Chris Cole is unreal. For most of you reading this, he might as well exist in some otherworldly mythic realm. In the pages of magazines, in videos and on the Internet, Cole's skating is so head and shoulders above his peers, it seems ridiculous. With a wealth of talent and a propensity for seriously gnarly tricks, he's already created a legacy at 26 years old.
So how do we differentiate the man from his legacy?
Well, first we talk about the legacy.
Cole's been a solid presence in skating since the late '90s. With a foundation built on good video parts and tremendous coverage, Cole's appearance in 2002's In Bloom video made him one of skating's emerging icons and a household name. He hasn't slowed down since.
"You're never done," Cole says. "You're never done. And the moment you think you're done, you're an idiot. Straight up. If you think you're ever done, you're a fool."
Cole's attitude and drive inspires a work ethic that's virtually unparalleled. Year after year, his video parts outdo one another. And it doesn't get easier.
Joey Shigeo
Cole blazes a nosegrind on his battle axe cruiser board at the Black Box training facility.
"You trap yourself because you want to make the best video part you possibly can and so you do," Cole says. "But then your career's not over and you've got to make another video part. And it's got to be put up against that one that you thought you couldn't top. And there's no way to combat that one you already made."
Yet, somehow he does it. Cole's premiere with Zero in Dying to Live blew doors off the segments he put out before it. Then his appearance in New Blood solidified him as the heir apparent to Jamie Thomas' daunting legacy when he earned the video's curtain call (Thomas had the final segments in the three prior Zero videos). In addition to those videos, Cole put out two video for fun with his Pennsylvania hometown crew, Hot Wax (see the latter part from Shred the Gnar in our video player) and was the driving force behind the Zero team in winning Thrasher magazine's "King of The Road" cross-country team contest three years in a row.
He wins regular contests too, though he barely gives them a second thought. Cole dominated the 2007 X Games street comp against skaters that dedicate huge portions of their careers to the competitive environment. But that's certainly not the way he views contests.
"I look at it like a demo. You want to do a good demo for all the kids that came to watch the contest. And then you want to win because that's some extra cash you can put away ... but it's all extra credit."
And now Ride the Sky is coming. In a few short days, Fallen footwear's inaugural video will premiere. In the works for over three years, the video has been anticipated since the brand first launched. The team has traveled and toured the globe exhaustively. And the process has made Chris Cole question everything.
"Here you are like, 'All right, in the last video I did this, this and this. I found my breaking points were at my physical state and size; I cannot go any bigger,'" Cole says. "But then here you are at the gap or the rail trying to figure how the hell this is going to happen."
Here, in the present moment, his legacy well established, this is where we meet the man.
"It sucks, man. It really sucks," Cole says about knowing when to let a trick go. "I don't make that decision easily. It is a reality of what you have to do, though. And I've never been that dude before. I've always been punishment guy; I'm here to get rolled on. But at a point, you'd be a fool to sit here and kill yourself when you know it's not going to happen."
So what does the man do to live up to the legacy he's created?
"More and more it's about choosing your battles. Which ones are worth it. Which ones aren't worth it. And how much punishment can you take."
Joey Shigeo
Since when did dorking around get this gnar? Cole blasts a tucknee on his crusier down the Black Box double-set.
Turns out that as Chris Cole has grown, so have his responsibilities. This isn't the carefree young pro who's only worried about skating and the next night out. Now he's a family man with a mortgage, a wife and a young son. Responsibilities can make you acutely aware of what you're doing and why you do it. It helps to focus, to make every opportunity count. So when Cole goes on tour, he lays it down.
"If all those responsibilities are squared away, it is a release because then it's like, boys night out! So psyched, like I'm out with the dogs. I'm skating. This is sick!"
With skating, as with filming and contests and family, Cole doesn't get a lot of downtime. He finds solace in places you might not expect.
"The six-hour flights from Philly to San Diego and vice versa, I'm feeling that," he says. "I'm really into designing clothes so if I'm not sleeping, I work on stuff that could go into that."
So the downtime isn't really "down" time. But at least he enjoys it. Designing clothes has been an outside interest for Cole for some time. With Fallen's apparel line taking off, it's been an opportunity for him to express another side of his personality.
"I like to design stuff but then [the Fallen designers] have to turn down my ideas because people aren't always going to buy what I want. Right now, I want Charlie Prince's jacket in 3:10 to Yuma, the aged white leather, double-breasted jacket. I want that. But that stuff doesn't fly. I'm trying to get stuff out now that has a little of my personality but that your average dude, who isn't this way or that way, would wear."
The average dude Cole is not. But there is one thing he's got in common with average dudes: As a true skate nerd, he's as excited to see the Fallen video as they are.
The future is a good place for Cole. His legacy will grow. But don't expect him to slow down any time soon.
SKBSG
