Thrasher Magazine

Last day! Henry went purple-haired superhero—five tries for a NBS bigger than El Toro. Heaviest trick of the trip?

What’s it like being back in Minneapolis? Are you still based out of there?
It’s a bit cold. I moved at the end of September but I’m home until the 29th of November.

Does that mean it’s back to 3rd Lair?
Yup, it’s been every day since I’ve been back.

Explain to all the people in California-land how important it is to have indoor parks. How did those shape you as a skater growing up?
Growing up in an indoor skatepark, you get so bored in there that you start trying stupid stuff and you end up learning a lot because you have nothing better to do.

There’s 3rd Lair and Familia. How long have you been going to those two parks?
I first went to 3rd Lair when I was nine years old. I’ve been going there almost every day ever since. Familia opened around 2012, which is when I started going there and it gave differentiation on skateparks.

So you’ve been skating since you were nine, how old are you now?
Nineteen.


How are you holding up?
I’m alright. My ankles are buckled a little bit. I rolled my ankle right before Am Scramble and took a whole week off on a trip I was on before that. They were fine until the second-to-last day when I rolled my ankle at the rail I tried to nosegrind. I went to the doctor and they told me I have tendonitis in both of my ankles. But besides that, I’m all good.

How has your life changed in the past year or so?
Been traveling a lot, meeting a bunch of new people in the skate world. Just skating a lot more than I used to, working twice as hard.

I assume you put in a lot of hours and years getting to this point. Are you stoked? Does it feel like it’s working out for you?
Yeah, I feel like it’s all working out. It’s like a blessing; it’s crazy.

What are the most amazing places you’ve gotten to go to so far?
Probably Barcelona with Santa Cruz back in June. That was the best trip ever so far. For somebody that’s never been there—first of all, the food. It’s amazing. There are spots everywhere. It’s a dreamland for skaters. Everywhere you look, there’s a spot.


So you’re not one of those Midwest skaters who only eat meat and cheese?
No way, I’m a big food guy. Don’t get me wrong, though, I love the meat and cheese.

For the guys on the Scramble, you and Tanner have been longtime friends?
Tanner was one of the first people I met when I went to 3rd Lair and we’ve been friends ever since. We’ve always been close, ever since we met.

He’s kind of hard to get a read on. What’s that guy all about?
He kind of keeps to himself. Once you get to know him and he opens up, he’s the best.

You guys skate differently. How do you think his wallie twistability went down while you got so gnarly on rails?
Tanner’s always been good at twisting his body weird. He’s always doing the crazy 180s, 360s and stuff. When I was younger, I was always jumping down big drops and doing all that stuff while he was skating the bowl and hips.

Trog locking in on a hectic backside noseblunt slide to diamond plate

What’s been the biggest challenge to get to this point?
Probably sitting at 3rd Lair during all of those winters. It’s the hardest thing ever, just getting so bored in there. But that’s the best time to learn stuff because you set up stupid stuff or think of insane things in your head.

You’ve done the whole amateur contest circuit as well. Do you like doing contests?
So, I do like doing a contest but more because I get to see all of the homies. We all go and it’s always good times. I do like contests, but now that I’ve grown up a bit more, I’m getting kind of tired of them. Contests are kind of crucial for somebody trying to come up out of the Midwest. You gotta get your name out there somehow.

Who got hooked up first, you or Tanner? Were you competitive at all?
We were never competitive about it. It was our homie Jonathan that got hooked up first, then Tanner. I don’t remember what it was, but this guy Swamp Trog, he sponsored all of us! We were called the Trog Army. It was a group of kids that were stoked to have a sponsor and it was just him hyping us up. We’d do trips and film videos. It was sick.

What’s the special little handshake you and Tanner have?
That’s called the Trog Lock. You do a handshake then do the rock-and-roll sign. We made a whole video about it.


Do kids ever tell you that you look like another skater?
A lot of people tell me that I look like Lizard King. I get that one a lot.

If he ever gets worn out, you can come in and be his stunt double.
I would love to. I used to be like, “Ah, what?” but now I take it as a compliment.

Do people ever trip off of your purple hair? What do you love about hair dye?
So the reason I dyed it at first, I was bored of brown hair so I was, like, Fuck it. A lot of people ask me why I do it and trip on it, but once I tell them it’s kind of like a Fuck it, why not?” They take it a bit easier.

One-eighty nosegrind all the way around. Tornado country, dude

How’s your dad doing? We got to hear the incredible story a while ago where you landed that crazy kinker right when he was going into heart surgery.
He’s doing a lot better. He started doing work not too long ago and is almost back to 100 percent. I don’t think he’ll ever be back to 100 but he’s as close as he ever could be. He’s out raking all of the dead leaves right now and doing everything he can before the winter comes.

Does it make you feel weird at all being in California and your dad’s out there dealing with that? Did it make you scared to leave home?
Not really. I talk to my dad on the phone a lot and he’s always been super supportive of me moving out to California to do what I want to do. He makes it a bit easier because he tells me that it makes him the happiest to see me move out to California, skating and having a good time. He needs to get a pacemaker put in but I’m not too worried about his heart condition. The doctors don’t think it’ll be too bad when that happens.

What did you think of our crew on this trip? Did you know all of the guys? Any surprises?
There were some people that I had never met but the crew was heavy. It was a really good one. I was really excited to meet Gabbers. I had never gotten to hang out with Pedro. I knew Tanner, Fabiana, Simon, Kader, all before Am Scramble. It was sick to spend time with all of them.

Do you feel like a lot of these guys are the ams you got to come up with?
Yeah, for sure.

First spot, second hour, 21-stair Smithers

You and Fabi seem to be really good friends. What is she like? She was a little quiet around us.
She’s the shit. She’s pretty shy until you get to talk to her. She opens up, kind of like Tanner. I think that she was a little quiet as well because she was the only girl on the trip and felt a little bit out of place. She did what she had to do and fucking killed it.


This trip was similar to last year, in the sense that everyone was just going for it. Do you like a trip like that, where everyone’s going crazy or a more relaxed skate session?
I always love a crazy trip, because why not? Chillin’ sometimes is cool but I don’t like to do it all of the time. If I don’t get clips sometimes I get stressed out. If I’m chillin’ on a whole trip, it really starts to stress me out.

Did anyone really surprise or shock you that you didn’t know much about on this trip?
Everybody. Everyone did stuff that surprised me.

I’ve never seen Jaakko skate before. He was wild.
Oh my God, he’s got magical feet. He’s insane.

He didn’t grind it all, but you’d better believe Henry was cooking by the time he got to the bottom of that bank. We’ll be back!

Are you able to pay the bills off of skating these days?
Right now, I’m just crashing on the homies’ couches, saving money so hopefully one day I can. Right now, I’m loving crashing on the couch.

It seems like Santa Cruz is really making a big push with the team. Are you hyped to be a part of a board company they are putting a lot of juice behind?
Yeah, it’s an honor. Santa Cruz has been a part of skating forever and to be a part of revamping was awesome. Never thought it would’ve happened.

Let’s talk about this noseblunt slide on this big-ass rail in Spring, Texas. You looked so casual on that thing. Was that terrifying for you?
Oh yeah, that was really scary. I was so fired up because it was our last day. Had to send it!

Is there any way to escape that thing if it goes wrong?
Pray for the best and see what happens.

Everyone that went on the Scramble last year is now pro. Do you think you’ll be sitting there with a pro board a year from now?
I couldn’t tell you but that would be a dream come true. I would love for that to happen but I can’t tell you when I would be going pro.

Is that a goal for you?
It’s not only a goal but a dream come true.

Pray for the best and see what happens. In this case it was a back Smith transfer. Thanks, Skate Gods!

Have you ever come close to quitting?
When I was a kid, I definitely had those moments where I was getting picked on by all the older kids at the skatepark. I would go home and my dad was so supportive of it. He would tell me it was going to be alright and to keep doing what I loved.

What did you get picked on for when you were younger?
Just being a younger kid because I was little. I was also a little shithead, which is another reason why I got picked on.

Do you ever see kids these days that remind you of yourself?
Oh yeah, there’s definitely a bunch of kids around the park that remind me of me but I don’t really see the shithead I was at 3rd right now.



What do you think the biggest influence in skating is right now? There’s a big push towards fashion and cool gear. There’s also the GX video that will blow your mind. What do you think is inspiring and influencing you right now?
A lot of Grant Taylor. I love doing a frontside ollie and watching them. Going fast. I’ve always loved watching Wes Kremer. All of the videos coming out right now have an influence on what I do. I like to do whatever I can land.

Are you still motivated as ever on handrails? Do you want to go more tech, bigger and bigger?
I’m more fired up to what’s in front of me. I’m just down to skate anything. It’s all fun but I’ve been trying to branch out and get better at tranny. Simon and Pedro do it so easy, it makes you want to do it.

Who’s your pick for SOTY 2018?
Right off the top of my head, I’d say Tyshawn or Zion.

What did you think of that Supreme video?
It was good. It was really good. I think Tyshawn’s part was on point.

Our friends led us to this insane rail in the backstage service area of a giant convention center. Confused security guards soon angrily escorted us out, but not before Henry made off with a nollie nosegrind into the Coke machines