1. encinitas magazine | SUMMER 200838 |

2. the
Indefatigable,
Photo:GrantBrittain
Photo:SamWells
The Superman of
Skateboardingtells
Encinitas Magazine
about life and
leapingtall
buildings in
a single bound.
By Destiny Irons
SUMMER 2008 | encinitas magazine | 39

3. destructive outside of myself, like I was making a ruckus, riding motorcycles… I really
was trying to have as much fun as possible, but it was really just making a lot of noise
and not caring what the neighbors think.”
Marvel Comics’ Rocket Racer was a fellow hell-raiser, regular guy who designed
and built himself a supercharged skateboard and a weapon-laden skintight cos-
tume. Way passed on the tights and mask. Instead, he designed the Super Ramp. It
had a 40-foot drop, about 25 feet taller than normal half pipes. That year, on the
Super Ramp, he set a world record for the highest air. It seemed like there was no
limit to what he could do with this amazing new oversized gadget. That same year,
he became the first skateboarder ever to drop out of a helicopter onto a ramp, a
move called “The Bomb Drop.”
continued on pg 42
The Keyhole was a big deep empty
concrete pool at Del Mar Skate Ranch
that all of the pros were broken in on
at one time or another. Danny Way
remembers, “A drop in that pool was
a big accomplishment…” The most
amazing thing—Way was only seven
years old when he tried it and made it.
Born in Portland, Oregon, Way
says, “My dad died when I was eight
months old, so my mom kind of went
off the deep end when that happened.”
His mother moved his brother and
him to Encinitas where he started
hanging out with a rough crowd. The
boys took in a lot of things that kids
that young shouldn’t see. He saw
skateboarding as a way out. “That
gave me a tremendous amount of
motivation to do the exact opposite
of what I saw everyday. [There would]
always be people hanging out at the
house, doing drugs and drinking and
all this stuff. I always saw myself do-
ing something with my life bigger and
better….”
Way’s mother remarried when he
was about six years old. The new
family lived in Vista, where the
skateboarding scene was happening.
His stepfather encouraged the boys
to skateboard, buying their first decks
and taking them to the Del Mar Skate
Ranch to practice. Way took to skate-
boarding immediately with a fierce
passion, evincing an uncanny talent.
This supernatural ability to fly
through the air on a skateboard proved
to be lucrative in the late ’80s. There
were contests, sponsors, photos and
fame. By age 15, Way was earning
over $100,000 a year skateboarding.
He was living with his 18-year-old
brother. (Their mom, now divorced,
had moved to Mammoth.) Way was
raw, unchecked, power-raising hell in
his neighborhood. Way didn’t turn to
drugs, as he knew they would rob him of
his abilities. He says, “Instead, of being
more self-destructive, I was more
encinitas magazine | SUMMER 200840 |
In every superhero story there is a transforming moment when a superhuman talent is awakened in
the average Joe. Spiderman was a 90-pound weakling until he was bitten by a radioactive spider.
Batman was a self-made hero, who, motivated by a childhood tragedy, acquired martial arts skills
and all the Bat paraphernalia to become super. Pro skateboarder Danny Way, likewise motivated by a
difficult childhood, found his super talent when he dropped into the Keyhole.
Somewhere in San Diego, a Superhero arises….
Photo:GrantBrittain
Way’s first drop into the
Keyhole at Del Mar Skate
Ranch came when
he was seven.

4. SUMMER 2008 | encinitas magazine | 41
Photo:GrantBrittain
Look into the sky!
It’s a bird! It’s a plane!
No, it’s Danny Way!
Danny Way’s historic leap
of faith. The helicopter drop
that made him infamous.

5. encinitas magazine | SUMMER 200842 |
continued from pg 40
All too quickly Way’s powers
outgrew the Super Ramp. He needed
something bigger, better and faster.
In a far removed, remote part of the
desert, Way raised the first Mega
Ramp. It’s difficult to describe or even
comprehend the monolithic Mega
Ramp in human terms. It’s actually
two ramps; a ridiculously steep drop-
in ramp with a “runway” built for
speed—to launch the rider, at speeds
from 75 to 80 miles per hour, across
a 65-foot or more gap onto a Super
Ramp. At this time, he set two more
world records for Longest Distance
Jumped on a Skateboard (65 feet) and
Height Out of a Ramp (over 18 feet.)
Then he erected another Mega Ramp
in the desert and broke his previous
jump record and set a new one for
highest backside air at over 25 feet.
There were gold medals from X
Games, accolades from his peers and
more record-breaking, mind-blowing
aerial stunts on the Mega Ramp cap-
tured on video by DC, Way’s sponsor.
One day, while flying in an airplane
over China, he looked out the window
and saw the Great Wall. Ordinary
mortals would think, “That’s big.” Way
thought, “I’d like to jump that wall.”
He built another Mega Ramp in China
during July of 2002 and in front of the
whole world, jumped over the Great
Wall on his skateboard. The idea came
to him because he wanted to “give
people something that they can get
some sort of visual perception of what
[a jump that big] is. People know the
Great Wall of China. People can grasp
the magnitude of what that is.”
Way’s thoughts turned toward Las
Vegas. In 2006, he dropped 82 feet off
the guitar on top of the Hard Rock Ho-
tel sign to break another world record.
Then he began to imagine Mexico. He
built another Mega Ramp, patented a
back flip trick called the “El Camino”
(translated to English, “The Way”) and
broke another world record.
continued on pg 44
Danny Way
battles
and defeats
Mister Fear.
Photo:GrantBrittain
Photo:GrantBrittain
A distant view
of the Great Wall
of China jump.
Way jumping off the
Hard Rock Hotel in Las
Vegas in 2006.

6. SUMMER 2008 | encinitas magazine | 43
One day, while flying in an airplane over China,
he looked out the window and saw the Great Wall.
Ordinary mortals would think,“That’s big.”
Way thought,“I’d like to jump that wall.”
Photos:GrantBrittain
s
t
t
t
t
J

7. 44 | encinitas magazine | SUMMER 2008
superhero story. What could be more exciting than when the hero is about to be de-
feated, yet with his last vestige of strength comes back victorious? Way has undergone
13 surgeries from skateboarding injuries but has never had a cliffhanger as perilous
as the one from surfing in 1994. He recalls, “It was my worst injury I have ever had.
It is ironic…for the most part it was a freak accident.” Way dove off his surfboard in
a shallow place at Tamarack and broke his neck. It might have ended his life, if not
his career. He says, “I had to rehabilitate myself out of that injury, which is probably
something that most people wouldn’t be able to accomplish…It took about a year and
a half to two years to come back from it….” Almost to what you can imagine would be
thunderous applause he finishes, “…and I came back stronger than I’ve ever been.”
Just like Luke Skywalker, he gained a new awareness of the limitless power
of his body and mind with proper training. Way’s own personal Yoda is trainer
Paul Chek of the Corrective Holistic Exercise Kinesiology (C.H.E.K) Institute. He
explains, “I do work out, but I’ve had so many injuries that my workouts are not
what you would see at the gym. If one of my buddies were to do my workout, it
wouldn’t be a workout for him because it’s so specific to my body and what I’m
doing and all those imbalances and weakness I have.” Chek takes a holistic ap-
proach to health, as echoed by Way. “Spiritually and emotionally as well as physi-
cally, it all works together.”
Perhaps it’s this superhuman, mind-body connection that enables Way not only
to recover from so many surgeries to skate again, but to handle pain as if it were a
mere curiosity. While in Austria for a knee surgery, Way stayed awake, only numb
in his knee, to actually film the procedure with a video camera. He describes the
experience: “The sound effects of what’s going on, too, and the smell…the tools
are like what you’d see at Home Depot. I was watching them do it. I could feel it!”
In fact, he stays awake for all of his surgeries, preferring that to an adverse reac-
tion from anesthesia.
continued from pg 42
All credible superhero myths must
have conflict, whether there’s an arch-
enemy or a weakness that the hero
must overcome. Mister Fear is a villain
who shoots synthetic pheromones—
chemicals that most animals produce
to communicate with one another—
from a gun at his victims. The specific
pheromone he uses is flight-or-flight
response, which stimulates fear reac-
tions in animals, which, when present-
ed with a dangerous situation, experi-
ence a rush of adrenaline to enable
them to fight or run from the threat.
The drug, tailored for human beings,
causes severe anxiety, fear and panic
in its victims. Way, like the superhero
called Daredevil, has had to battle
Fear to survive. For Way, it’s the fight
of his career. He says, “I do have fears
that a lot of people have. I have a fear
of heights. I’ll go up in a high building
and stuff, like hotel high-rises. I don’t
like it at all. When I’m on top of some
of the ramps we built, I don’t like to
look around too much.”
The Origin of Batman, DC Comics,
says, “As a child, fear was his weak-
ness. As man, it became his weapon.”
Although the greatest irony of Way’s life
is a fear of heights, he has found a few
ways to control and even use this fear
to his advantage. He says, “There can
be no glitch in your confidence what-
soever…Fear keeps you on the edge to
take the right steps to accomplish your
mission and hopefully not have any
error. There are people who don’t have
any fear and I feel like it gets to a point
where it’s stupidity sometimes.”
Danny Way might not think he’s
going to kill himself, but he has come
frighteningly close. In the book Super-
heroes!: Capes and Crusaders in Comics
and Films by Roz Kaveney, the author
writes, “Part of the thrill was always
that, no matter how powerful super-
heroes were, they always managed to
find themselves in a jeopardy
commensurate with their strength.” The
cliffhanger is the most exciting part of a
He bleeds.
He breaks.
Yet he lives!
A legendary fall
and slide out on
his knees. No
harm done.
Photo:GrantBrittain

8. SUMMER 2008 | encinitas magazine | 37SUMMER 2008 | encinitas magazine | 45
Every superhero has a motivation—
whether it’s revenge, the good of society
or just pure adventure. Way found his
passion in skateboarding. His goal is
simple: to elevate skateboarding to an
art form and make it a respected sport
in mainstream culture. Way thinks of
skateboarding as “The ultimate creative
outlet…It’s definitely an art form.
Whether it’s a pen or a brush on the
canvas, or whatever, skateboarding is
essentially the paint brush.”
While skateboarding is not a team
sport per se, the success of skateboard-
ing companies depends upon their
sponsored athletes, or “teams.” In
superhero mythology as well, the
teams are all-important to the success
of the comic book series. The first team
was Way and fellow pro skateboarder
Colin McKay. They helped start DC
Shoes, founded by Ken Bloch and
Danny’s older brother Damon. Their
team and the products revolutionized
skateboarding, definitely lending the
industry serious credibility and atten-
tion from the mainstream. DC caught
the eye of industry giant Quiksilver,
which bought the smaller company
three years ago.
Prior to DC, Way and McKay found-
ed Plan B along with H Street
co-founder Mike Ternansky. Plan B
was to skateboarding what the Aveng-
ers are to comics. Imagine only the
most powerful skateboarders, each
with their individual strengths, com-
bining forces. They could conquer the
skateboarding industry and revolu-
tionize the sport. That was what they
set out to do, and were almost success-
ful until Ternansky died in a car ac-
cident. After trying to keep Plan B to-
gether for a few years, says Way, “We
didn’t have the money or the time to
do it right…We just cut it off because
we didn’t want to ruin the brand. We
put it on hold, saying ‘Okay, maybe
one day when the stars align, we’ll put
this thing back together.’”
The Avengers were wildly successful until their hideout was destroyed and their
leader, Iron Man, (alias Tony Stark,) went bankrupt. Then, they reassembled by
chance and created the even more powerful New Avengers. Three years ago Way’s
ears started buzzing when people were gossiping about Plan B making a chance
comeback, even though the thought had never even occurred to him and McKay.
Then his phone started ringing. Everyone wanted in the elite Plan B team. He says,
“We had interest from…the five biggest names in the business.”
Way and McKay have come back in a big way with the new team, which in-
cludes themselves, PJ Ladd, Paul Rodriguez, Ryan Sheckler, Brian Wenning, Pat
Duffy, Ryan Gallant and Jereme Rodgers. According to Way, “When we came back
we were under pretty hard scrutiny from the skate industry…we had to live up to
our reputation from the past…Eventually, our team has evolved into being by far
the strongest and most unique in skateboarding.”
Currently Plan B is working on a video with footage from Canada, Russia and all
over Europe. Way says enthusiastically that it will be the most exciting skateboard-
ing video in 20 years. That is a lofty claim, but it’s all in a days work to a superhero
and his dynamic team. He promises, “There’s so much to be done that hasn’t been
done…There’re some things that I want to do now that are way bigger than what’s
happened already.” Being completely un-ironic, he finishes with, “It’s getting to the
point where it’s getting dangerous.” Cue up the loud theme song, raise the lights,
more thunderous applause and you have the makings of a truly great sequel.
Danny Way and
the Dynamic
Friends
conquer the
Skateboarding
Universe.
“There’s so much to be done that
hasn’t been done…There’re some
things that I want to do now
that areway bigger than what’s
happened already.”—Danny Way
Danny (left) with his older
brother Damon
Photo:GrantBrittain