San Francisco’s Real Skateboards was founded in 1990 by street skateboarding pioneers Tommy Guerrero and Jim Thiebaud, who were unhappy with life at Powell. It has developed into a raw company with a list of pro riders now including many of the best skaters in the business, such as Peter Ramondetta, Dennis Busenitz, JT Aultz, Max Schaaf, Keith Hufnagel, Ernie Torres, Chima Ferguson, James Hardy and Ishod Wair.
There is also a Real am team featuring Davis Torgesen, Massimo Cavedoni, Alex Perelson, Kyle Walker and Robbie Brockel. Former am Jake Donnelly graduated to the pro team in 2013, and was presented with his first pro board by friends and family who all drove to LA from Jake’s hometown of Buffalo, New York for the occasion.
Other decks in the Real range include a re-release of Thiebaud’s famous ‘Hanging Klansman’ deck – the deck was first re-released in 2013 to celebrate the original’s 20th anniversary, but that print run sold out so quickly that another 300 were ordered for 2014, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Johnny Kicks Cancer Foundation. Real also offers completes, plus clothing including T-shirts, hats and sweatshirts.
Over the years, Real has released several amazing full-length videos including Non-Fiction (1997), Real to Reel (2001), Roll Forever (2005) and 2011’s Since Day One, which have helped to push back skateboarding boundaries again and again. In 2012, the company also released the first in the ‘Pushing’ series, featuring parts of its riders going back to their hometowns.