Mike Vallely Early Years

Mike entered this world from Edison, New Jersey, USA. When it came to athletics he began with organized sports playing little league, but he was looking for something different than an organization. From there Mike discovered punk rock music and found what he was looking for amongst the individualist ways and anarchy of his peers.

Which led to skateboarding the two went hand in hand. The punk rockers of his time all carried skateboards. They were like “man you got to get a skateboard”. It was 1984 and Mike’s skateboarding journey began, only two years later he’d be sponsored.

Honing His Craft

Mike cut his teeth skating the streets emulating vert tricks. “We tried to find things like embankments, something you could skate like a quarter pipe”. “Even if it was a driveway with a curb, you’d skate at it, foot plant the parking curb and jump back down as if there was a transition”, he imagined it was there.

While cruising all over, the skating between laid uncharted, that’s where street skating began to develop amidst vert’s fading presence. It was spontaneous they were adapting to the environment. This captivated Mike, he loved the adventure of these skate trips across the urban landscape. During these inspiring times, he connected deeper with skateboarding. He skated everything and anything in his way.

First Road Trip

Rodney Smith gave Mike his first exposure to skateboarding outside his hometown. They would later skate together for Mike’s Public Domain part the very place Rodney would introduce to him that trip. New York, they went to the Brooklyn Banks. Which became Mike’s all-time favorite spot.

Mike kept traveling and skating. Another important stop was Virginia Beach Virginia. He went to a vert competition and tore up the parking lot next to it. Focus started to shift from the ramps to Mike and those ripping below. This is where Mike says Stacy Peralta took notice and plucked him out of obscurity.

First Comp

After that Mike skated his first big amateur contest, Ocean Side California. He killed it, won the comp and got the cover of Thrasher in one summer going from some kid ripping about to overnight sensation in the skateboard world. No one knew who he was and he had just made Thrasher, a lot for a young skater, but it was his dream.

Returning to New Jersey

Prior to sponsorship Mike says he was the skater everyone made fun of. When he returned to Jersey the fall of 86 homecoming was mixed with some skaters excited and others saying “why him”. Mike was still attending high school.

School life was now different, but still the same. His trophy with him on the cover of Thrasher. Stood display in the front hall, but girls still didn’t pay attention to him, he got into a fight sticking up for some other skaters. He was flying around parking lots again, but now he was a local celebrity even non-skaters knew of him.

Mike got into more fights involving mixed up loyalties from skaters he looked out for. Sometimes when you are up, people just don’t want to celebrate with you and instead try to knock you down. He realized, for the most part, he was on his own, had it with that high school, the people, the town and dropped out, left them behind! Not hard to do a new life of skateboarding ahead. He became the hottest street skater skating for Powell Peralta 1987, 88, but things kept moving fast off the board as well.

Beating Down a New Path

Mike says when he and Rodney Mullen left Powell. The Biggest thing to happen was World Industries. He got together with Steve Rocco. This signified the larger change from ramps to the street. Street skating was more accessible and a new era began for skateboarding all over America.

Mike Vallely’s advice. Be true to yourself and take it to the streets. Have fun with skateboarding first. Skateboarding will always be meaningful if you just have fun, be an individual. Conceive what you want to do, visualize it and make it happen. Never give up!

By Andrea Biggs, locally sponsored skateboarder, writer.

Sources; Wikipedia for known facts, YouTube videos for interviews and quotes, Thrasher, Transworld and independent videos. My own experiences in skateboarding.

Get Mike Vallely Jersey Devil skateboard here.