 Zach Petschek
Name: Zach Petschek Hometown: Lemon Grove, CA Photos/Video: Headline photo and photo #2 Chris Orwig. Photos #1 and #3 Brian Walnum Favorite/home park or locale? There are so many to name. I love the Sav-on ledges in Lemon Grove. That was always a classic spot. The Dream Skatepark in La Mesa, otherwise known as “The Chamber” was a great little indoor park because it was open late and skating distance from my house. I learned a lot of tricks there and met a bunch of pros that came in for an all out miniramp session. Skater’s Point in Santa Barbara was a great park too. I lived in SB for 4 years while going to school. It was the only skatepark less than an hour away. I mastered a lot of tricks there and got them on lock.
Best place you have ever skated? I think the best place I ever skated was either the Adio Skatepark or the Wilderness bowl in Santa Barbara. The Adio park was rad because everything was built well and challenging. Since it was a private park there were not a lot of people sitting on the ledges and standing at the bottom of a ramp. It was just pure skateboarding. The vibe in that place was always heated. Everyone was amped up on skating, but it wasn’t a competition. You could see someone kickflip backlip the step up rail, then 5 minutes later he’s trying to slappy a ledge. It was serious but not too serious. That is also what I like about the Wilderness bowl. It was a backyard pool built specifically for skateboarding. The homeowner would skate with us every time and put a few of us to shame. The concrete was rough and the coping was choppy, but it was all in the name of having fun. Steve Olson (the original Steve Olson) once said “whoever’s having the most fun, wins”. The Wilderness Bowl was an example of what he was trying to say. It was all about hanging out with friends and friendly competition. Both of these places were the best places I have skated thus far.
Furthest you have ever traveled to for skating? When I worked in La Mesa installing countertops I would always get out of work at 4. Then I’d skate 7 miles to the Mount Miguel Church in Spring Valley to skate. I did this everyday. On the weekends we would drive to LA, Riverside, Hollywood and sometimes San Francisco to go skate. We did this on a regular basis for a few years. I plan on going to Arizona and New York sometime in the not too distant future on a skate voyage. I skated Paris and Marseille briefly last year. I have full intentions of going back next Summer. The greatest thing about skateboarding is that it’s endless. New buildings and skateparks and stairs and ledges are being made everyday. Even if you were the last person on earth and no more obstacles were being created, you still couldn’t skate everything. But it’s fun to try!
Career skating accomplishments or highlights: I am excited about creating HesH SesH with my friend John Snay. I have been skating since 1995. As of today that’s 13 years. We have had a lot of good times that could only have come from skateboarding. There was a spot called the Mount Miguel Church. It was church in Spring Valley that let us bring boxes and ramps onto the basketball courts and skate to our hearts content. There were a lot of good memories there. Sadly it was closed down and we had no other place to call home. As a memory of this event we started HesH SesH. It’s a skateboard event we do at Dallas Park. We bring boxes and rails out for people to skate freely. We have a barbeque and a best trick contest for anyone that comes by. It gives the kids some place to skate and gather. It’s a hang out spot for everyone. This is what I am most proud of.
Best Wipeout? Does best mean worst? I broke my foot learning nose manuals. That was the worst. I cut out of class early (don’t try this kids) on my last day. I was skating a fun box and I was still learing nose manuals. For some reason I had them and was almost landing them. I went to nollie out of it and bailed it. When I went to put my front foot down it caught on the ground and rolled sole-up. I broke 3 metacarpals in my foot and I was out for the summer. That means I didn’t get to skate all summer. That’s probably the worst injury I had because of how it resulted.
Street or Vert? I used to skate only street. As time goes on I skate more and more parks. I don’t skate vert though. There’s something about floating 14’ above the ground in a horizontal position that frightens me.
Shoes? I’m still stuck in the 90’s I like the simple construction of double layer suede, triple stitched with lace guards and a fat tongue. I used to cut the tongue out of my old shoes and stuff them into my shoes. I remember everyday someone would fall and tongues would go flying everywhere. Thank god I don’t do that anymore. That’s embarrassing to admit.
What makes your style unique? I have been accused of sktaing the sketchiest of things. O guess the more awkward or difficult an object is to sktae, the more I want to skate it. I usually skate things in ways that no one thought of. My tricks are my style.
Describe your favorite board: Powell mini logo #113, 58 mm wheels so I can haul ass, bones swiss bearings, and independent trucks that are at least a month old. New trucks are lame because the pivot cup and bushings are too stiff. New trucks grind better though because they are still round and have less resistance on concrete.
What else do you do? I am a photographer professionally and web developer amatuerally (check out Zach's photography here). I photograph skateboarding, people and some events. Photography and skateboarding go hand in hand. Skateboarding is involves a creative outlook on the world around you. Photography involves documenting the world around you and creating an idea or concept from the manipulation of light and shadow. I always had an interest in photography but it didn’t solidify until I started skating and we started taking photos of eachouther skating the city. I remember getting those disposable cameras and trying to make something of it. The photos always came out terrible and unpredictable but it was still an image. I have a huge box full of all the negatives and prints from way back then. One day I’ll scan and archive them. One day.
Skater you admire most: That’s difficult. I admire skateboarding more than skateboarders. I have respect for skateboarders that do it just for the fun of it, but when it comes right down to it I just like to skate. I respect pros for what they can do on a skateboard (which often times seems like magic to me) but other than that they are still just people. Some seem to believe otherwise but that's cool for them I guess.
Why? Why not? I enjoy being around people that are absolutely dedicated to their craft. When I am skateboarding I like to be surrounded by guys (or girls) that love skating to the point that they don't care what they are skating.
What makes your life so great? I get to give back to the "sport" that has given me so much in my life. I get to contribute to the next generation of skaters by having the HesH SesH every 2 months and by photographing skateboarders ripping. I enjoy photographing skateboarding because it gets me close to the action and I witness rare instances in this world that most people do not get to see. My job is to take a split second of the action and tell the entire story of ambiance and what went down.
How do you reduce, reuse, and reride? When I am skating on my own my favorite thing to do is skate behind large grocery stores and department stores to see what they have thrown out. A lot of times with a little elbow grease you can make a unique obstacle and make art out of junk. I don't buy it new when I don't have to and I am adement about my friends recycling their bottles and cans, regardless of where we are at. I always have a stash of about 10 old decks that I break out every so often and reskate or hand out to kids that I think are ripping. To quote Craig Stecyk, "Skateboarders, by their very nature, are urban guerillas: they make everyday use of the useless artifacts of the technological burden, and employ the handiwork of the government/corporate structure in a thousand ways that the original architects could never dream of." This is why I skateboard.
Anyone you want to plug? John Snay, Jonathan Spooner, Craig Price, Michelle Oleary, Steve Leyendecker (wherever you are), Luc Buresch, Bryan Reilly, and the MMC crew. You guys rock and I wouldn't be where I am without you.
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