Five feet high and twisting.

April 1, 2012 5:29 AM

Tom Schaar lands the world's first 1080 on a skateboard. Oh, and he's 12.
posted by unSane (42 comments total)

I can't decide whether to show this to my kids.
posted by Songdog at 5:37 AM on April 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

I must not understand what a 1080 is. He's rotated twice, plus a half rotation to come back the way he started from. That's 2 * 360 + 180 = 900.
posted by DU at 5:42 AM on April 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

Show your kids. He's wearing proper safety equipment and demonstrates the value of persistence (since the video shows him failing a bunch of times first).

Are the physics involved easier if you're small?
posted by postel's law at 5:43 AM on April 1, 2012 [7 favorites]

I must not understand what a 1080 is.

I think that's because the board does 1080 degrees, but he turns his body 180 so that he's facing the right way on the way down (otherwise he'd have to come down the ramp backwards). Or something.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 5:44 AM on April 1, 2012

Yeah, the Wikipedia entry says it's a motion the board makes. So that's probably it.
posted by DU at 5:46 AM on April 1, 2012

They certainly didn't do it just for him, but I love the idea that Red Bull built this huge ramp in the desert just so a 12 year old skater could learn how to do a trick that's never been done before.

Whatever the word for that is, the world needs more of that in it.
posted by mhoye at 5:55 AM on April 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Whatever the word for that is, the world needs more of that in it.

Product placement?
posted by triceryclops at 5:59 AM on April 1, 2012 [31 favorites]

He's rotated twice, plus a half rotation to come back the way he started from

It's clear from the second angle in the video that he begins and ends with his chest facing the same side. Landing facing the same direction as take-off requires either a 360 degree rotation (or multiples thereof) or no rotation at all. 3 * 360 = 1080.
posted by mattn at 6:04 AM on April 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

Are the physics involved easier if you're small?

Maybe. Smaller things spin faster given the same angular momentum. That's why ice skaters pull their arms in when doing a spin. So there may be a slight advantage to having more of your mass close to the central axis of your body. There's also the weight thing (lighter things spin faster given the same angular momentum) but that's complicated by power to weight ratios and such.

Landings definitely hurt less if you're lighter.
posted by unSane at 6:14 AM on April 1, 2012 [5 favorites]

It doesn't surprise me at all that it was a kid who first landed one. Besides the things unSane points out, kids are fearless. You have to fully commit to things like this and, generally, the older you get the more you hold back.
posted by nathancaswell at 6:25 AM on April 1, 2012 [4 favorites]

Given a large enough ramp, is there a limit to how many rotations one could achieve?

Compare this to Tony Hawk's 900, which was done in a relatively small half-pipe, using his own momentum (as opposed to a gigantic take-off ramp)

Nevertheless, this does appear to be a first for skateboarding, which to be honest, is kinda surprising.
posted by ShutterBun at 6:33 AM on April 1, 2012 [4 favorites]

Oh this old stunt? I totally aced this when I was 11 but was too humble to video it and there's absolutely no way to prove it now so everyone will have to just take my word for it.
posted by item at 6:40 AM on April 1, 2012 [10 favorites]

Smaller things spin faster given the same angular momentum.
To be more precise, things with their mass closer to the axis of rotation.
posted by signal at 6:49 AM on April 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Given a large enough ramp, is there a limit to how many rotations one could achieve?

It's a certainly a good reason to follow through with Newt's plan to put a colony on the Moon.
posted by exogenous at 6:51 AM on April 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

Given a large enough ramp, is there a limit to how many rotations one could achieve?

Take off too high, and your failed practice runs will result in serious injury.

And, actually, I suspect that there is a real limit to how long a spinning person holding a board can maintain their equilibrium and axis of rotation.
posted by Netzapper at 6:57 AM on April 1, 2012

Newt being on the moon instead of here on earth is all the reason we need.
posted by the bricabrac man at 6:58 AM on April 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

I can't decide whether to show this to my kids.

The list of related YouTube features includes a video called "HOW TO ROLL MARIJUANA WEED". What's this mean? The wings Red Bull give you are only enough for a 720, to get that last bit of rotation you also need to be goofed on skunk weed?
posted by three blind mice at 6:58 AM on April 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

I suspect that there is a real limit to how long a spinning person holding a board can maintain their equilibrium and axis of rotation.

There probably is, although I suspect it is MUCH higher than folks think. Snowboarders do tricks that would be beyond insane on a skateboard, but they have a few advantages, the main ones being altitude and having their boards strapped to their feet. Finding their equlibrium appears to be some kind of superpower for them.

I'd be curious to see if this new addition to the Megaramp doesn't result in a rash of 1080 achievers. (and by "rash" I only mean a dozen or so in the next couple of years)
posted by ShutterBun at 7:10 AM on April 1, 2012

> I'd be curious to see if this new addition to the Megaramp doesn't result in a rash of 1080 achievers.

Little Red Bull 1080 Achievers, yes, and proud we are of all of them.
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:14 AM on April 1, 2012 [12 favorites]

Size is very important when it comes to rotation.

I was a springboard diver from my childhood through college. I am 6'-4". Even when I was young and limber, I simply couldn't tuck or pike as compactly as smaller guys which means I couldn't rotate as fast. Taller competitors supposedly get better points for pulling the same tricks, but their abilities at the edges are certainly lower.
posted by Benny Andajetz at 7:47 AM on April 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

Size is very important when it comes to rotation.

That's what she sa....

I'm sorry, couldn't resist.
posted by Fizz at 7:49 AM on April 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

Instead of the favorite button, mefi should switch to a "share this if you think it's gnarly" button.
posted by Think_Long at 7:49 AM on April 1, 2012 [9 favorites]

DU, when he takes off, his left leg is back (also called goofy-foot stance), and when he lands the trick, his left foot is the one back, meaning he completed some multiple of a full rotation. If you watch the slow motion video, there are 3 full rotations, which gives you a 1080.

I'd also like to chime in how absolutely crazy that a 12 year old would be the first one to land a trick of this magnitude. This isn't the first time a young skate/snowboarder has bested his (or her) more seasoned competition, so I wonder what it is about these types of sports that lends themselves to teenagers dominating like this. The nature of these sports is to constantly innovate an create new tricks, so when these kids are just starting, they want to land tricks they see their heroes landing. Maybe their fearlessness and fresh knees have something to do with it to, I don't know. Many of the champions and innovators you see in snowboarding and skateboarding are barely in their 20s, with skateboard halfpipe being an exception; in the 2011 X-games, the halfpipe medalists were 25 (Shaun White), 31 (Pierre Luc-Gagnon) and 39 (Bucky Lasek).

I think it also says something about the difficulty of skateboarding that it took 12 years to go from a 900 to a 1080. 12 years ago, the 900 was the standard in snowboarding. By 2005, the 1080 was the hottest trick around according to the New York Times. The final paragraph of that article is interesting:

"Considering how quickly this sport evolves, she may have to hurry. Soon enough, the 1080 will probably be as passé as the 900, something to do before showing off the really big moves. Perhaps the 1260 is one Olympics away."

Well, in the 2010 Olympics, 1080s were de rigeur, and yes, Shaun White even pulled a double McTwist 1260 (that's 2 front filips with 3.5 rotations). In the next Olympics, 1440s will probably be the thing (1440s and 1620s are becoming more frequent from jumps, where it's possible to get more air than in a halfpipe, like the kid in this video did).

I skateboarded and snowboarded when I was in m teens; I stopped when I was 16 (girls, other sports, life circumstances), but I've always wanted to pick it up again, but since I never grew up with the types of big jumps, it's probably best for my intact limbs that I just enjoy it from the sideline; after all, this constant innovation can come at a cost.
posted by marcusesses at 8:06 AM on April 1, 2012 [9 favorites]

So can I just snark about how much better skate music was in my day? Because what the hell was that?
posted by symbioid at 8:23 AM on April 1, 2012 [4 favorites]

How does safety work on a megaramp? The kid looks to be a good 25' up from the bottom deck. As long as your momentum puts you back on the ramp coming down with some wheels under you, you're good. But how often does that go wrong? I'm thinking of this disturbing animated GIF of someone bailing really badly on a megaramp and apparently falling 30' to the ground.
posted by Nelson at 8:39 AM on April 1, 2012

So can I just snark about how much better skate music was in my day? Because what the hell was that?

I believe that song is called "Radical Investment", from the album "Maximum Shareholder Shredding, Volume IV."
posted by orme at 8:52 AM on April 1, 2012 [7 favorites]

I have loved photographs, still and moving, of freestyle sports of all types: BMX, skateboarding (street and pipe), Parkour, skiing, surfing, etc.

I was just thinking of Tony Hawk the other day and the NYTimes retrospective and encomium detailing his continued relevance even into his 40s. That was published in 2008.

That publication to me feels like two decades ago and I have a sense (could be me olde fartiness) that the peak of freestyle sports has passed not despite but because of the attention-drawing, novelty-seeking behavior promoted by the interacting with the modern Internet.

Still, I'm not so jaded I don't recognize this as a significant milestone. Congratulations, Tom Scharr! Cheers for the 1080 and best wishes for the joys adolescence, young adulthood, and fame have in store for you.
posted by mistersquid at 9:42 AM on April 1, 2012

That's definitely not a 1080. The video goes up to 720 and that's it.
posted by surrendering monkey at 10:24 AM on April 1, 2012 [4 favorites]

That's not goofy, marcusesses, it looks to me like he's natural, but riding into the trick fakie ("going backwards" - leading with his right foot). That way he can land it going forwards (leading with his left foot). That's the way I do 'em, anyway.
posted by ZipRibbons at 10:38 AM on April 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

A 45 foot fall, not 30 feet. That bail I linked in GIF form is Jake Brown in the 2007 X-Games, here's multiple angles of the fall. I didn't get far looking for information on safety measures on megaramps other than this article saying "Vert skaters typically don't wear pads on their lower back and tailbone, but in the super-risky Big Air event many wear gear similar to body armor."

This kid's 1080 is awesome, and good for him. I don't mean to dwell on the danger; I'm fine with people choosing to dangerous sports (although age 12 is eyebrow raising). Mostly I'm curious how they mitigate the obvious insane life threatening danger.
posted by Nelson at 11:02 AM on April 1, 2012

That pipe looks better constructed than my house. And I'm sure it cost more.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 12:11 PM on April 1, 2012

I never really thought about it until seeing this video, but to land a 1080, you have to roll out of it (or into it) fakie, which only makes it that much more difficult.
posted by tylerkaraszewski at 2:01 PM on April 1, 2012

? I'm thinking of this disturbing animated GIF of someone bailing really badly on a megaramp and apparently falling 30' to the ground.

You'd think that, with the angle and direction so long as you didn't push too far off the ramp you'd "land" back on the ramp at a very steep incline, in which case there wouldn't be much normal force pushing back. It's only if you jump really far off the ramp that you'd end up at a more shallow incline and hit with more force.

posted by delmoi at 2:14 PM on April 1, 2012

Multiple camera angles & professional production capturing a one-of-a-kind event. Red bull sponsorship. April 1st.

You do the math.
posted by clarknova at 4:49 PM on April 1, 2012

April 1st.

You do the math.

(The video's from the 30th)
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 7:14 PM on April 1, 2012

The ramp has a Woodward logo on it, indicating to me that it is likely at the Woodward west camp/park rather than a sponsored event. Oh, also it's on their website - so there's that.

Incidentally Woodward is the most amazing place to go if you are into extreme sports on wheels. I went to the PA camp a decade or more ago before there were any others and it was just amazing - I wish they had mega ramps like this back then - they did have one nice massive drop in to foam pit launch though.
posted by AndrewKemendo at 5:19 AM on April 2, 2012

Why is everyone puzzled about kids doing the big stunts? They are small, fearless, and still on their parent's insurance.
posted by Goofyy at 7:50 AM on April 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

That is really cool. And what makes the video even better is seeing him trying a number of times, and no obnoxious branding all over the place. Oh yeah and showing he's skating safe with the safety gears on too.
I'm now waiting for the "one up" to happen, no actually wait for the whole do one better thing to reach it's peak in 50 years time when doing a 15,120 (42 times) is the norm, but may require jetpacks and breathing equipment to reach low level orbit.
posted by Merlin The Happy Pig at 5:44 PM on April 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

Has the video been pulled or is it just not available in Canada?
posted by ODiV at 9:42 PM on April 2, 2012

For those coming to this thread late (like me!) here's what I assume is the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbjzZHuGTng
posted by antifuse at 11:44 AM on April 30, 2012

And let's put it into a proper link, shall we? First Ever 1080p On A Skateboard
posted by antifuse at 11:45 AM on April 30, 2012

1080p? That's high def!
posted by ShutterBun at 4:11 PM on April 30, 2012