Tony Hawk, skate culture, and San Diego are the most inextricably, cosmically bound trifecta of all time. Hawk didn’t just rewrite the script of “vert” skateboarding (picture aerials from anything that goes horizontal to vertical: a half-pipe, ramp, or pool) – he wrote the textbook. The nearly 100 (documented) tricks that he’s invented aside, he’s also the first to execute, among a hefty list of other feats, the 900: a 900-degree mid-air rotation. That’s two-and-a-half fucking mid-air rotations on the half-pipe.
Hawk’s a local legend around SD, also known for his own skateboard company, Birdhouse Skateboards and the gracing presence of some on-screen cameos here and there. To top it all off, too, he’s just the coolest guy. San Diegan to the bone. So naturally, he knows the best spots and the best people around town – the local food scene being just one of the things he’s stoked on, hailing his new Encinitas staple, Chick & Hawk.
True to the effortless charisma that defines him – and exactly what you’d expect from the humble maverick himself – Hawk skated around San Diego with Condé Nast Traveller, showing us his go-to spots and the places that made him. He spoke to us about witnessing skate culture evolve right before his eyes and how he channels that into his philanthropic projects dedicated to bringing skating to underdeveloped areas, notably The Skatepark Project. All of this, of course, bookended with the steez of a “stay classy, San Diego.” For Hawk, it’s all too easy.
Tell me what it was like growing up in San Diego…