To most people, Tony Hawk will always be that thrilling skateboarder in his 20s, pulling off ground-blazing tricks and stunning crowds all over the world. But, believe it or not, the legend and arguably best skateboarder of all-time, turned 50 years old on Saturday.
So, how did he ring in the big birthday? He did “50 Tricks at 50” to unearth some of his youth and bid an official farewell to a few of his patented moves.
“When I first started skating, what drew me in was all the creativity involved. Skateboarding’s always progressing. There was always something new to learn and it was this blank canvas. That’s been my drive ever since — just learn new tricks,” he said in his latest video on the quest. “So, as I turn 50, I thought it’d be fun to try to revisit some of the tricks I created, and realized very quickly they’re not as easy as they used to be. Some of these, this will be the last time I do them.”
Hawk’s all-out effort and technical skills are jaw-dropping, as is the fact that he’s still doing this at 50 years old.
“It was a fun idea in the beginning, but in the thick of it, it was a little bit daunting,” Hawk told the San Diego Union Tribune about the video. “For some of the tricks, it was my way of finding closure with them. I wasn’t trying to make it some monumental thing that ‘I’m finished,’ because I’m not. But there were some tricks that were hard back then, and even harder now, and that will be the end of it for me.”
While Hawk’s skating days are usually limited to some drop-ins on his backyard half-pipe, he’s putting in serious work elsewhere. In addition to being a corporate/motivational speaker, he dedicates a lot of time to running his foundation, which has built almost 600 skate parks in areas that give youth — many in low income neighborhoods — “much needed exercise and a sense of self-esteem.”
So, while Hawk may be dialing it back in the halfpipe, he’s proving that outside of the ramp, he’s only getting better with age.
