Arto's cover tricks in Mind Field

Two of Arto Saari's tricks in his Mind Field part were also cover photos. The back lip on the Frost Middle School rail was on the front of the December 2008 issue of The Skateboard Mag, and the switch back 180 into the ditch appeared three months later on the March 2009 cover of Skateboarder. Both photos taken by Ryan Allan.

Kenny Reed - Noseslide in Kazakhstan

This Jonathan Mehring photo of Kenny Reed nosesliding the unofficial world's longest hubba in Astana, Kazakhstan was taken during a Mehring-led trip to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in October 2008 and appeared in the March 2009 issue of Skateboarder. 

For reasons that are obvious, this photo has always stood out to me ever since I saw it for the first time. I spent the next 15 years occasionally searching for the clip on YouTube and Vimeo, wondering if it even existed. Finally, in 2022 when I posted a scan of this to Instagram, Mehring let me know that Mark Nickels was the filmer on the trip. I reached out to him over Instagram DM, and Mark said that he would be posting it the near future, as he was in the process of going through some of his old tapes. I forgot about the DM soon after. Fast forward almost exactly two years later (yesterday when I'm currently typing this), and I was reminded of the request after sending Mark a DM asking permission to repost his clip of Kanten Russell backside 180ing the Bercy 5. After a quick scroll through his Instagram account, I discovered to my absolute delight that Mark had posted the clip a year after I'd asked about it. After waiting and looking for fifteen years, I'd finally seen the clip! You can watch it here. Thanks Mark!!!

In Their Own Backyard: Volcom Stomps Through SoCal Parks

This is a 10-page Volcom tour article that appeared in the March 2009 issue of Skateboarder Magazine. From Steve Stratton's introduction, " the concept was to do a tour through Southern California where the kids had to log on to our website to find out where we were going". Kind of a cool concept. And, there's three Suski pictures in the article! 

All photos by Andrew Mapstone. Thank you to Tim Aguilar for asking for this to be scanned.

Hosoi & Hawk at the 2008 Quiksilver '80s Vert Jam

From the Squawk Box section of the March 2009 Skateboarder. Tony Hawk looks on and Christian Hosoi soars a one-foot lien a few feet above coping. The Video Gab section on the right side is also pretty fun to read. Crazy to think how many memorable skate videos were being made at the same time.

photo: Dan Bourqui

The Mappa Tassy Tour: Almost Destroys Tasmania

This article appeared in the March 2009 Skateboarder issue, written by Anthony Mapstone and photos by Andrew Mapstone. It includes a photo of a young Shane O'Neill at the end. Earlier in this same issue in Squawk Box section, he's announced as being the newest member of the Skate Mental team.

Squawk Box section announcing Shane on Skate Mental. Dan Z shot the photo sequence.

Anthony Pappalardo grinding a bus in the rain

From the Howl section of the March 2009 issue of Skateboarder. Blew my mind when I first saw it. Photo by John Bradford.

Hazing Skateboarders and Interns - March 2009 issue of Skateboarder

Coincidentally or maybe not, The Question article and the 15 Things article in this issue both have a hazing theme to them. Poor Elias. At the same time, being an intern at Skateboarder sounded really, really awesome. There's also some pretty gnarly stories in The Question article. Figgy's nollie feeble sequence was shot by John Bradford.

I want to also state as a disclaimer that I as an individual think hazing is really, really stupid. That being said, I have participated in that type of behavior before, as probably many of us have. These articles should not be seen as a condemnation of the skaters within them, but rather as a snapshot of a moment in time of what the skateboarding industry was like in the past. It's possible to read these articles and laugh at some of the stories while also simultaneously cringing at them.

Enjoy.

Andrew Allen interview from the March 2009 issue of Skateboarder

This was the first interview with Andrew Allen that I ever read. I remember the 50-50 on the bank to rail standing out to me. And there's a nice Van Wastell story at the end of the interview.

Words by Chris Nieratko, photos by John Bradford.

Mare's Milk & Monty: The Kazakhstan Adventure - March 2009 Skateboarder

Jonathan Mehring articles were one of my favorite parts of Skateboarder. In addition to the skating, he would show much about the people & culture of a place that skaters had travelled to. I always thought it was a nice touch and added something extra. Words and photos by Mehring.

This photo sequence from the trip appeared at the front of this issue: