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Danny Way (born April 15, 1974 in Portland, Oregon) is a professional skateboarder.
1980s
Danny Way's father died when Danny was 8 months old. He went through a rough childhood with his mother working hard as a single parent. His mother re-married, and Danny Way gives credit to his step dad for his introduction to skating. Danny also played football and baseball, but quit for skateboarding. At age 15, Danny Way went through what he calls a "destructive era". He now loves to fish, as a way to get away from the world. He plays guitar, skates, and rides motorcycles with his boys. At the age of six, Way was a Del Mar local. In 1986, at age 12, he won his first competition. He was connected to the skateboarding scene shortly afterwards by Hosoi and Vision.
In 1988 at 14, Way was sponsored by Powell Peralta and rode for the Bones Brigade. At this time, he made his video debut in the classic skateboard film "Public Domain: Bones Brigade Video 4", which gave him prominent exposure to the skateboarding world. That same year, he quit Powell Peralta to turn professional for H-Street and was given the finale part in that company's first video, Shackle Me Not. Danny again was given the finale part in H-Street's follow up video, "Hokus Pokus", filmed in 1989 and released in February of the following year.
1990s
In 1990, Way left H-Street to join Blind. This was because he felt the team was getting too big (there were over 40 riders on the team), the very reason he had left Powell Peralta. he joined Blind because of their tight team and their riders' varied styles/
He left Blind in late 1991 to start a new company called Plan B Skateboards with former H-Street co-founder Mike Ternasky. This same year, he was named Skater of the Year by Thrasher Magazine.
Having already established himself as one of the best skateboarders on vert, Danny turned more attention to street skating as it became the only popular form of skateboarding in the early 1990's, and became among the best at this form as well. He has enduring video parts from 1992's Questionable and 1993's Virtual Reality.
In 1994, Way broke his neck due to a surfing accident. It took him a year to recover. For this reason, he was not part of the Plan B video Second Hand Smoke that was made in 1994. His recovery, considered miraculous by most in the industry, happened while Danny spent time in Hawaii receiving treatment from various alternative practicioners and witch doctors.
He returned to skateboarding in 1995 to win the Tampa Pro Vert Competition, surprising the many people who had counted him out of professional skateboarding for the rest of his life due to his injuries.
He broke the world record for the highest air on a skateboard in 1997. He did a 12-foot kickflip, and is the first and only skateboarder to drop out of a helicopter onto a ramp. The feat was repeated in 1999 for MTV.
2000s
Between 1999 and 2002 Danny underwent 7 surgeries, 5 on his knee and 2 on his shoulder.
Late in 2002, Way built the first Megaramp. He set a new ramp to ramp record of 65 feet and a new highest air record of 18 feet, 3 inches (5.6 m).
He won the Transworld Skateboarding Vert award in 2003.
A second version of the Megaramp was built. On June 19, 2003, Danny broke two world records in one run: the longest ramp to ramp record at 75 feet and the highest air at 23.5 feet. He also broke records for the highest Fast Plant, highest Christ Air, and highest McTwist. On May 26, the DC Video came out, with all the Megaramp footage. Later Way added the Megabox and the Rainbow Rail to the Megaramp for additional footage in the DC Deluxe Edition.
He won Best Vert at the 6th annual Transworld Skateboarding Awards. He won gold in 2004 at the first ever Skateboarding Big Air contest held at the X Games at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. He established a new distance record of 79 feet.
Late in 2004 he became the first and only person to win the Thrasher Magazine Skater of the Year twice.
On July 9, 2005, he jumped the Great Wall of China on a skateboard, becoming the first person to clear the wall without motorized aid, despite hurting his ankle the practice run the day before the jump.
On August 7, 2005, despite a sprained ankle and having his first three runs of the Finals leaving him far behind the leader pack, he managed a comeback to win the Summer X Games 11 Skateboarding Big Air contest. On his fourth run, he landed a frontside 360, gaining the highest score of all, a 94.75, which was good enough for his second-consecutive win in this event.
On April 6, 2006, Way set the world record for a bomb drop (a general skateboarding term for jumping off anything) in Las Vegas, Nevada He jumped off the 82 foot, 3 inch Fender Stratocaster guitar at Hard Rock Cafe into a quarter pipe*.
References
- Brooke, Michael (1999). Concrete Wave: The History Of Skateboarding. ISBN 1-894020-54-5.
External links
"Danny Way"