For over 35 years, the China Banks have been skated up in San Francisco. It's a legendary spot, skaters around the world and across generations have seen photos and video from there. Here's the story of the China Banks, courtesy of Thrasher magazine. This 28 minute mini-doc speaks for himself.
Looking for a new project, as we were coming out of the Covid era in the last couple of months, I ran across this video. What struck me is that it's a short documentary about a skate spot, a location. There have been documentaries in skateboarding, with Stacy Peralta's 2001 Dogtown and Z-Boys leading the way, back in 2001. Mark Eaton's Joe Kid on a Stingray told the story of BMX racing and freestyle. Steve Rocco's World Industries story was told in The Man Who Souled the World. Later Stacy Peralta did Bones Brigade: An Autobiography. But this China Banks video above, was the first solid documentary I've seen about a skate spot. Not only is this just a great video. but as a blogger, and video guy back in the day, I thought, "these sports are old enough now that spots, locations, have their own stories to tell now." That thought kind of stuck with me.
Anyone who skated or rode bikes, or any action sport, hears about, and sessions, different spots, some local, and some that are well known in that sport, that world. And some spots just take on a life of their own. Kenter School Banks. H.B. Pier Bank. Baldy Pipe. Camp 4 at Yosemite. Joshua Tree. Pipeline Skatepark. Kona Skatepark. Venice Beach. Embarcadero. Calabassas Jumps. Brooklyn Banks. The Spot in Redondo Beach. Posh. Hueco Tanks. Sheep Hills. Ocean Beach. Whistler. Mount Baker/Batchelor. Hollywood High Rail. El Toro. BMXer's skaters, snowboarders, climbers, and the rest, all have stories of their favorite spots. Many also have stories of a trek to some well known spot, like Baldy Pipe, or wherever.
This documentary about the China Banks made me think of all the other spots out there, and all the stories people have of all the spots. At the same time, I had just taken a break from 5 1/2 years of scraping by with my Sharpie Scribble Style, mostly while homeless, I've been looking for another way to make a living, using my weird collection of creative skills. I really suck at a lot of aspects of creative work, but I've become a good, if not profitable, blogger, and a few other things. I've been looking for a new direction.
As I said in the third post, a few days ago, I was sitting under a bridge, as a homeless guy, getting out of the heat, looking at this bank no one skates or rides, across the road. The pieces fell together in my head. Maybe it's time to cover the spots themselves. This video of the China Banks, above, was part of that equation, I've watched it 4 or 5 times now. It showed me that a spot, a location, can have a great story itself. So I'm getting this blog going with several of the documentaries that already exist, compiling them with some of my own thoughts here and there. I'll throw in a few streets spots I've stumbled across, as well as checking out skateparks and other riding spots.
There are websites that tell people where some of the street spots are in places, and there are guides to where the skateparks are located. I'm going to collect stories from spots in multiple sports, and throw some art spots and other stuff in here and there, and we'll see where this all goes. One thing us Old School Has Been/Never Was BMXers, skaters, snowboarders, and others know from experience, starting down a direction that you're stoked on can, and often does, lead to things you could never imagine at the start. So... Thanks for checking out this blog. Where is this leading? I don't know either, that's half the fun.
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