Extreme sports take the stage this weekend at the Nissan Half-Pipe Jam in Glendale, where six of the country's top skateboard, inline skate and BMX bike pros will grind, spin and shred the air above a massive half-pipe ramp.
Pierre-Luc Gagnon, 28, one of the best skateboarders in the business, talks about what it's like to plunge down six stories of nearly vertical wood and where he finds inspiration for the sport he calls an art.
Pierre-Luc Gagnon, 28
• Born in Montreal. Lives in San Diego.
• Started skateboarding at age 8.
• Has traveled from Beijing to Munich as a pro competitor for more than a decade.
• Has won three X Games gold medals for his high-flying tricks on the regular 14-foot half-pipe and several silvers on the towering, 60-foot-tall Mega Ramp.
Most athletes have strict diets and exercise routines. Is it the same with skateboarding?
"I definitely try to eat well and I have to work out a little bit to keep my body in tune. And, of course, there's a lot of rehab when you get hurt. But it's not like we have a coach telling us what to do and when to do it. It's up to us. Everyone's different."
What's the toughest part about mastering skateboarding?
"The hardest part is to always be creative. Skating is really about standing out and coming out with your own bag of tricks, not being a follower but being an originator, because skateboarding is an art form."
Where do you get inspiration?
"I get it from whatever obstacle I'm skating and other people I see. Then I put my own flavor into it. You don't want to copy exactly what other people are doing. You have to mix everything up and find your way."
What do you do to stay at the top?
"Just skate a lot. I practice about three hours a day, six days a week. Skateboarding has to be something you live for. You've got to be dedicated to it. And you have to have fun."
Extreme sports and risk-taking seem to go hand in hand. Are you a big risk-taker?
"You definitely have to take risks, but everything's calculated. It's not like one day you wake up and say, 'Yeah, I'm going to go do this crazy trick.' You have to be smart about it and take the right steps to get there so you keep from getting hurt."
What's it like standing at the top of the half-pipe and going over the edge?
"The fear's always sort of there. But after a while, it's not as nerve-racking as when you're a kid doing it for the first time. On the Mega Ramp (the half-pipe on steroids used at the X Games), you're going 45 miles an hour. That's pretty scary, because there are big consequences if you mess up."
What should fans expect to see at this competition?
"They're going to see everything we did at the X Games this summer: 720s (two full rotations), 540s (1 1/2 rotations), all sorts of tricks like that."
