video montage made by Giovanna
"INTERVIEW WITH BEN" by Lance Mountain
They don't make' em like they used to..." In fact, no one was ever like Ben Schroeder or ever will be. Ben is a mixture unlike any other, with the intelligence to be a bio-chemist and the abandoned carelessness to start the third world war just to see the out come. The mixture perfect to be the skateboarder of his time while aspects of his riding ability baffle even the most elite skaters of today. There was a time when Ben, as a young skater, seemed to very skilled at doing tricks you needed to do as a top amateur. Then there were days it seemed as if he'd not learned to axle stall turned into blazing 50/50 to fakie that had never been dreamed of. Everyone else would soon come to learn it, 50/50 along sliding your wheels over the coping to a safe four-wheel drift down the wall. What Ben had done slowly got left behind . He started off in a uncontrolled speed burst that could knock unconscious three standing skater if they were not aware, smashed in to the loudest, longest 50/50 ever seen, then he would lift up in the midst of it to a 5-0, and then proceed to it up and off the back wheels and see where he ended up. Most of the time it was the cleanest , prettiest thing that could
ever happen, and sometime it went bad and the ramp, the spectators or he paid the price. If you were
far enough away, you could enjoy it, and know you saw something that couldn't be witnessed anywhere
but in Ben's skating. Ben had more tricks and ways of doing tricks differently, setting him above what
skateboarding of that day had become, stagnate and commonplace. He skated with so much power
ramps broke, layers of masonite were ripped off by his truck hanging up on the edge, and at the same time, he had effortless style. He was one the brought lip tricks to the highest level, winning the only contest held where you did not touch your board. This was all part of the big change in skateboarding where foot control started the new era. Ben began this style on vertical and mini ramps at the time when street skating did the same. Ben had a hard time understanding why everything he had perfected, speed, power and control was dying off and slowing down for the technical future to come in. (Skater had white shirts without a spot of blood on them.) Ben was far ahead of his time, now as street skating has gotten gnarly and powerful. Ben's style, the rawest mix of beauty and disaster, has been crafted over time into something that had not been before and not ever be again - WORDS BY LANCE MOUNTAIN
VERDUGO PARK, GLENDALE, CA -HIGH SPEED ROLL IN OVER THE CLAM SHELL
