Chris Haslam (skateboarder)
 Chris Haslam in 2011 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Chris Haslam |
| Born | December 19, 1980 Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada |
| Sport | |
| Country | Canada |
| Sport | Skateboarding |
Chris Haslam (born December 19, 1980)[1] is a Canadian professional skateboarder[2] whose natural stance is "Goofy". He is recognized as an innovative skateboarder whose skateboarding is defined by creativity and progression.[3]
Early life[]
When he was 11 years of age, Haslam relocated to Singapore with his parents.[4] Haslam's family returned to Canada for a year in 1996, living in Komoka, and Haslam attended St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School in London, Ontario.[citation needed]
Haslam's interest in skateboarding began in November 1993, prior to his thirteenth birthday, and his first skateboard deck was from the Santa Cruz company. The first skateboard trick that Haslam learned was a 'kickflip'.[4][5][6]
While residing in Singapore, Haslam entered his first skateboard contest alongside his brother. The contest was a mini-ramp contest and Haslam eventually achieved fourth place after initially tying for third place with his brother. Haslam explained in an interview: "I think they couldn’t give the trophy out to two dudes though, so I guess they put me in fourth place, so I ended up with that."[6]
Career[]
Haslam's first ever magazine cover photograph was for the publication, Concrete Powder—the photograph was taken at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Haslam head was shaved in the image, and he is executing an ollie, a trick in which the skateboard is elevated by manipulating the skateboard deck with the feet only.[6]
Following his promotion to professional status, Haslam received his first signature skateboard model and described the design process in a magazine interview with the SBC Skateboard magazine:
I had two at the same time. One was the rocker dude, who was all white, with pink and blue and had spandex pants on and Van Halen tee ... Then there was another one—the Grizzly Haslam. My friend Mark Anderson wrote up this whole thing on why, for my first graphic, is should be the Grizzly Haslam. He made his own little graphic of this man with a bear and had all these photos of Grizzly Adams and a bear. We weren’t really feeling the board graphic on either of them so we just took one of the photos that he sent us, and it was five or 10 minutes before we had to send it in, so it was like "Shit, what are we going to do?" So we just put it on there, and we had this crazy photo of my face that we shot on there and it looked Photoshopy. I think that was one of my best boards that I ever had, it was pretty sick.[6]
By 1998, Chris rode for the Boarding House, a skate shop in Vancouver BC run by strong skating locals John Raimondo and Jeff Logan.
Once it opened in October 1998, Chris spent a lot of time honing his many skills at the Richmond skatepark, just outside Vancouver near the airport, YVR. Essentially, this became his home park, and he quickly gained friends, fans (kids) and kudos, as he immediately became the dominant skater (and ambassador) at this half street and half transition park.
Chris generously flowed product(s) new and used, to the Vancouver/Richmond locals and particularly to the younger kids. It only took Chris a couple of years to gain global respect and achieve a legitimate career; his stunning and technical skating at Vancouver's Slam City Jam (SCJ) contests won him the Best Trick at least once, with a one-footed BS Smith grind down a rail in 2001.
Haslam was a team rider for Daewon Song's Deca brand (under the Dwindle Distribution company), and it was with this company that he photographed his first ad, in which he was executing a '360-flip' (similar to a kickflip, but the board spins on two axes) on the loading dock of a warehouse. Haslam was a flow rider for the DC Shoe Company at the time.[6]
Following the demise of Deca, Haslam, alongside Cooper Wilt, was asked by Song to join Song's short-lived, subsequent board company, Artafact (it existed between 2002 and 2003).[7]
Around 2003 he joined Almost Skateboards along with fellow pro skaters, Song (Thrasher magazine's 2006 Skater of the Year), Mullen and Wilt.[8] Soon after joining the new company, Haslam appeared in an "Either/Or" feature for Skateboarder magazine, in which he is photographed by the editor of the publication, Jaime Owens, from mirror-image angles while performing the same trick (the skateboarder was therefore required to perform the trick in both regular and switch stance). Haslam performed a trick called a "Salad grind" on the same handrail that was used by Guy Mariano and Jason Lee in the Blind video, Video Days.[9]
Haslam gained attention and popularity after the debut of the Almost: Round Three video. This was followed in 2006 by the video Cheese and Crackers, in which Haslam and Song showcase their miniramp skills in an abandoned Long Beach, US, warehouse that was formerly a methamphetamine laboratory. It also features Haslam and his teammate Cooper Wilt skating an offroad skateboard.[10] Song stated in 2011 that during the filming of the video, Haslam performed tricks that he had not yet seen (at that time) on a miniramp.[11]
Haslam joined the Globe shoes team in 2006[12] and was also the star of Globe's United By Fate Part 2 episodic video in August 2007.[13] As of October 2012, Haslam has released two signature shoe models with Globe, "The Sabaton" and "The Odin".[14][15]
Together with Brandon Biebel and Jose Rojo, among others, Haslam joined the team of the Momentum skateboard wheel company. Professional skateboarder, Rick McCrank, is the owner of the brand, in addition to being a team member. Momentum is distributed by Blitz Distribution (Hook-Ups, Life Extension, Sk8 Mafia). In April 2007, Haslam had a video part in the Momentum wheel company's debut video Un Momentum (Por Favor).[16] While on a 2008 Almost tour in Tasmania, Australia, Haslam was featured in an article in the Sunday Tasmanian newspaper, under the headline, "World's Most Unlikely Hero".[17]
In December 2011, Haslam left Momentum to join the Bones wheel team and a brief video segment was published on the Internet to coincide with the sponsor change—the video depicts Haslam first setting up his board, with the use of his first Bones signature wheels, and then Haslam is shown performing a series of tricks in street environments.[18][19] Since being sponsored by Bones, Haslam's signature wheels have featured a comic-style caveman design,[20] a chainsaw,[21] and a "lagoon monster".[22]
Haslam received the final part in the 2012 Almost video 5 Incher; the concluding trick in the part is a "rock-to-kickflip-to-fakie" ("fakie" is when the skateboarder rides out of a trick backwards) on a transitional structure.[23] Haslam filmed a video part that is featured in the second Bones full-length video New Ground that was released in February 2013 and featured other team members, such as Moose, Matt Berger, Kevin Romar, and Jordan Hoffart.[24][25]
Haslam is a playable character in Electronic Art (EA)'s skateboarding video game series skate.[26]
Sponsors[]
As of August 2013, Haslam's sponsors are Almost, Independent Trucks, Bones Wheels, Bones Bearings, Turbokolor, Vestal, Dakine, Leftover Hardware, glassy sun haters [27] and Globe.[28][29]
On 5 April 2017 Chris announced on his Facebook page he was parting ways with Almost Skateboards and Globe Shoes.
″It has come that time when I must part ways with my comrades at Almost Skateboards and Globe shoes. Can't really put 16 years of thank you's into a measly IG post but....thanks for all the sweet adventures over the years friends✌