Salman Agah: Some Recollections

From the mind and memories of Simon Woodstock:

I remember when I first met Salman. It was in 1988 and I was working at Winchester Skateshop in Campbell, CA and he came rolling up one day in a beat up lowered brown Toyota. His driver’s seat was also lowered so all I could see were his nose, eyes, and Afro haircut through the car door window as he bouncily drove up to the shop front. Pretty hilarious! He parked his car and pulled out a Powell Peralta set up and started doing some really consistent flat land lines in front of the shop but nothing too insane. I later saw him around at skate jams doing some pretty cool (yet standard for the time) launch ramp airs. We eventually became good friends and hung out a lot in San Jose doing whatevs. We sort of just cruised around from spot to spot doing slappies and wall rides and so forth. Until one day…

Get the rest of the story and a video after the jump. Thanks to Simon for sharing.

Until one day… it was like BLAM! He just started doing all this crazy stuff out of nowhere. The switch backside flips, switch ollies over hydrants, nollie kick offs down stairs, huge ollie to fakies on mini ramps, blunt fakie to nose slaps, etc. (none of which were really being done by anyone at the time). Then came the pro board on Real, his Skater of the Year award in Thrasher, the pro shoe on Vans, and the list goes on. It was really fun to be in his crew back when he was on the rise and it was extra cool because no one, including myself, really saw it coming. His out-of-the-blue rapid skateboarding progression and industry success were pretty mind warping.

I recall seeing this Real Skateboards video edit in ’92 or ’93 and to be honest, I didn’t understand half of what was going on in his part back then. Reviewing it freshly tonight, all the switch and nollie stuff, the footie from the Venice Beach contest that he won, the rails that were burly for the time, the quick Arfo flashback shot, and even the tricky vert clips were what solidified him as an elite all around skater back in the early 90s and beyond. His part also laid the groundwork for a lot of modern street skating as we see it today. My mind is still rather blown away by it all. I think I will roll down to Pizzanista and grab a Coke and a slice or two in celebration.

Salman Agah The REAL Video