Danny Way
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Danny Way (born April 15, 1974 in Portland, Oregon) is a professional skateboarder.
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[edit] 1980s
He rode for Powell Peralta in the late 1980s. He was featured, with Chet Thomas, in very short segment in the Powell video "Public Domain." Soon after Way left Powell to ride for H-Street, a then little known company. H-Street became a huge success, and Way took vert and mini ramp skating to previously unimagined levels.
[edit] 1990s
In 1990, Way left H-Street to join Blind.
He left Blind in late 1991 to start a new company called Plan B with former H-Street co-founder Mike Ternasky.
Way was named Skater of the Year by Thrasher Magazine in 1991.
Having already established himself as one of the best skateboarders on vertical halfpipes, 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 is not part of the Plan B video "Second Hand Smoke" that was made in 1994.
He returned to skateboarding in 1995 to win the Tampa Pro Vert Competition.
He broke the world record for the highest air on a skateboard in 1997. He did a 12-foot kickflip, and is the first skateboarder to drop out of a helicopter into a ramp. The feat was repeated in 1999 for MTV.
[edit] 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. Way 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 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 longest 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.
He won another gold in the 2006 X Games Big Air. He did this by clearng the 70ft gap with a backflip, riding the half-pipe to a height of 95.0ft and pulling off what was said to be the biggest and longest vert Christ Air ever.
I Am: Danny Way, a Documentary on Danny was chosen as one of the top 5 best films in the world this year at the 2007 lat34 X-Dance Action Sports FIlm Festival. It was nominated for best director for Jason Bergh and Greg Hunt as well as best biography.
[edit] Contest history
- 7th in 1989 NSA Contest (Hawaii): mini ramp (his 1st contest as a professional).
[edit] References
- Brooke, Michael (1999). Concrete Wave: The History Of Skateboarding. ISBN 1-894020-54-5.
