Questions for: Danny Way

By CONOR DOUGHERTY

DannyWay.com

Danny Way performs a backflip at the 2008 X-Games.

Skateboarders distinguish themselves by staying on the board, but recently much of the attention has gone to those who fall off of it.

Two years ago, skateboarder Jake Brown became a YouTube phenomenon after he walked away from a 40-foot fall at the X-Games "Skateboard Big Air" event. At this year's X-Games, Danny Way also took a major spill. On the way down from a massive air, he clipped his legs and spun down the 27-foot-tall quarterpipe. This set up what was perhaps his most heroic moment: Several minutes later, Mr. Way limped away and went back up the ramp, and eventually completed the run that earned him an X-Games silver medal.

The past three decades have seen skateboarding rise from the streets, backyard pools and skate parks to ramps of roller coaster proportions. Of course this adds to the thrill and viewer appeal, but it also results in more grisly falls, like those suffered by Messrs. Brown and Way.

Mr. Way, who is 34 and lives in Encinitas, Calif., has been a driving force in the sport's evolution. Peers praise him as much for his versatility -- he has distinguished himself on everything from street-scape handrails to mammoth ramps. But the general public knows him for his fearlessness. After several years of experimentation with bigger and bigger ramps, Mr. Way created what he calls the Mega Ramp: an 80-foot-tall monstrosity that is ascended via elevator, and from which skateboarders can make 75-foot jumps en route to airs higher than 20 feet.

The Wall Street Journal: Talk about the Mega Ramp -- and the physics behind it. Did you know what would happen on the first run?

Danny Way: I built one prototype prior to the Mega Ramp in 2001, I think it was, for this contest called the "King of Skate." I built the first prototype and it was a little bit smaller than the Mega Ramp. I had two of the other ramps I built before that, and I called them the super ramps back then. But there was never a calculation, just human trial and error. Finally when I built the [Mega Ramp], I just kind of free-styled the dimensions with all the knowledge I'd accumulated in the past and kind of eyeballed a lot of it as it went.

DannyWay.com

Skateboarder Danny Way on his ramp.

The first run, yeah, we didn't know what was going to happen. I got shot off the jump like a cannon and I went into like a frontside 900 (a spin of two and a half revolutions) I think. I was just completely out of control, landed on my stomach on the ramp and slid down backwards on my stomach. I didn't know what to do. I had so much speed.

WSJ: Do you think the Mega Ramp is a new frontier, or will it remain an exhibition for the select group of guys who are capable of riding it?

Danny Way: There's more than 10 guys that can do it now. I don't see it going backwards. I feel like the vert guys (skateboarders who ride the standard U-shaped ramps with high walls) are feeling a little bit of pressure to evolve to it. [On a vert ramp] you can only go so high, and you can only have so much time in the air to do this or that. But on the Mega, there is so much more time and everything is so much more long and drawn out that it opens another spectrum of possibilities.

WSJ: Do you think the X-Games plays up the falls too much? It can be really uncomfortable to watch.

Danny Way: I think it's great that they exploit the slams. That's the biggest part of people understanding the seriousness of what we do. It's unfortunate the person that slams has to go through that experience and deal with the repercussions of it. But Jake [Brown], for example, he did so much for the Mega event. They emphasized the slam, but that also brought so much of a focus to our event. It just gives everyone that much more opportunity and makes it that much more exciting. God forbid someone should get hurt, but sometimes it's good to have things put in perspective. If we're going to create an event for the public, the goal is to have people on the edge of their seats biting their nails not knowing what's going to happen next.

God forbid it happens, but it's possible for somebody to get really, really hurt. It's the same thing with motocross. Freestyle moto, guys doing double flips and front flips and stuff, that stuff's deadly, too. That's why people come to watch it.

WSJ: You've been active in other sports, such as Motocross, snowboarding and surfing. Are you still cross-training?

Danny Way: I would like to, but I've minimized it down to a couple. I used to be pretty serious about racing motorcycles when I was younger and I used to go out and jump with my buddies that were pro. Now, with the opportunities I have on skateboard, it's pretty stupid for me to be out there on my motorcycle jumping, like, 150 feet.

I still surf, and I'll go snowboarding, too. I have more of a connection with surfing. I started surfing at the same age I started skateboarding. And there's something about being in the water that's, I guess, cleansing.

WSJ: The Mega Ramp's dimensions have more in common with motocross than skateboarding. Did experience with motorcycles push you to think bigger?

Danny Way: I'll tell you right now, without going out and jumping those distances on my motorcycle, I wouldn't have had the visual perspective or the speed perspective. [After jumping on a motorcycle], I always felt like, God, if I could jump through the air like this on my skateboard I'd be so psyched. I've got to somehow translate this into skateboarding someday. I would definitely credit motocross to giving me that motivation to fuel a possibility.

WSJ: How do you control the fear up there, especially after so many injuries?

Danny Way: If you're not ready to be able to face the repercussions of what you're doing, then I really feel like you shouldn't be doing it. You've got to be geared up for the worst-case scenario and be able to accept that before you get up there and before it happens. You don't go up with a negative mind set, but by no means do you underestimate what the hazard is.

WSJ: What do you think of the idea of skateboarding in the Olympics?

Danny Way: I really pray that skateboarding doesn't go to the Olympics, and there's a lot of reasons why. I just feel like the Olympics need us more than we need them. I don't think it's going to bring any more opportunities except for maybe a Wheaties commercial.

Our skate community is so solid. The industry is so solid. I don't think skateboarding getting associated with the 50-yard dash or pole vaulting or water ballet or whatever it is -- it doesn't fit in there.

WSJ: How is it helping to run a company, Plan B skateboards, in addition to skateboarding?

Danny Way: I've been around a long time. Plan B is a big part of my career, and mentoring younger guys [who represent the company] is a big part of what I do. I grew up being mentored and it's like a changing of the guard now.

Write to Conor Dougherty at conor.dougherty@wsj.com

Original here