I caught up with a wounded Chris Russell during the Vans Park Series, quite literally on his last legs. Ankle in cast, crutches in hand, the 20-year-old Creature contender hailing from Cali’ was nevertheless in high spirits and down to talk King of the Road madness, European skaters being less ‘fu-fu’ and getting himself on the road to recovery for China.
Hey Chris, how’s it going?
CR: It’s goin’ alright.
First off, your injury! What happened?
CR: I injured myself during practice, but I'm trying to keep a positive attitude. I was trying to do something in the deep end, a front side flip around the corner and I ended up kinda tripping on the back seat. Then when I tried to put my foot down on the back seat, it slipped off. Long story short, I sat on my back foot, twisted it around and the impact went through both of my ligaments. So it’s not looking too good.
Ouch! So you’re out of the competition?
CR: I’m gonna work my ass off and see if I can get myself through this thing. And just like I said, keep a positive attitude. It’s like a 4 month injury. So yeah, we’ll see. See how everything goes, I’m a quick healer so...
You won the Men’s Pro Vans Park Series in Melbourne and Huntingdon Beach last year. Think you’ll be able to swing two wins this year, too? What with your injury…
CR: Yeah, we’ll see. I don’t think Huntingdon will be on the cards, but I'm hoping China still is so I can get out there. See if I can get my ankle better, so yeah I’m hoping so.
I've heard that you’re a fan of Sweden. Top spot to skate there?
CR: Well there’s Staple Park, a great spot and The Trains side D.I.Y, too. They got Berget (Bunkeberget) Skatepark, it’s the indoor park and there’s so much other stuff out there. Even the new Vans Park Series park we’ve got out there, built about a year ago in Malmo is amazing. There’s a lot of options- great concrete, great people.
Great spots or great women?
CR: Ummm, a little bit of both, you know? It’s definitely an add-on when there’s a lot of healthy people around and there’s definitely a lot of beautiful women. Beautiful people, in general.
What differences do you find in skaters from America versus Europe?
CR: The difference? There’s not much difference. Everybody rips, everybody has their own style. I think the only difference is how everyone approaches it. That’s the rad thing about skateboarding, there’s no way to approach it, everyone approaches it in their own way. You come here and see people skate their own way. You’re gonna see how raw they take it, which is rad. I think it’s less ‘fu-fu’ up in Europe than it is in the U.S. We're a little more picky in America, there are a lot more spots. But everybody skates rad, everybody skates different. America has more parks, that’s the only difference. Yeah, we are a little more privileged, we got great weather all the time and a lot of places to go, too. It is what you make it.
On King of the Road, you’ve been the king of the ‘Make Out Challenge’. On episode 3 you made out with three generations: daughter, mum and the grandma with tattoos. Who did you most enjoy pashing on with? Was it the grandma?
CR: (Laughs) Nah, I wish I was sweet enough to say that it was the grandma, but no it was the mum. I’m into older women, too. She was definitely the raddest, the most down for us. She knew the whole entire deal about King of the Road, because she watched the show. She was just cool.
The ‘Roy’ al-flush eggplant on transition trick (on KOTR) looked brutal. How many times did you try before realizing it was a no-go zone? Your body must have taken quite a beating the next day…
CR: About 200 times, they only showed about a quarter. Yeah, I tried it for hours, I tried it about 200 times or so. Maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit, but it's definitely the most I have ever tried a trick in my whole life. The reason I stopped is because I just couldn’t try anymore. Slam after slam after slam just kind of gets you.
What does the rest of your year look like?
CR: Well, not a whole lot now but we’ll see. There’s always shit coming out, there's always stuff on the back burner so hopefully if i heal up soon I’ll get a new part going. You never know, but it’s looking a little rough right now.
Wishing you a speedy recovery, Chris!