Hang Time

Kyle Berard’s raucous proskateboarding career has lasted a decade—an eternity in skate years.
By Jonathan Ages
Photographs by Howard Tarpey

Before he was of legal drinking age, skateboarder Kyle Berard had medaled in a slew of majors, including the X Games and Vans Triple Crown championships, and was ranked second in the world in Street. Now, with ten years of pro skating under his belt, Berard is an elder statesman, known for his silky-smooth skating style and consistency. The vet recently shared some pearls of wisdom from his vast experience on tour, including how to sleep on a roof, what to do with downtime at the emergency room, and what not to think about while jumping down a flight of stairs on your board.

You briefly studied mixed martial arts. Were you not getting enough bruises riding in the park?
[Laughs] I did it for a year, but I recently quit. It was fun and it was something different. But then they started whipping my ass.

Skateboarding can whip your ass, too. What’s the gnarliest injury you’ve seen?
I’ve seen so much! A few months ago we were skating in a backyard pool and a board shot out. The tail gets really sharp if you’ve been riding on concrete for a while. “Razor tail” is what they call it. It pretty much cut [this guy’s] finger off. He was like, “My finger’s gone!” We were looking for his finger in the pool, but it was actually in his hand, hanging by a thread. At the hospital the doctor didn’t take him in right away, so we nailed a case of beer in the hospital parking lot.

Has the TV exposure from the Dew Tour and X Games fueled the partying and groupie culture?
Fuck, yes! Last time I went to a Dew Tour, though, the crowd consisted of eight- to ten-year-old girls screaming for Ryan Sheckler. I love going on shitty skate tours with my idiot friends. It’s been a great learning and partying experience at the same time.

You learned from drinking?
I blacked out after rolling around the red-light district in Amsterdam once. And I guess the hotel room was super hot ’cause there were, like, eight of us in there. I woke up to a seagull landing next to my head. I was on the roof of the fucking hotel! If I’d rolled two feet in one direction I would have died. So I learned…I don’t know…make sure you have a room with air-conditioning?

How hard is it to make a living as a skateboarder? Is it a good idea to have a side gig, like the skate shop you run with your dad?
I just think it’s a good insurance policy. There’s a window of, like, five to ten years when you can be a professional skateboarder. The store is something that keeps my head on straight.

I read that a kid once stole shoes from your shop.
I wasn’t there when he stole the shoes. But I was there when the other kid brought the shoes back. I was like, “What’s that?” He said, “That dumb motherfucker stole from you guys, man. I just whupped his ass and took his shoes off. Here you go.” I was like, “This is awesome, man! You want a job?”

You have said skating is a way to avoid responsibilities. Is it strange that skating is your job?
Yeah, it’s weird sometimes. But you can’t think about it. You gotta focus. If you have to jump down 15 stairs and you’re thinking about your credit card, you’re going to eat shit.