It's been a slow year for vert shredder Pierre Luc Gagnon. First the Montreal native pocketed the biggest check in skateboard history by winning the Maloof Money Cup. Then he snagged the gold at X Games and two months later won the 2008 Dew Tour Vert Skate title. Things will hopefully pick up. For now he'll have to settle on being the world's most dominant skater. I caught up with PLG over the weekend at the only place you'd expect him to be chillin' at 12:17 on a Friday afternoon: his Maloof-upgraded two-story suite overlooking the pool at The Palms in Las Vegas. (He did win the Money Cup.) In between bites of room service and teasing from his lady he managed to drop a little knowledge on the skate world and anybody else not holding an umbrella. This is what he said.
C-Palm: Sorry to hear that vert's dead, bro.
Pierre Luc Gagnon: (chuckles) Yeah. A few years ago I wondered if there was going to be anyone keeping vert alive after the current generation but now there are more and more kids coming from everywhere. There's some young skaters that are unbelievable and they are gonna take over.
( Ed. Note: Last spring ESPN announced that it would be dropping vert from the X Games. After an outcry from top skaters, vert survived.)
CP: What was your initial response when ESPN announced it was dropping vert?
PLG: I was pissed. I didn't feel that it was their decision to dictate whether or not vert was dead. And to do it in a press release? We're at the ramps everyday and at all the other contests keeping it alive so I know first hand it's not dead.
CP: When a young kid picks up a skateboard is he more likely to go into vert or street?
PLG: Street is obviously more accessible. It's easier for kids to do. That's why the vert scene is so big in Southern California, there are ramps everywhere. There are five vert ramps within 15 minutes of my house in Carlsbad.
CP: Speaking of accessibility, most kids can't just wake up Saturday morning and head for the local mega ramp. But that's one of the biggest events at X Games.
PLG: Well if vert's dead than mega ramp should die at the same time. There aren't any kids practicing for mega ramp. Vert is a stepping-stone for mega ramp. You have to be extremely experienced in vert just to be decent on the mega ramp. Right now it's just for pros. If you want to ride a mega ramp you gotta go to Bob's (Burnquist) house and get his approval that you're even good enough to go down that thing.
CP: Was there a ramp you grew up skating that stood out to you?
PLG: One summer me and my dad built a ramp in the backyard of our summer home. It was an eight-foot tall, sixteen-foot wide mini vert ramp. I think it had like six inches of vert. We built the frame out of metal so it could handle the rough winters. I learned all the basics of skating on that ramp, varials to fakie, frontside ollies, tailslides, everything.
CP: Is it still standing?
PLG: Yeah we built it to last. We used pressure treated wood, stained it and everything. It trips me out that no one in California can build a ramp that lasts longer than two years. (Laughs.)You guys don't know what you're doing! We're in Canada and we've got a ramp that's been standing since 1991!
CP: What do you listen to when you skate?
PLG: Ton of hip-hop right now. That Busta Rhymes and J Dilla album, Dillagence, has a lot of great material on it. D.O.E and L.E.S. Artistes got some good shit too. I like a lot of Lil Wayne mixtapes, but I'm not a big fan of his new album. It's a little too R&Bish compared to his mixtapes. There's an '80s-style rock group from Montreal called Chromeo I listen to a lot as well.
CP: What's the most embarrassing thing on your iPod?
(He puts the phone down to ask his girlfriend's opinion. They deliberate for 30 seconds. "Really?" he says.)
PLG: My girl says Destiny's Child but I swear I don't know how that got on there.
CP: Don't worry about it, Beyonce's cool.
PLG: Yeah, she's not embarrassing.
CP: Being from Canada are you interested in hockey at all?
PLG: I don't follow the NHL but I try to stay up on football because I have a few friends who play for the Chargers, punter Mike Scifres and offensive lineman Mike Goff.
CP: How'd you meet those guys?
PLG: Just randomly. I met Scifres in a bar in San Diego. He knew who I was and we just started hanging out.
CP: What other interesting folks have you come across in your travels?
PLG: I partied with Kimbo Slice once. He was actually a really nice guy. I met Greg Oden at the ESPYs. He was super
mellow. He's such a big guy but you could tell he was just a kid. Still, he made me look like a midget.
CP: Are you a fan of other action sports?
PLG: Yeah, freestyle moto is cool. I had a bike that I could jump a little bit. I'd ride trails and stuff. I got rid of it though because I didn't want to get hurt. I get hurt enough skating.
CP: What are your thoughts on this election? Hopefully Canada's no longer ashamed of us.
PLG: I'm super hyped that Obama won. I feel like Bush did a terrible job.
CP: Do you feel like Obama is going to make a change or is the job too difficult?
PLG: He says he wants to make a lot of changes and he looks like the right fit for the job. We need a new direction.
CP: What's the most important promise he made?
PLG: He says he wants insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing conditions. It's everyone's right to affordable healthcare. After watching all those Michael Moore movies it's so depressing and unfair that so many people can't afford coverage. In Canada everyone has healthcare because the government provides it.
CP: It's gotta be a nightmare for action sports stars to get healthcare.
PLG: If you're a skateboarder it's really hard to get coverage. The insurance companies say that we're too prone to injuries. I've heard of skaters who go to the hospital with an injury who say they fell down the stairs because they don't want their policy to get cancelled. Yeah. One time Brian Deegan broke his leg and his insurance company denied his claim because they saw him crash on TV. But I'm pumped right now because of Obama. It's good to feel excited about something.