tobyburger

I saw this small lizard on the side of the trail, while walking my dog at dusk the other night and he was barely visible, so I stopped to take a picture and get some video and I haven’t seen this particular type of sub species of lizard, gecko or whatever so maybe someone out there knows what this guy is, he was about 3 inches long and 1 inch wide, a tiny little guy. 

Is it tarantula season in the southern Nevada desert 🏜️? Seems like it is…

This is the second tarantula I’ve seen in the last few days in the same general area at around the same general time which was dusk, and this time we were in the open desert, last time was across the road and it could it be the same spider, it’s probably a half mile distance between those two places or more but I’m guessing it’s a completely different tarantula. He was coming from another direction but who knows. Maybe it’s tarantula season here in southern Nevada and this is the time of the day they come out? Seems like it🕷️

This is the first tarantula I have seen in southern Nevada. He was crossing the road as I was riding by on a dirtbike so I circled back around and decided to get some pictures and video and take a closer look and watch how this guy moves. I’m a huge fan of spiders and insects, so any opportunity I can to observe Something like this it is natural environment. I will take all the time I can to just take it all in and get as many pictures as I can if I have a camera otherwise I’ll just observe and try and stay out of its way. It was really neat watching. This guy move slowly across the street and then very carefully through some of the bushes, I didn’t really stick around too long and I had some writing to do so the short video is all we got however, I saw another tarantula like a day or two later like right up the street so I have a couple videos of tarantulas. there’s a lot of critters out here in the desert and I always see stuff. Sometimes I have a camera sometimes I don’t but when I do, I’ll do my best to get some usable video…

Dropping into a backyard, pool is a step above your average skate park bowl. The transitions of a backyard pool are often steeper. It’s a little deeper and more elliptical and nature so you will need to alter your drop in technique to accommodate for the lack of transition that you won’t find at the bottom of the bowl, specially near the drain. Since most empty pools have little to no flat bottom, all the transition funnels toward the drain, it is critical to pick a good line and make sure it goes where you want it to go. After picking a line once you figure that out where you want to go, you will want to set your tail firmly on the coping and you don’t want to sit there too long and hesitate. Once you set your tail up, you put your front foot over the front trucks and creep yourself over the lip into the bowl. Once you have drop ins down at your local skate park bowls and you’re fairly confident that this is a gonna be a easy one for you then that’s what you do.

Steve Alba, a.k.a. Salba star of the Santa Cruz skateboards documentary how to skateboard forever demonstrates the proper front side grind technique on the face wall over the death box at the world famous Colossus bowl, the biggest backyard pool ever skated in the badlands. Salba exemplifies the backyard pool approach, and pioneered the techniques that ensure success is within the confines of your average empty swimming pool. A doctor of skateboarding with a PhD and masters in backyard pools. Steve Alba really makes it look a lot easier than it actually is and anyone who has ever skated with him or if you’re a fan of his athleticism it’s really something to witness and see I mean he truly is one of the best athletes, even if you don’t like the guy, I mean, you have to admit, he was not the most likable character but as an athlete, he is just unwavering in his approach and uncompromising in and what he sets out to do and for that alone, you got a love him, so Steve Alba Skateboarding loves you the gods of empty pools Love you and most of all the Skateboarding gods Love you.

Colossus was the biggest deepest pool that we skated at the time that this was filmed. Salba says this is the biggest pool he’s ever skated and it’s without a doubt the biggest, deepest pool I’ve ever seen anywhere let alone skated. BIG skateable and Empty swimming pools like this are very rare to find and ones this deep just don’t exist for skateboarding unless it’s made for skateboarding which usually they are not. Some people might wonder if was this pool made for skateboarding, no it was not. It looked to me like it was more of a diving pool for swimming. That’s why it was so deep and wide. It was built for someone who loved to dive judging by the size of the diving board. I’m sure they were doing all kinds of flips and twists in the air much like the flips and twists in the air that we do while we’re skating or bailing or whatever you wanna call it is that we’re doing on a useless wooden toy with four wheels.

This is one of my old skateboards that I used to ride that I no longer ride that is in good enough condition to be re-gripped and skated again it’s a Lance Mountain Flip Skateboards deck. The dimensions are in the video but it’s a 9 inch wide board with the 14 1/2 to 15 inch wheelbase. I think it’s 32 1/2 inches long And it’s a bad ass skateboard.! Perfect perfect for riding empty swimming pools, and big skate park bowls!🛹👍

The true ramp local is the lizard that lives under my half pipe. He does not skate though. I’m not sure how many lizards ride skateboards 🛹???

This is how cement full pipes are made at public skate parks with extensive forms and a lot of concrete. That’s what it takes to make the best skate parks in the world that an a lot of money. 

The toxic bowl in the badlands is a long time backyard staple pool that we have ridden for many years and it’s always a good time. We call it the toxic bowl because it had toxic stuff in there over the years that we had to clean out but the pool itself is very tight and highly rideable some of the best skateboarders in the business have spent time there, Mark Gonzales, Jake Phelps, Steve Alba just to name a few. It’s pretty fun pool to ride and kind of a standard quality backyard pool for skateboarding in this area. #tobyburger

The toxic bowl in the badlands is a long time backyard staple pool that we have ridden for many years and it’s always a good time. We call it the toxic bowl because it had toxic stuff in there over the years that we had to clean out but the pool itself is very tight and highly rideable some of the best skateboarders in the business have spent time there, Mark Gonzales, Jake Phelps, Steve Alba just to name a few. It’s pretty fun pool to ride and kind of a standard quality backyard pool for skateboarding in this area. #tobyburger

The toxic bowl in the badlands is a long time backyard staple pool that we have ridden for many years and it’s always a good time. We call it the toxic bowl because it had toxic stuff in there over the years that we had to clean out but the pool itself is very tight and highly rideable some of the best skateboarders in the business have spent time there, Mark Gonzales, Jake Phelps, Steve Alba just to name a few. It’s pretty fun pool to ride and kind of a standard quality backyard pool for skateboarding in this area. #tobyburger

One of the funnest empty pools for skating on the West Side of Los Angeles at the time. This kidney shaped pool at a vacant abandoned home ready for demolition was open for the business of pool skateboarding and we arrived to accommodate that request. The pool skating gods must have been smiling because we were having so much fun. Skateboarding is fun and dangerous but riding with good friends makes it even funner. Good backyard pools are difficult to come by so this skateboarding adventure to this epic emtpy pool was what we were looking for. #tobyburger

One of the funnest empty pools for skating on the West Side of Los Angeles at the time. This kidney shaped pool at a vacant abandoned home ready for demolition was open for the business of pool skateboarding and we arrived to accommodate that request. The pool skating gods must have been smiling because we were having so much fun. Skateboarding is fun and dangerous but riding with good friends makes it even funner. Good backyard pools are difficult to come by so this skateboarding adventure to this epic emtpy pool was what we were looking for. #tobyburger

One of the funnest empty pools for skating on the West Side of Los Angeles at the time. This kidney shaped pool at a vacant abandoned home ready for demolition was open for the business of pool skateboarding and we arrived to accommodate that request. The pool skating gods must have been smiling because we were having so much fun. Skateboarding is fun and dangerous but riding with good friends makes it even funner. Good backyard pools are difficult to come by so this skateboarding adventure to this epic emtpy pool was what we were looking for. #tobyburger

The drop in is a critical yet fundamental aspect of transitional skating however, in a backyard pool it’s a little bit and earlier than a skate park ball vert Rams can be pretty intimidating for some cause. It’s a longer transition, but the backyard pool it’s steep and deep the transitions generally a lot quicker elliptical 3 to 4 feet of vertical more of a freefall acid drop Before you hit the transition and it’s a slightly different approach. You generally don’t want to lean too far forward or you’ll face plant do you want to keep your upper body slightly facing forward, but not too far forward and it’s really to catch yourself at the transition so you’re really positioning your body from the drop in to hit the rollout on the bottom and be like compressed enough to absorb the transition yet loose enough to take done upcoming wall or waterfall or generally it’ll pull there’s no flat bottom so it comes out pretty quick, but your reactions are gonna need to be a lot quicker and your lines gonna need to be set like more firmly meaning like it’s a more defined line you want to know where you’re going from the drop in and then once you get going with all that speed them and you’ll figure it out pretty quick 

My neighbor, Mike demonstrates a under the coping in the pocket surf slash on this slippery pool. Mike is a novice Pool skater and he’s just getting used to the pool and hasn’t grinded the deep end yet. The Rose Bowl in Long Beach California is steep and deep and very slippery and had never been skated before so we are the first people to skate it. I’m the first person to grind it and drop in and Mike is the first guy to do a surf slash the pocket Pretty rad !

The Rose Bowl in Long Beach was no easy pool to ride and nothing casual to get used to. It was steep, tight and very slippery and you had to be on your toes. A few sessions later here I actually found out what happens if you get a little too relaxed in the wrong place and ended up in the emergency room getting stitches so this is spot is no joke. It looks a lot better on camera than it does in person, but with the right surface which we had to paint it a few times to get it grippy enough to really ride it and even then it was a little spotty but with the right crew and the right surface texture this pool has a lot of potential in its current state. It’s a little gnarly and on a 10 scale I’d say it’s about a 3 if it was painted better, it could be a 4.5 potentially…

The jungle bowl is my favorite pool of the 90s without a doubt I spent more time here than anybody and it was a magical skateboarding spot for sure. The jungle bowl location was so secret. It was very difficult to find. It was difficult to skate, but if you could work through both of those issues then you had yourself a winner, and this was probably one of the only pools that was rideable at that time and it ended up becoming one of the most important skateboarding pool spots in the history of modern skateboarding, because it allowed the progression of certain styles of maneuvers that have become common place like ollies into huge frontside airs and stuff like that and it’s a certain style and approach to getting gnarly that was birthed at this spot..

The Jungle Bowl was too gnarly for most skaters at the time and even well-known pros were too scared to ride there and even guys like Salba only went there once and I think Tony Alva really liked the spot and did his best to keep it secret and I appreciate that. Some people still operate with the original integrity of the secret locations and keeping the spot under wraps until its over and that is the proper approach to preserving locations like this. 

The jungle bowl was a pretty gnarly pool, even amongst other pools and was the perfect training ground for all-terrain skateboarders like myself to flourish at a time when public skate parks were nonexistent and skateboarding was pretty much illegal anywhere, so this was a breath of fresh air to have basically a private skate park on a hilltop, surrounded by nature, with the best views, the cleanest air, and the most welcoming environment for a pool skater like myself. This is the kind of spot that a lifelong skateboarder can really appreciate, and those of you who may have been here can attest to that and for those who are seeing this footage on YouTube man I wish you were there, but at the same time I’m glad you weren’t. Please enjoy 

Raunchy Roy Starin is one of my old skateboarding buddies from my elementary school days and here he demonstrates the proper backside grind technique and the mid pocket of the amoeba shaped pool that is the jungle bowl, one of the most secretive and gnarly and highly skateable and most influential pools of modern skateboarding. That’s where we’re at and that’s what’s up.  please enjoy this classic pool skating footage and for the full video check out the link in the video!

Welcome to Colossus in the Badlands pool skateboarding area of Southern California. Easily the deepest backyard pool I have seen or skated. It was more than double overhead. Salba called it the Waimea of Skateboarding. One the gnarliest pool I’ve ever skated. It ranks up there with the Glory Hole in terms of size. The surface texture was real grippy and the amount of speed you had to ride it with took some getting used to. It’s definitely on the short list of the most unique pools that I have rode due to its size and I’m honored to bring this experience to you and if there’s anything bigger I’d love to check it out. Photoshoot by Sean Peterson. Skaters: Realtor Todd, John Zask, Steve Alba, myself and a few others. Video Shot & Edited by Toby Burger. Is Colossus comparable to the Godzilla Bowl? https://youtu.be/ZPFZXsgBL68 you decide… WATCH NEXT: ▶️ BINGE WATCH POOL SKATING ADVENTURES from the Beginning! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_R8uQuFhXflQufstxqLH8hrgS7nLrLrc (Making qualified purchases using my affiliate links helps this channel grow!) ------------------------ THE ORIGINAL CRAFT BEER CLUB https://bit.ly/460FdSd JOIN THE CRAFT BEER CLUB https://bit.ly/3Pv3hHH PREPAID CRAFT BEER CLUB https://bit.ly/3Lhdp4d SHOP CRAFT BEER https://bit.ly/3PsUxBS Brau Brothers Brewing/Brothers Craft Brewing Combo Pack https://bit.ly/3EP8GmV Geary Brewing/Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery Combo Pack https://bit.ly/3r4g2zA Pikes Peak/Diamond Bear Brewing Combo Pack https://bit.ly/3Z7AV9q Pikes Peak Combo Pack https://bit.ly/3EvkKtb 3 Sheeps Brewing/Ellicottville Brewing Combo Pack https://bit.ly/45L13JS ------------------------- 💧Pool Draining Equipment💧👉 https://amzn.to/45Fr2lD 🚲 Dirt Bike Helmet Light Kit 👉 https://alnk.to/7X2DXCP ☕️ Caliber Coffee Company 👉 https://alnk.to/e75ai9g 🔪 Buck Knives 👉 https://alnk.to/6bT49w7 🔫 Favorite Glock Upgrades 👉 https://alnk.to/d3ACpn1 - Use PROMO CODE: TOBY10 for 10% Off 🏍️ Electric Dirt Bike I Learned On 👉 https://amzn.to/3qEIDv2 Independent Trucks Stage 11 Standard Polished Trucks 129s https://bit.ly/45xsW82 139s https://bit.ly/47Wjxss 144s https://bit.ly/44BQTKa 149s https://bit.ly/3YWNXqd 159s https://bit.ly/44BhlDE 169s https://bit.ly/45v8BjT Bones Super Reds https://bit.ly/3ECMQ61 Bones Red Precision https://bit.ly/3OVUbSU Jesup Griptape https://bit.ly/3YVtmTa Vans Half Cabs https://bit.ly/3Ekca0j Vans Old School Low Tops https://bit.ly/45UMrr7 Skateboard Decks https://bit.ly/3Ekmwxc Carver C7 Surfskate Truck https://bit.ly/47RXzGZ Carver Complete Skateboards https://bit.ly/3Ekmwxc Surfskate Completes https://bit.ly/3Ekmwxc Longboard Completes https://bit.ly/3Ekmwxc Sun Bum 50 SPF Sun Block https://bit.ly/3OPZjb2 Lost Surfboards 5’8 Round Nose Fish https://bit.ly/44wnuRM 6’0 RNF https://bit.ly/45u3393 https://bit.ly/47SW3V2 https://bit.ly/3YVDVWk 6’4 RNF https://bit.ly/44wnP70 7’0 Smooth Operator Mid Length https://bit.ly/3qJwvJq Surfing Equipment from JACKS SURFBOARDS 🏄‍♂️Only Wetsuit Brand I Buy👉 https://alnk.to/hDojUTG 🏄‍♀️Mid Length Single Fin 👉 https://alnk.to/fSeK6OY 🏄Single Fin Nose Rider 👉 https://alnk.to/7Bd80s8 🏄‍♂️Stumpy Single Fin/Quad 👉https://alnk.to/9xhsNwq 🏄‍♀️Quad Fish 👉 https://alnk.to/apRjhTN 🏄Twin Fin Retro Fish 👉 https://alnk.to/6xIA7Mw Use coupon code SURFER15OFF to save 15% on any full priced Wetsuits, Surfboard fins, board bags, traction pads, and leashes with any new surfboard purchase.*Exclusively Online Captain Fin Co https://bit.ly/44w6IlE Natas Kaupas 10” https://bit.ly/3LqM1RB Joel Tudor 9.125” https://bit.ly/45PORqV Joel Tudor 9.625” https://bit.ly/47XJc43 Alex Knost Red Sunshine 10” https://bit.ly/44w7eA6 Alex Knost Yellow Sunshine 10” https://bit.ly/3qTmyZP Shop @ Jack’s Surfboards 👙Bikinis https://bit.ly/3XcdISs 🩳Trunks https://bit.ly/42EHr7S 🌊Wetsuits https://bit.ly/42Oknn3 🏄‍♂️Custom Surfboard Order https://bit.ly/3p28j47 🏄‍♂️Surf Accessories https://bit.ly/3JkDOgx 🏄‍♂️Surfboard Fins https://bit.ly/3JkDOgx 🛹Complete Skateboards https://bit.ly/4612Afz 🛹Skateboard Decks https://bit.ly/3Jif5JE 👟Skate Shoes https://bit.ly/3p72l1F 🛹Skate Accessories https://bit.ly/3JkDOgx 🛹Bearings https://bit.ly/3NuUg09

This was one of my all-time favorite empty pools to skateboard in because it was in such a awesome spot with the best view, surrounded by wildlife on top of a hill, above the helicopters in the valley, had peacocks roaming the trees and often times seen in the pool area. This is probably the coolest empty pool I have ever skated even though the pool itself was not the best pool or the easiest to ride. It had a very mellow waterfall, so generating enough speed to properly hit the lip for a decent grind was difficult. You had to slingshot from the shallow end to the deep end. It was steep, deep and had a rough texture to it. Once we added the pool coping, that added another 4 inches of vertical on top of already about 3 feet of vert. So it was a pretty gnarly pool to ride and very few really had it down. At the time there were a lot of skateboarders that would come up there but very few could put lines together and even fewer could skate it well but it was an awesome spot. Many people learned how to skate there. You know places like this just don’t pop up very often. This is a once in a lifetime skate spot. If you got to ride there, let us know in the comment section.