Did you know it’s Christmas in a week? If you haven’t got your family presents already, might I suggest wrapping up these 3 radical Instagram clips and giving them the gift of stoke instead?
3. Jaakko Ojanen’s Pole Jam up, Pole Jam down
OK, hold up. I have so many questions here. Was this trick performed outside a circus or something? Where is this spot? Why does it exist? I have utterly no idea, but I’m glad Finnish shredder Jaakko Ojanen is here to lay the absolute smackdown on this bizarre piece of temporary architecture. There must be something in the water over there, because Finland, every once in a while, produces a skateboarder so utterly mind blowing that you question whether you are even thinking about the basic act of skateboarding in a straight line the wrong way (e.g. the Arto Saari effect).
This spot is the kind of thing I wouldn’t even bother with. It’s on wooden decking and the pole jam is the support for a vertical pole. I think most people wouldn’t even think a trick is possible on this thing. However, Ojanen rolls up on the decking, boosts up the fucking thing and somehow pops out of a pole jam, avoiding the vertical pole in the middle, and grinds down the other pole jam that is 90 degrees from the first. It’s one of those “How did you do that?” tricks, and I love it.
2. John Worthington’s Brick Jersey Barrier Session
When I first saw this clip, it was reshared by another account, and they simply stated “Everyone thinks they got a trick for this spot until they go there”. This spot really is one of those spots you look at and think “Yeah that’s just some quarters, I got this”. But, look again. And then again. And then enhance. Take a good look at these quarters because they are basically just walls with the illusion of transition.
John Worthington somehow manages to push himself up the thing and frontside ollie out of the top. It should be literally impossible to ollie out of something like that, but he just floats out like it’s nothing. For good measure he also has a play on a manual pad and busts out some nose manny tech – almost as if he’s not just content with breaking the law of physics by doing an ollie out of a vertical wall, but he also has to rub the tech skater’s noses in it.
As if the ollie wasn’t enough, Worthington also manages to get a crazy quick smith bash on the thing. It’s so unusual to see it – the ollie and the smith bash don’t look like your standard versions of these tricks, but that is inherent to the terrain he does them on. It’s one of those clips that shuts down any conversation about a quarter “not being quite right”. Next time I complain about a quarter not being just right I’m gonna remember this clip and shut the hell up.
1. Jack Steele’s Krooked Grind Nollie Flip out
OK, don’t you dare look at me and say this is just a Krooked Nollie Flip out. The spot might be fairly standard, but the trick is actual witchcraft. Jack Steele should be arrested for messing with everyone’s brains. This is anarchy, this is unbelievable… This is the best flip out of a Krooked grind I have ever seen.
This thing is so damn good, because it doesn’t even look like it’s flipping. You have to watch the clip twice before you even realise the damn thing flipped. I think even slowing the thing down, it would be hard to see it flipped, but I can definitely tell you it flipped. My brain and eyes had a half hour argument over whether it flipped or not the first time I saw this.
I’m not much of a tech street skater, and more often than not I will opt for a gnarly transition trick or some quirky gubbins over a normal ledge trick, but this example is so perfect, so flawless and so rewatchable that it had to be my number one pick for this week. I dare anyone to watch this and not be impressed.
The Terrible Company 
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