Passing the Torch
Steve and Chad Withrow
Interview by Colin Choy
Recently, I’ve been skating at Chandler Skatepark in Arizona regularly since it
opened back in March of this year, and I always run in to this pair of rippers that
just blow me away every time. Steve Withrow and his 12 year old stepson Chad are
regulars in the big bowl and I rarely see them skate anything else. Steve, 38, is of the
old school. His style brings me back to the early days of skateparks and empty pools. Chad
has followed in his father’s footsteps and skates primarily vert. Now here’s the
kicker; Chad has only been skating for about 10 months! He’s already grinding the 9
ft. deep end frontside and kills the rest of the pool with sick speed lines. I had a chance
to talk to them recently and here’s what they had to say:
CC: Colin Choy
CC: Steve, so when and where did you start skating?
SW: I got my first board on Christmas of 75. I was so stoked. I rode down a
hill on my butt.. then my feet. The skateboard was from a 7-11; plastic and all, but
it was awesome to me. It all started for me on a Christmas day in Tacoma, Washington
1975. That’s all I wanted to do was skate!
CC: Washington? Too damn rainy. Being a native of California, I can
remember going to all of the skateparks going on back in those days, what were
some of your favorite spots to skate?
SW: Well in 1980 I moved to California, the scene for me in Tacoma was not
cutting it. We had a park there, it sucked...indoors that was the only good thing
about it. There was a half way decent teardrop pool there. That’s where we always
sessioned. I was 3rd in state for a while. I wanted more. Looking at all the
mags and seeing the pro`s made me hungry for something more. So, I packed up
CC: Yeah, The good ol’ days. So who were the rippers back then and what were
some of the rad tricks being done at the time?
SW: To me everybody was a ripper but, if I had to pick one person it would be
Cab, that guy just blew me away at Winchester. I thought the ollie air back
then was the biggest thing, and when Mike Mcgill did the first 540. All the tricks that
where pioneered back then are what is going on now but it’s all done on the street.
CC: I understand that you took a hiatus from skating for a while. How long did
you quit skating and why?
SW: Well I got older. In my 20`s bars where looking good and so were the women
and all the parks where closing. I just burned out on it. Without the parks
there was really nowhere to skate and street skating was not me.
CC: So we’re talkin’ like 18 years or so. That’s a long time not to ride. What
brought you back?
SW: Well it’s funny. Last Christmas my stepson wanted rollerblades. Hmm… “No”
I thought. So I bought him a skateboard. What a shock I got when I stepped into
a skate shop for the first time in many years, all the boards where freestyle
boards 7.50x31.00; where were the big boards? Things really have changed. Well I
got the board and a couple of weeks after that he wanted to go to the wedge
(skatepark). When we got there it all happened again for me. 15 years later
the fire still burned. I rode his board more then him. A couple of days later I went and bought me a board as close as I could get to the old school. Been riding ever since.
CC: Now that you’re skating again with your son, How does the scene compare
with the 70’s? How about the terrain?
SW: I will be honest, I don’t care for all the street skating. The way kids
dress with their shoes untied; I just don’t get it. It will never compare to the
70`s and early 80`s. You know, I respect it, it’s their deal. but I will never sit down and
watch street skating. I guess that’s where it went after all the parks were
gone. What happened to all the style? The great teams? The huge competitions?
To me the only thing I have close to what it used to be like is Chandler skatepark. I love the big bowl in the back. I just have a whole different respect for vert now that I’m older.
CC: Are you as stoked as I am with Chad's natural ability to skate?
SW: You bet. I taught him how to drop in 8 months ago at the wedge. Now he is
at my heels, doing stuff now I can’t even do. Stuff that should take some one a
week to learn he does it that hour. I’ve skated with a lot of people and pro’s and I
CC: Chad, how old are you and how long has it been since you first started
skating?
CW: It’s been about 10 months and I’m 12 year old.
CC: Why is it that most kids your age seem to prefer street but I see you mostly
skating vert pools?
CW: they don’t have an example in their life like my dad, and they’re trying to
be all
trendy like everyone else and do same thing that everyone else is doing.
CC: Yeah, know whatcha mean. Who are some of your favorite skaters?
CW: Jay Adams, Shogo Kubo, Tony Alva, Christian Hosoi, Bob Burnquist, Lincoln
Ueda, Mike Mcgill, Lance Mountain, Cab, Jim Muir, Steve Steadham, and all of the
Z-Boyz and no, my dad did not tell me to say them.
CC: Those guys are still my heroes to this day! How does if feel to have a
rippin’ dad bringing you to the skatepark regularly?
CW: I feel cool that my dad goes to the skatepark and shreds with me. People
come up to me and go ”That’s your dad?” I feel grateful to have him in my life to show me
the roots of skating and where it all started.
CW: It’s been cool. I’ve learned as much as I could in one year. I’ve had fun
and met a lot of cool people. had ups and downs; like frontside grinds in the deep end. I’ve
skated a lot of parks. Vert’s where it’s at and will always be at.
CC: Hey thanks guys, I’ll let you get back to the session. I have total respect
for you both, you guys rip and provide an inspiration for all of us. I’m stoked to see
that the old school still lives and that there are kids out there that respect
us old dogs.
Colin Choy
For more pictures of Chad and Steve and Arizona skatepark photos visit Steve's The Grind web album.
SW: Steve Withrow
CW: Chad Withrow
and took a chance with some friends and moved to Cal. Our first stop was San
Jose (Winchester). I remember the first time I saw Cab.....man he shredded.
That pool was huge; I believe it was 15` deep. It was big! Cab made it look
small. I skated there for about a year. It was great. I moved back home for
awhile, met a chick who wanted to move back to cal so, away we went to San
Diego, CA. I remember the first day I went to the park (Del Mar). I skated
that place till it closed for good. I skated all the other parks and looking
back, Del mar to me was the best, everything about it, pulling up at night and
seeing Hawk and all the guys skating. I’ll never forget it. Best time of my
life....I will never forget it.
My heart will always be with vert, like the first time I saw Alva skating a
pool....oh my god I could not believe my eyes...look at it now. We can’t forget where
skating came from. I also thought the guys from Dogtown where the raddest around. Never
got to skate with them but I think they laid the seed down for skating, especially vert
skating.
think he has was it takes to go pro in a couple of years. That’s unheard of. It blows me
away at times, like when he dropped in the deep part of the bowl at Chandler, did a
50/50 on the other side and back in. The one good thing he has going for him besides a
ton of raw talent is he knows where skating came from and who the rippers were. He
knows all of the Dogtown names and even the person who did the first ollie air (Allen
Gelfand). Ask a lot of kids and they say “Rodney Mullen”. Wrong! I think
it’s really important for him to know what skating’s all about. His shoes are tied and he
rides a board that is 8.50x 33.00 and wants to step up to something wider. He really
has what it takes to make it.
CC: I don’t think that I have ever seen anyone rip as hard as you do for having
skated seriously for only 10 months. Can you sum up what the last year has been
like for you?