’t impress me is that they are two dimensional spins… just made for counting. Even Shaun White got over that boring kiddy way of doing rotations. But, hey, at least this pre-teen isn’t doing a “1080 to deck”.
yeah but lets see it in the snow bored half pike in an olympic compatation to make it legit
vert baby. Dads proud.