Skateboarding in 2016, at a point where you would think the levels it could reach may have to some extent plateaued, seem to be progressing faster than ever – not just in skill levels and gnarliness, but in a willingness to skate everything. The ‘ATV’ is more prevalent than ever; and, with the internet offering immediate access to what some of the most talented skateboarders in the world are doing, what is possible within skateboarding is being pushed daily.
With skateboarding growing ever gnarlier, techer or just downright bonkers, taking ever more technical street-honed tricks to transitions – something popularised in the early 90s which slowly faded out of fashion as vert skating started seeing a lean towards higher airs and further rotation – is bound to make a comeback sooner rather than later. We decided it was high time to pay homage to these wizards of the coping, from vert innovators like Chris Miller, Steve Douglas and Chad Vogt (Danny Way, of course, was fucking with both airs and lip tricks like it was nowt) to Daewon and Haslam, whose ‘Cheese and Crackers’ video reopened the floodgates for miniramp tech. Hold me closer coping dancer…