How It Went Down: California Street

A written history of the California Street gap in San Francisco, written by Adam Salo for the September 2007 issue of Skateboarder. 

How It Went Down: Wilshire Rails

A history of the Wilshire rails, written by Adam Salo for the March 2006 issue of Skateboarder. Cover photos by Jaime Owens and Shigeo, respectively.

How It Went Down: UCI Hubba & Rail

The How It Went Down write-up for the UCI hubba and rails, written by Adam Salo for the December 2007 issue of Skateboarder. I wonder if this spot has the same meaning to younger skaters who've grown up seeing it skated by Braden Hoban, Jamie Foy and Tiago Lemos, as it did to skaters when this article was written.

How It Went Down: Hollywood High

The How It Went Down write-up for Hollywood High, written by Adam Sullivan for the November 2007 issue of Skateboarder.

How It Went Down: Santa Monica Triple Set

The How It Went Down page for the Santa Monica Triple Set, written by Adam Salo and published in the October 2007 issue of Skateboarder. I always loved these.

How It Went Down: Hubba Hideout

From the October 2006 issue of Skateboarder. Words by Adam Salo and photo by Bryce Kanights. Reading this was the very first time I had heard of Hubba Hideout.

How It Went Down: Love Gap

A brief write-up on the history of the fountain gap at Love Park, written by Adam Salo for the April 2006 issue of Skateboarder. This lists Choppy Omega as the first skater to ollie it.

How It Went Down: The China Banks

This article was written by Adam Salo for the January 2007 issue of Skateboarder. Thrasher did a much more comprehensive story on this spot in 2022, but it's still cool to read this article now to see how people perceived and talked about the spot in 2006/2007.

During my trip to San Francisco last year, my wife and I were able to make a quick stop at the Banks, and I snapped a bunch of pictures. I didn't bring my board, but I probably would have struggled just to do a small backside carve. Anything that's been done there is remarkable!

Some photos from my visit:

The Joe Valdez ollie spot:

Heck of a view!

How It Went Down: San Diego Sports Arena

The How It Went Down article from the July 2007 issue of Skateboarder, written by Adam Sullivan. No photo credit given for the photo of Jeremy Wray's triple set ollie, except that it was provided courtesy of Element Skateboards. This was published 17 years ago, so a bit more has gone down at this spot since it was written.

How It Went Down: Gonz's Alcatraz Frontside Pivot

A brief summary of the preparation and execution of the only skate session to go down on Alcatraz Island, which written for one of my favorite monthly Skateboarder features in the May 2007 issue. My wife and I visited the site earlier this year, and I made sure to get some pictures of the spot.

Gonz' Alcatraz Frontside Pivot

For the How It Went Down article in the May 2007 issue of Skateboarder, Adam Salo wrote a short piece about the backstory to Bryce Kanights' photo of Mark Gonzales' pivot at Alcatraz in 1988. For a long time, this was the only picture from this session to be printed, but within the last year or so a couple others popped up in Thrasher in a retrospective photo feature. Thanks to Adam Salo for putting this and other great How It Went Down articles together for Skateboarder.