The Cami Best Interview in Coping Block SK8 MAG!

The Cami Best Interview from Issue 76 of Coping Block SK8 MAG!


By Cleo Coney Jr.

                                      Cami Best at the Lake Louisa push race in Clermont Florida.
                                       Photo by Cleo Coney Jr.


Cami how long have you been skating?

This life changing experience began at the adventerous age of nine.

When did you get your first skateboard?

This boy on my block had a skateboard that all the neighborhood kids would play and mess around on. I was secretly in love with that skateboard and one day I finally found the courage to ask him if I could have it for my own.

Where there a lot of other skateboarders in the neighborhood you grew up in?

Not until a fashion fad broke out in about 2008 and everyone and their mom had a skateboard. That phase left and thankfully there are a couple of handful of faithful skaters still loitering around.



What was your attraction to the sport?

It enabled me to think creatively and I liked that. It hurt and I liked that too. Most of the other boys, and girls especially would fall and talk down to the skateboard as if it were the skateboards fault. No. We are the one with the brain. We configure it and in return it delivers us euphoria.

Tell our readers about your favorite skate spot.

I dont have one. If I did I would be limited to one discipline in one location. Although my favorite genre of spots are urban, hilly, and the combination of both.

Great answer! Tell me, when did you first get noticed by Bustin Boards?

Broadway Bomb 2009 I placed second for women and at the BBQ after the race I was tricking around and having fun. I got four board sponsorship offers that weekend and the last one was Bustin.

Are they the only skate company you've been sponsored by?

No, I am also sponsored by REY Trucks, RipTide Bushings, Vicious GripTape, RockStar Bearings, Orangatang Wheels, Triple 8, Polaroid Action Cam, Malaysia Street Bombers, and Ghostskate.

Right now in skateboarding, women are blowing up big time, Pool, Ramp, Street, and here you are ripping up the Longboard scene. How does that make you feel to get the props, and respect from the guys?

Most times its annoying because the guys are usually inclined to be doubtful of a female's potential if they are not yet visually informed.




What board are you riding now and with what wheels and trucks?

I have three completes ready to roll. My new york city push setup is the Maestro Pro with Death REY's on 75a WFB RipTide barrels on 83a Otang Fat Frees, and RipTide Cubed 95a boardside and 90a roadside on 86a Fat Frees, spinning on RockStar Bearings. My downhill setup is the EQ with Vicious plastered on my grip, Death Rey's with 95a APS roadside and 90a boardside, RockStar Bearings incased in Orangatang 75mm InHeats.  My double kick setup is the 35" Bustin "YoFace" with 159 Indys, RockStar Bearings, Riptide 97.5a Street Series on Orangatang Fat Frees.

I know you've been to Florida, but what other places has skateboarding taken you so far?

The entire East Coast, Texas, Puerto Rico, Catalina Island, California, The Southern States, Germany, going back to the west to do a coastal tour and then if all goes according to plan South East Asia!

Cami, tell us what your family thinks about you and skateboarding.

At first it was: school first, skateboarding else second. But quickly I grew tired of that backwards lifestyle.

Do you have a dream location that you're itching to go skate?

Jamaica!

                                              Cami between skate heats. Photo by Cleo Coney Jr.

Who are the skateboarders that influenced you the most?

Adam Colton, Adam Stokowski.

Tell us about the New York Longboarding vibe, what's it like during the spring and summer up there?

In the summer its a skate take over! Everyone gets to the streets at some point especially because its really nice plus sunny and tank top weather out.

Straight up, purple or red Koolaid?

Haha, I don't drink Koolaid. But when I taught at Boys Scout Camp, there was this red punch, possibly Koolaid that we called "Bug Juice" because some days the bugs would be extra attracted to you after a good couple of cups of it.

Lol! That's hillarious! What advice do you have for young ladies looking to get into Longboarding?

If you noticed a spark, indicating an interest in skating, know that the freedom of a skateboard is within you and can be unlocked by you. Everyone travels on their own journey at a different pace in a different place in their life and in a different way. Its an individual experience that once acknowledged, we then share with the company others that dwell in the like. Get on a board and let it change your life. We dare you.

Do you have any thank you's or shout outs at this time?

Biggups to everyone who shows me love!
Sorry for the delayyyyy!!!

No problem Cami! Now go out and shred!

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The Mark Partain Interview!

The Mark Partain Interview from Issue 76 of Coping Block SK8 MAG!

By Cleo Coney Jr.

                                         Mark Partain getting down! Photograph by Lee Leal.



When did you began skateboarding and in what city?

Back in 1968, Ventura ,Cal.

Mark you had to of had a dream set up back in the day, what was it? Also, who helped you get your first skateboard?

I wanted to be a Surfer, I made it out of my Roller Skates and onto a self-made skateboard. I made two, the first one rolled crooked cause I nailed the front truck a bit off center, but the second one was perfect !

What skaters influenced you in the early years, which ones did you look up too?

Richard Van Der Wyk, Steve Monahan, Lonnie Toft , all Pier Point Rats, and any SIMS rider.

Mark when did you first get recognized for you skating ability?

When I was 8 years old, my best friend Dean and I got a job at the swap meet for this guy named Dave putting together complete skateboards, by the end of the summer he was paying us and giving us product and taking us skating every weekend after work ......He later turned into Dave's Cave, Ventura's only skate shop at the time,That guy was trippy, he had the shop until he passed away ... was Super bummed when I heard about his Passing...

Did you have a favorite skate park or private bowl that you frequented and is there a spot you'd like to skate these days that you haven't already shredded?

Back in the day my Local Park was Oxnard's Endless Wave Skate Park, but we skated anything that had a bank or transition and then we even started skating walls ... I would love to go everywhere and share my skating with whoever is willing to watch hahaha !

Mark, list those skaters whom you skated with the most and why you liked skating with them?

Dang that is a big list, ah, everyone!

Mark, describe what a great day of skating is like for you.

A great day for me is skating a virgin pool, any virgin pool.

Do you remember all the companies you've ridden for? If so, list them.

SIMS, Barefoot, Brand-X, Blockhead, Thunder, Independent, Tracker, OJ, Hosoi, Powell, O.M.A.,Bones, Embassy, there are a lot more............

Who got you on Tracker Trucks, and how many sets of Trucks do you think you went through?

Jim Gray invited me to a Tracker dinner, Larry had asked Jim to get me there.... I was very dumb about the industry and I trusted in what people told me, I still have faith in people but ...Larry was the first one to really use me and then throw me away. I went through as many trucks as it took?

Mark, how long did you skate for Tracker, and how did you like riding for them?

I skated for Tracker, I think three years, at first I hated it, then I started to warm up after I was able to make the trucks turn for me... but then in the end I was bummed on myself for believing in Tracker and Larry because of how they pulled the rug out from under me, just before Christmas of 89' ... I went from a couple grand a month to 0.00 , and I had car payments, a house payment and other things that just took me down hard. I’m still crawling out of that hole!



If you could go back to those days, is there anything you'd do different?

Yeah, not go to that dinner and start riding for H-Street like Mike T. had asked me to do.

What's the most important thing to you in your life today?

GOD, my Dog, My Skateboard, my Mountain Bikes, My Health , My Mom .....LIFE

Will we see you in any future master's skateboarding events?

Well that is up to my sponsors ,but I would love to do the tour ,,,,,,,in 2010 I went to four contest out of the eleven contest stop tour and got 2nd in the world ......So let’s do this I can win !

What's the one thing you want people to know and to appreciate about you?

Hmm, I’m true blue with a big heart.

Any shout outs or thanks, or appreciations to anyone?

Mom, Dad, GOD and everyone who has helped and supported me, it’s hard when you’re on the bottom.

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