This post is a bout some of the hardest skateboarding bails recorded on camera in history. The skateboard crashes and bails that really stick to your mind.
I wanted to create this blog post, not so people could sit clenching their private parts or fall off their chairs laughing (I guess which one you are depends on the type of person you are, more than the video clips and falls which I list below), but rather to highlight the human ability to get the f*ck back up and keep skateboarding. Some would even reference Rodney Mullen and his statements about how skateboarders are the definition of if you first fail, get back up and try again, because we definitely learn, we just never learn to stop. Anyway, the thing that always comes to mind when I think of the hardest bails and most painful crashes is the one by Jake Brown on the vert pipe doing big air at Xgames 13, so we will start there.
Jake Brown – Free Fall XGames 13
Now I dont know about anyone else, but every time I see this I still cant wrap my mind around how A) he doesnt break a bone, I mean he should have been squished and snapped something, but also B) how on earth did he manage to walk away from this? This is my number one hardest skateboarding bails.
Jamie Thomas – Leap of Faith
This skateboarding clip is one of those ridiculously famous clips that everyone in the skateboarding world knows of, but technically he didn’t land it did he? Now I’m not criticising because I sure as hell wouldn’t attempt this. Jamie Thomas jumps off what looks like almost 2-3 floors of steps (18 foot), which is like 3 of me standing on my shoulders. Therefor this has to go down as a damn hard bail, and lets face it, most would snap an ankle or break a leg doing this… he walks away.
Jordan Grace – The Slam
You know that intimidation feeling you get every time you roll up up a set and theirs the nicest rail in the world? Ok it’s nice for only that moment, but reality hits in and you start to question is it even possible… Well this slam by Jordan Grace will make you feel a hell of a lot better for all those times you chose not to try. He clearly bails but the rail still gets in the way and he smacks his head/neck so hard it just looks like something no body should really watch never mind experience. This purely for the mental impact on my mind, has to be in the hardest skateboarding bails I’ve watched.
Opinion by Globe Shoes Credits – Drop to Rail
This bail came up on reddit, which is where I first discovered it and I’ll be honest. I feel like I’m still holding my junk years later. It taught me one thing about skateboarding, and that was dont try to go off a drop and over a rail. Your future is more important. I’ve no idea of the guys outcome, but for the impact this put on my mind when skateboarding, I will definitely rank it as one of the hardest bails ever recorded in skateboarding.
Sky Brown – Worst Fall Yet
I might be over critical here, but I have a daughter who skateboards and I would have stuffed that gap between the pipes with crash matts and padded posts etc, I can appreciate that sometimes you just cant prevent the fall, but we can definitely minimise the impact by implementing some decent safety gear. It reminds me of Tony Hawks bail where he basically did the same thing. Unfortunately Sky Brown is a lot smaller and younger, so the impact is worse in my opinion. Therefore this bail by Sky Brown has to be in my list of nasty and hardest skateboarding bails caught on camera.
Ok, so there you have it. The bails and crashes in skateboarding that have scarred me for life, and will always have an impact on my skateboarding. Sometimes things are just plain stupid like the Opinion by Globe Shoes clip and other times, there’s absolutely nothing we can do, it just goes wrong. Never the less it’s amazing that most skateboarders, add these falls to their bag of fears and aim to overcome them, so that they can be better at skateboarding and make sure that they can continue doing what they love.
