A day with – Lance Mountain

I was thinking about something the other weekend. I was hanging out with Alex Perelson, Josh Stafford and Zach Miller. I thought, “Wouldn’t it be interesting to document an entire day with one of these guys?” I started talking to some riders and everyone was stoked on the idea. Yesterday was Lance’s birthday and I spent the entire day rolling around with him. I arrived at his house and documented the day according to whatever he had going. Rather than ramble about it all, I will keep it short and on point. This is the first of several I will be doing from time to time. Thanks to Arto Saari for the portrait and the skate image at his pool. Enjoy- Ozzie

9:00 am – working on one of his pool coffee table art pieces

Mountain art

cutting and making a frame

Lance worked on a few projects that required his attention, built a picture frame and drummed a few licks from a Republic song. I told him that I didn’t know he played the drums to which he answered- “That’s because I’m not good!”. We laughed and we were soon on the road. We had to head over to a meeting with the Nike crew and California Skateparks about an upcoming job. First though, Lance wanted to check on a local backyard.

just another Los Angeles plaster pit

it seems hard to believe, but when we arrived in this virtually empty warehouse, there was a pool pump sitting there.

Koston, Brian, Joe, Paul, Lance and the others… discussing an upcoming project

After our stop with Koston and the California Skatepark crew, we saw Steve Berra at the Berrics and then stopped for lunch with Salman Agah. His pizza shop is stellar and makes tasty food. I took a photo but blew it on the composition & exposure. Sorry. Next stop was Lincoln Park for a few grinds. The park was mellow and fun.

Lincoln Park

we saw a bunch of this…

We went and looked at a famous pool from the 1970’s. We can’t tell you about it,  but we found it, looked at it over a fence and giggled like school children. We then headed over to Arto’s for a birthday grind or two. Arto was gracious enough to have us and Lance’s son stopped over with a birthday gift for Papa Mountain. Steve Bulky Olson was on hand as well as a crew of shredders throwing it down.

Lance and son. Happy Birthday.

All in all, it was a really busy day. We were everywhere and his phone rarely stopped ringing. Lance barely stopped for a rest. Frenetic. Driven. A new project is quickly completed and he is working on the next one. The day was a unique look into the life of one of skateboarding’s most beloved riders. Skate- Ozzie