The completely prophetic “Elissa Steamer is a superstar” introduction to her Toy Machine Welcome To Hell part is the most concise summation of what this intro is striving to communicate. This video part imported Elissa into our collective consciousness, and her hard work and passion have ensured she has never left it. She has been a constant for decades, and we are still stoked every time a new clip hits our feed, perhaps now more than ever. Toy Machine was the platform that launched her career, and she became a trailblazer out of the gate; every step of the way, she was carving a path for female skaters to follow in her footsteps. This wasn’t a considered part of her journey; her main endeavour was always to keep getting better at skateboarding, but she simultaneously sketched a blueprint and blew the doors open for generations who followed. We’re glad she did; she will always hold GOAT status and a unique story as she navigated a male-dominated playing field with a grace, style, and flow that was all her own.
Like anyone who has been a figure in the industry for many years, there are a lot of different chapters, sponsors, videos, and lenses that she has been presented through. Her Toy Machine era cemented her as a key figure; a brief stint on Zero reunited her with Jamie Thomas, who filmed her first part, she has had notable footage thanks to her Nike SB affiliation, and multiple appearances in other projects, one of our favourites being the Rob Hoovis classic FM II. However, it is her deep family ties to the Baker squad that have led to the most definitive offerings over the years, with her dear friend Andrew Reynolds curating her footage. As she explains in our conversation, old friends have a way of bringing her back into the fold when things quieten down. The power move of having her name on a Baker board, her Thrasher cover, and her killer Baker Has a Deathwish Part Two part, at this stage in the game, all speak volumes.
Skateboarding first found Elissa in Fort Myers, and this First & Last interview was put together to shine a light on as many significant moments as possible, from first seeing local Floridian legends, who would later become friends, through to more recent accomplishments like resurrecting switch crooked grinds. Elissa is classically trained, and as a result, her output continues to age like fine wine. We look forward to seeing more in the future, as we find it just as inspiring as the Guy Mariano clip she mentions within this interview. For anyone reading this who is familiar with her body of work, we hope you find some insights via this window into her world. And for anyone reading this who is unaware of her story and just beginning their own journey, we hope this goes some way towards explaining how important she is to skateboarding’s culture and evolution. We’re proud to have connected with Elissa for this one, and we hope you enjoy the read…
Words and interview by Jacob Sawyer. Elissa Steamer and Randy at Fort Miley. PH: Blake Matthews
First time you saw skateboarding in real life?
I used to live in an apartment building, and I must’ve been eight. I actually had a little skateboard when I was like four or five. I remember when my parents were still together, I had a little freeformer, a little plastic guy. So the first time I would have seen skateboarding in real life was either me doing it, my sister doing it, or my dad trying it maybe. I don’t really remember that, but I remember having that board. I remember the first time seeing skateboarding was at the Fort Myers Rec Center. I think it was probably a summer camp, like a day camp, and a group of skaters were there. Tim Mott was one of them; he was like my local hometown hero later on, and we’re still really good friends. He’s a few years older than me, probably five years older than me. So I would have been like eight or nine and…maybe he’s 10 years older than me because he would have been 16 or something like that. Tim and a couple other guys came and did a little demo.
“Seeing them with shaved, dyed hair, mohawks, cool clothes, and skeletons on their shoes was the best thing to me”
I don’t know if it was a scheduled demo for the camp or if they just rolled through and were skating the spot; I can’t really remember, but that’s the first thing I can remember of it. Or else it’s being at this apartment building that was actually just across the field from that rec center. Somebody riding a board by the apartment building, me trying it, and hopping on it, and being able to tic-tac right away. I guess that’s three, not really one. One of those is the first one. The Tim Mott at the Fort Myers Rec Center situation, him and this guy, Billy Moses, and some other guy whose name I forget. Seeing them with shaved, dyed hair, mohawks, cool clothes, and skeletons on their shoes was the best thing to me… I was like, this is my shit!
First board? The first one you remember obsessing over and getting exactly what you wanted.
Obviously, from seeing those guys and asking them about their boards, I knew what I wanted. I remember that somebody had a Powell Peralta with the Dragon logo on the top of it. I remember being like, that’s what I want, this is what I want, and going with my dad to Champ Sports. A complete Powell was probably $130 at the time, and you could get a complete Variflex with all Variflex parts for substantially cheaper. So my dad bought me the Variflex, and a Powell sticker for a dollar. You know what I mean? So I stuck the Powell sticker on, but I rode the Variflex.
Then I remember for my 12th birthday I went to West Coast Surf Shop on Fort Myers Beach and I got to pick out a board. I got a Powell Sword and Skull with black Thunders and pink Kryptos, and that was my ideal setup.I started riding that, and it was kind of dated. The shape of it wasn’t as cool as the Variflex. After a while the sort of awe of having a Powell board wore off on me, and I just wanted a sicker shape. So I started riding the Variflex but set it up with the Thunders.
Elissa’s first skateboards, a Variflex complete next to her Powell Peralta Skull & Sword
First time someone acknowledged what you were doing that made a difference?
I think the first moment when I hopped on that board and knew how to tic-tac straight away kind of blew some minds. I actually remember people being like, Whoa, how can you do that? Another one that comes to mind is being at a BMX demo at Benjamin Cyclery Schwinn in Fort Myers. Summer demos would come through, and BMX, and people had little Mongoose scooters and stuff like that. But I remember lone kid had a board. I think it was a Schmitt Stix ATV. I was still in elementary school, so I was no older than ten. I grabbed his board, and I did a 90-degree ollie and stayed on. Not a straight ollie, not a 180, just an ollie to 90 degrees, barely off the ground, barely scraping the tail, and that blew minds because it was probably 1984 or something.
First free boards?
My first free board came from Barker Barrett at the Skatepark of Tampa. He was on a Creature tour; I forget who it was, but it was him and a couple of other guys, and I was skating at the park. I think I was trying to learn backside heelflips over the hip, and then Barker gave me a board, a Creature board. The shape was kind of wack actually, but I was blown away that somebody gave me a free board, because I was still at the point where I could only get a board from working. I used to work at a bookstore and a pizza place; I forget which one it was at the time. It’s probably the bookstore. You would get paid $50 a week, or something, maybe, and a board was $50. So you’re not buying a board all the time, and your board lasted a long time. So I was blown away that I got a free skateboard.
I’ve probably told this story a million times, but there was this one summer; I think it was probably 1994, maybe it was 95, but there was a summer where all these teams came through and would do a demo at the Skatepark of Tampa. I would always skate after it, and kind of hometown hero it, and I got a free board from everybody. Keenan Milton gave me a board; a lot of people- Foundation, Toy Machine, all kinds of people gave me boards that time. The Keenan board was the best because obviously Keenan is the sickest, and Girl and Chocolate were the sickest thing ever. That turned into Lance [Mountain] giving me boards for a year. Two boards a month for a year from The Firm was kind of sick. The Creature board wasn’t that dope. I think I even traded it with a friend for a Walker Reggie Barnes or something like that. Jamie Thomas gave me some boards, or a board.
At the time, I didn’t know how the game worked, but I knew what the game was, you know what I mean? I knew that the game was to get good enough to get free stuff. I knew that was the game, so I did my best to get good enough. Then as the stuff started coming, I was like, “Oh shit, now I can ride a new board”. Especially when I was getting Firm boards, two boards a month is huge! You know, a new board every two weeks is the most amazing thing. Not only do you look good, you feel good. Your boards are crispy, snappy, and you’ve got new griptape. It’s a whole thing, and it makes you want to get better to get more free stuff. For me, I thrive on praise and attention. I thrive on that; that’s like a thing for me. It’s sad to admit. Well, it’s not sad. I think everybody kind of does, but that’s like an acknowledgement. Here’s a free board is like, you’re good at skating, and being good at skating was like what I wanted to be.
Mickey Reyes [RIP] sent me a Real box. He was like, “Here’s some stuff. Just hit me up when it’s gone, and I’ll send you some more,” you know. Lance said, “Hit me up when your stuff’s gone; I’ll send you some more”. So there were flow situations like that, and then with the Toy Machine thing they were like, “We don’t do a flow program; you’re gonna be a sponsored amateur”.
Elissa skating USC ledges in 1997 when she was riding for The Firm. PH: Lance Mountain
First photo in a mag?
It was actually a crazy story. I think about this, and it’s kind of crazy to think about now, but I think it was two days after my 19th birthday. Me and my friend Lovey, one of my best friends ever, were going to move to Seattle. He had a 1970 Volkswagen bus, and we packed up our stuff. We didn’t have anything; I took a backpack, and we drove to Seattle. I was getting flow from The Firm at this time, and this car broke down in every city. So it was crazy; it took us a long time, and a lot of money. Western Union wires for money, and aunties paying for new engines. It must’ve taken us three weeks to get to Los Angeles because of the amount of stopping. But I was getting flowed Firm boards, so when we got to LA, I hit up Lance [Mountain], and we went skating the night that we got there. We went skating at USC, and Lance shot a photo of me. I did a crooks, and I did a nollie tailslide, just skating the ledges.
Then the next morning he had the negatives already; I think that was the timeline. He had the negatives, and I remember looking at them through a little eyepiece and him being like, “This one’s sick”, and it was the crook. And although I landed the crook, it wasn’t the actual one that I landed. I thought the photo you printed had to actually be the one that you landed. I didn’t know you could land it three weeks from now. We can still run the photo, or you could have landed it three months ago, and we could still run the photo now if you shoot it. I thought the one you print had to be the one that was a make. I was like, “But I didn’t make that one; you should use the nollie tail. I know I made that one”. He must have thought I was so wild because I had no idea how any of this stuff works, you know what I mean? That ended up being the photo, the nollie tail, but the crooks was a much better photo, way more exciting, but whatever.
First trick you filmed with Jamie Thomas?
The first one would have been a kickflip into the Bro Bowl banks at the playground at the Bro Bowl. There were these brick banks with a slide, and I kickflipped into that. It’s kind of dark footage, and it goes by really quick in Welcome To Hell. That would be the first trick that I filmed with him.
First trick you were surprised by?
I think the ollie into the triangle in Miami because I needed encouragement, you know? I didn’t know what my capabilities were at that point because we would just skate ledges. That’s all I knew to do was flatground and ledges. I didn’t know you could go over a gap into a bank; that wasn’t really a thing that I thought of. It was also kind of scary up there. There are these little pegs sticking up, and you have to ollie way before the actual point you would think that people are ollieing at, you know? It was kind of far, and it wasn’t something I was used to. That wasn’t the kind of skateboarding I was used to, but I think Jamie saw that I could do something like that. I wanted to be good at skating; he told me this would actually be sick, and I was like, “Okay, I’ll try it then”.
First moment, having become part of Toy Machine, where you realised everything had changed?
Before I was actually on Toy Machine, I was at the Skatepark of Tampa. I spent a lot of time at the Skatepark of Tampa. As you can tell, I actually had a Skatepark of Tampa shirt on in that photo that we just talked about that Lance shot; I remember getting flow for Real or just DLX flow. I don’t know if it was Real or Stereo, but I remember Real boards. I was at the Skatepark of Tampa in the pro shop, in the shop. I remember talking about Toy Machine, saying that Jamie Thomas and [Chad] Muska wanted me to ride for Toy Machine but that I didn’t know if I fit. I was into Stereo and Forties, and Mike Daher was somebody I looked up to, so I was unsure. I remember Paul Zitzer being like, “Toy Machine is the shit! You should absolutely ride for Toy Machine”. That was the first time I thought, “Okay, I’ll probably ride for Toy Machine”.
But the first time feeling like things changed? I’ll give a clear example, but this is maybe a weird example, so I’ll give two. I remember the premiere night, you know, there was this big debacle where it didn’t happen at the theatre. Then everybody went back to Jamie’s house in Pacific Beach. Erik Ellington was there before I knew him, Erik and a bunch of AZ dudes like Scotty [Copalman] and Aaron Pearcey [RIP]. It’s actually Aaron’s memorial celebration this coming Monday. I remember him at the theatre, and he was friends with Muska. I remember hanging out with Muska, and Aaron looked at me like, “What the fuck are you doing here?” He might even have said, like, “Back up. Why are you over here?” or something, thinking I was just a skate rat or something, you know? Then I remember after the video played at Jamie’s house, when everybody had watched it, his tone switched, and he wanted to be my friend then; it was kind of funny.
Then there was the tour we did. We drove across the country and premiered Welcome to Hell at all these shops and did demos. I think that’s when things changed. I started signing autographs at demos and things like that. Then after that same summer, I think the Welcome to Hell tour was in June, and then in July it was my birthday. I flew to Philadelphia and myself, Brian Anderson and Mike Maldonado hopped in Brian Anderson’s car and drove around to the Warped Tours. Salba was the director of the skateboarding there, and he would meet us and let us in the Warped Tour, and we would skate for a minute and then leave and just kind of do our own thing. It was all East Coast, like New Jersey, Action Park, Connecticut stuff. I remember I was walking around at the Warped Tour; it was like a big festival, and some kid saw me walking through a crowd. He was like, “Hey, I just saw you in Thrasher!”, or something, and I was like, “Oh really? Damn, that’s cool”. I think that’s kind of when things changed; it was really after Welcome to Hell came out.
“Hey, I just saw you in Thrasher!”
The most famous person from Fort Myers. Frontside flip for a Toy Machine ad
First skate trip outside of the USA?
Oh, that was like 1997. Me, Erik Ellington, Jamie Thomas, and Adrian Lopez- I think that was the squad. We flew to Guatemala, but the plane had to detour because a volcano erupted in Guatemala near the airport, so it couldn’t fly in that zone with the volcanic ash. So we had to land in El Salvador. We landed in El Salvador, and we hopped on a bus, and I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Central and South America? It’s wild; it’s like dirt roads through mountains and chicken buses, buses with chickens and goats on them, you know? Like a bus that might not make it. That drove us; I think it was a six-hour drive from El Salvador to Guatemala to do a demo. We made it; we were 30 minutes late, or maybe later than that, to the demo, but there were still a bunch of people there.
So we just came from that wicked mission and went there. I remember the flight there was insane too. I don’t know if it was a flight there or a flight home. I think it was the flight there, but it was me and Erik, sitting in economy, drinking Budweisers probably, and there was a Latino lady, an older woman next to us. The plane got the gnarliest turbulence. Have you ever been on extreme turbulence where you’re like, “I’m dying right now?” Not just the normal one. I’m talking about the one where the masks are coming down. The lady grabbed Erik and started praying in Spanish. You know what I mean? We were like, “Oh, fuck, this is it!” But we pulled it. That was my first trip outside of America.
First place?
I used to skate in the FASL, Florida Amateur Skateboard League. I used to skate in that in the 2A division.I remember winning a couple of those and being pretty excited about that. It was just a bunch of friends; it was super fun. There were actually ramps to skate because we never had any stuff like that. The only time we actually had quarter pipes and slider bars was when there was a contest. Or we’d drive all over Florida and go to Stone Edge, or the Brandon skatepark, or McGill’s or something when they would have a contest.
Close cousin of the kickflip back tail from Elissa’s Thrasher interview November 1998. PH: Michael Burnett
First trick that’s left you, you’d like to have back for the day?
Oh man, you know, at one time in my life I could do kickflip backtails. I think I’d take that back for a day.
First female who you recognized as a peer?
That’s a great question, actually. There was this one girl that skated in the FASL contest. I think she lived in Brandon, actually, right outside of Tampa. I think she was a couple of years older than me, and one time my mum drove me up to her house, dropped me off, and I stayed the night at her house. Then me, her, and her friends drove to Daytona Beach for a contest. We drove to Daytona Beach for a contest and stayed the weekend. I don’t know how this all lined up. Somehow I was in a hotel room; I can’t even remember. She was a skater, but she wasn’t like die-hard, you know what I mean? Maybe she was, I don’t know, but it seemed like she was kind of more into skater boys. I don’t really know. I can’t call it. It was so long ago, but she didn’t seem as much of a skate rat as me, I’ll put it that way. Other than that, I feel like me and Jamie Reyes came out around the same time. I think she might’ve been a little bit earlier than me; I view her as a peer for sure.
Shortly after all this, maybe the summer or winter of 97 or something like that, shortly after our video parts had come out. There was a contest. It might even have been the first one. This woman, Patty Segovia, put it on, and it was called the All Girls Skate Jam. There was a skatepark at the Graffix Bongs warehouse. I remember seeing Jamie there, Lisa Whitaker probably, and some others. I don’t remember, but I remember Jamie being there in San Diego; that was kind of sick.
Full circle, Elissa skates Southbank while Jaime Reyes films
First female skater who comes to mind right now who you’re stoked to see new footage of?
I would be stoked to see Marisa [Del Santo] footage for sure. Marisa has always had a special place in my heart, just being on Zero with her and traveling the country. I don’t know if she’s skating, but she’s in Denver. She’s in some bands; she has a band called Blood Oath, and she does her vintage sales and stuff like that. I’m stoked on everybody. I like Georgia [Martin] a lot. I think Georgia’s filming for a Nike SB video right now, and that’ll be dope. Rayssa [Leal], Chloe [Covell], and all of them. All the Nike SB skaters are dope.
First life-changing cheque?
I mean, honestly, back in the day, when I got $200 a month from Sole Tech, that was life-changing for me, you know what I mean? Then when it got raised to $500, that was life-changing, and then it got raised to a thousand, and that was life-changing. Then I got a shoe contract and then a video game. All of it was life-changing, honestly. There wasn’t a life-changing contest cheque because all the women’s contests back in the day didn’t pay well at all. You would win like a grand, or two grand for a minute. The X Games was like 25 G’s, and then I stopped being in, and it probably went up to like 50 or something, but there was never a hundred thousand dollar check from a contest.
First video part where you were completely happy with the result?
Honestly, I don’t know if I’ve even been there yet, but the closest that has come to it was my most recent Baker has a Deathwish 2 part that Andrew [Reynolds] made. He made me look good, you know?
Some Elissa gold from the Baker Has a Deathwish Part 2 video
First pro shoe?
My Etnies shoe from back in the day, maybe it was in 99, definitely 2000. It was before the Albatross; that was my second one. It felt really good to have a pro shoe, and I was stoked with how it came out. However, I will say, I wish that, looking back, and you know, hindsight’s always 20-20. But when they asked me what colorways I wanted to release, it was obviously the black one. But I wish I had been a little more- not demanding, but assertive- about what colorways were to come out because they put out the black one, which was super dope. I don’t know if the brown one came out; that might’ve just been samples. Or maybe it was a second wave of colours. But in the first three colourways there was this hideous white and yellow and blue, then gray and navy. I remember asking for whatever colours they felt were going to sell the best. I now know that whatever’s more authentic to the person whose name is on it is what’s going to sell the best, you know? I would have had a black one, a brown one, and maybe a cream colour one for the people who want a lighter shoe. But I never would have put white with yellow and blue details on a shoe.
Shoes that stood out for me around that time would have been the éS Koston One, Sal 23s, the Etnies MC Rap. Also, obviously any Nike shoes. I used to like skating in Nike before I rode for Etnies. I would just go to Marshalls or Ross and buy some kind of Nikes. The shoe they did with Supreme, the GTS, you know that one? I used to get those.
First cover?
Only cover, the Thrasher one. I don’t even know when it was, but I remember it was the new year of 2024, January of 2024. I don’t know if that’s the date of the mag, but that’s when it happened. I’m still riding high from that one. That was a really good year; that was a good time in life right there.
“That was a really good year; that was a good time in life right there”
Elissa’s well-deserved Thrasher cover arrived in March 2024
First Zero board?
Well, I rode a Zero board back in the day, back when Zero first started, and I remember Ed [Templeton] being like, “What are you doing? You ride for Toy Machine. Are you going to ride for Zero or something?”, and me being like, “No, I’m just riding the board”, and him being like, “Okay, are you sure?”, and getting sketched out about it, hahaha.
That would be the first. My first pro board for Zero would have been a Strange World graphic. I forget what it was, maybe a butterfly wing over some grainy picture or something. I don’t know how to describe it really. It was super sick to be working with Jamie again. It seems like every time I give up on things, somebody from my past, or current but past, will come and be like, “What are you doing? I’m gonna do this for you”. It happened with Jamie when I didn’t have a board sponsor for a minute, and then it happened with Andrew when I didn’t have a board sponsor for hella long. But yeah, it was good collaborating with Jamie; me and Jamie have always been really tight. We get along great.
First trick out of the car, these days and the old days?
No comply, a 43, or a no comply 180, whatever you want to call it. That’s the warm-up. Sometimes I’ll just do those for like a half hour, you know?
Elissa puts her signature colourway of the Nike SB Verona to the test with a go-to manoeuvre
First piece of advice you’d offer a young girl looking to start skateboarding today and hoping to follow in your footsteps?
I would just offer them the blueprint of how to do it. Even though the old blueprint might be a little bit out of touch. I would just add: fire up your Instagram also. Follow this blueprint, but also start your social media presence. I would give them so much advice, honestly. I would tell them, know your worth, know your value. And if you know your value, be prepared to say no, and no is a complete sentence. Something like that.
“I would tell them that this could be a great life for them if it’s what they want, but I would also tell them this life ain’t for everybody”
I don’t know, it’s such a great life to be able to ride skateboards. You know what I mean? It’s sick. I would tell them that this could be a great life for them if it’s what they want, but I would also tell them this life ain’t for everybody. It would have been dope to get things moving a little bit earlier than I did. I guess I didn’t really get sponsored until I was nineteen. I feel like back then people were getting sponsored when they were like twelve or thirteen, but I was off in the cut in Florida, so nobody was gonna see what I was doing.
First defunct spot you’d like to resurrect and skate again?
Cement jump ramp, though it would hurt so bad to take that plop over and over, hahaha. That was the greatest spot. We had so much fun there. It’s gone.
First three people you’re putting in the van if organizing the skate trip was up to you?
Wow, I don’t want to leave anybody out. People’s feelings are gonna get hurt, but right now, if I had to think of it, it would be Andrew [Reynolds], Jay Thorpe, Frank [Gerwer]. But I love so many people; there are so many others that I would want to bring. If I only get to pick three off the top of my head right now, that’s what I’m doing.
Last Gnarhunters product you were super stoked on?
You know what’s crazy is that I haven’t done Gnarhunters in so long, but the last thing that I actually did, that I was really pumped on was a Spitfire collab, and that was two years ago already, maybe even three. I need to fire Gnarhunters back up, honestly. It’s always in the cards. Is it actually going to happen? Who knows?
Randy the dog approved Gnarhunters collaboration with Spitfire Wheels
Last good surf you had and last thing you battled for on a surfboard and rode away for the first time?
The last good surf I had? I can look at the day right now. I can actually tell you the day because I twisted my ankle right after it. It would have been the 14th of September; that was my last good surf. Before that I hadn’t surfed for at least a year, so it’s been a while. That was really fun. I haven’t gone since, but I had a really good time. I got like three or four waves. It was perfect conditions for somebody who hasn’t surfed in a year. I was out with my friend Jack, and it was really just us; that was fun. I remember how much of a battle it was to learn how to just go down the line. I remember asking Chris Senn because he was surfing a lot at the time, “How do you get down the wave, and then turn, and then go down the line?”. He’s like, “Why don’t you just turn before you go down the wave?” Which makes sense. Just getting that knowledge and putting that together was a huge thing.
Last bit of positive feedback on being honest about your journey, like you were for the Ben Raemers Foundation?
I appreciate that. I think that’s the best feedback is that I’m honest about it because being honest and vulnerable isn’t second nature to me. It’s something that has taken a lot of practice to become.
Last album you put on from start to finish?
Nas Illmatic, just the other day, just the other day. And I called up one of my greatest friends, Dan Rojas. As I was listening to it, I paused it, and I called him up, and I go, “Name the best album ever made? I think we’re aligned”, and he goes, “Nas Illmatic”, I was like, “We’re aligned”, and that was it.
Last Baker board graphic you’re hyped on?
There was a T-Funk one of him playing pool that I really liked, and I was like, “Oh, I’m going to get that graphic on my shape next”. My last Baker board? I’m going to be honest with you. I get excited every time I have a Baker graphic because I feel so fortunate to be under this roof, but I really like the Charlotte’s Web one.I wouldn’t say I’m fussy, but I have a shape that I ride. It’s a B19, but with a smaller wheelbase. Technically, the B19 is an 8.25” with a 14.25” wheelbase, but I get the B19 with a 14.1” wheelbase. So a tiny bit shorter wheelbase, but it makes a difference for me. I figured it out a couple of years ago when we were all messing around with wheelbases, me, Andrew, and Spanky. The main thing for me is that I have to have that Basalt; that six-ply volcano shit is a must! And it’s got to be mold 10, the flattest, flimsiest thing you can find.
Last Nike SB shoe you stockpiled and one you wish you had?
I am actually wearing a pair right now that I haven’t even scuffed yet. And it’s one of the four pairs that I have left of the Dancer Blazer; I stockpiled those. The last one that I wish I had stockpiled? That’s a really, really great question. I guess the old Blazer GT, but I heard they’re making the new Blazer GT like the old Blazer GT. So something like that, I think that tracks.
Last person you saw skate in real life who blew you away?
Andrew every time. Frank too. But I’m down here right now. I’m at Baker right now. So I saw Andrew doing big flips and fakie tres, and whatever he wants!
Last time you skated with Rob Welsh?
A couple of weeks ago. I mean, I FaceTime Rob three times a day. We talk all the time, but we don’t really skate together because he only skates those kerbs in Oakland, and I’m not going to drive to Oakland to skate kerbs, so we rarely skate together. We rode bikes together, though recently, but I did go over there and skate about a month ago.
Last thing you filmed you were excited about?
Anything I film, I get excited about. But I went back and battled this one thing a couple of times, like a trick-to-manual situation. I’m not really that strong at doing wheelies, so that took a minute, and I was pretty hyped on that. Any clip I get, I’m happy about. You feel a sense of productivity.
Last good skate you had?
The last good sesh I had was at Waller, and I just rolled up. I remember I was wearing some navy blue Stefans, and I was just feeling semi good. I was like, I’m just gonna pretend like I feel good, and I can do all the tricks that I want to do. So I would just trash it, and it would work. I wouldn’t be scared and be like, Okay, first I’ll do a boardslide, then I have to boardslide fakie. I was like, I’m just going to go straight to nollie back lip, fuck it! So that was it. It was probably about a month ago, right before I twisted my ankle, actually. It was right before I twisted my ankle.
The results of another good skate for the Spitfire San Francisco Burning video. PH: Tom Shattuck
Last thing skateboarding brought to the table you think is exciting?
I mean, I like that six-ply volcano situation. People ask me, “What’s up with skateboards? They’re all the same, right?” What’s the biggest innovation in skateboarding? This is the biggest innovation in skateboarding.
Last thing you implemented that has improved skating for you?
The last thing I implemented? Working out. How about that? Hitting the gym, having somebody show me, and actually lifting weights- hella lifting weights. With somebody telling me how to do it, to hit the right muscle groups and all that. That’s been the biggest thing for me. I noticed it was helping me straight away. Straight away. It’s not that it helps my skating; it just helps my knee hurt less. Which makes it more fun to skate. When skating is fun, you want to do it more, and when you do it more, you’re better at it. Then the better you are, the more you want to do it. It’s a vicious cycle.
Textbook Switch crooked grind in the mix of these mirror lines at Tompkins Square Park NYC
Last trick you learned or relearned?
Well, I mean, I kind of relearn everything every time I skate, hahah. But I remember the last thing where I was really like, okay, I’ve got to get this back, was switch crooks. I can’t be living life without being able to switch crooks when I want to switch crooks. I’m gonna have to relearn them because I haven’t skated in three weeks.
Last person who surprised you?
The other day, my partner Rachel. I was getting the mail, and there was a card in there for me. I opened it, and she had written me a nice little note that said some really nice things in it. Like, thanks for supporting me this last week when I needed you without me having to ask, and I see you, type of thing. That was really sweet. That was surprising, just out of the blue, somebody telling you that they appreciate you.
Last good film you watched?
The last movie we watched was called I Swear, so good!
Last video or video part you had to rewatch?
Well, Guy Mariano put a clip out the other day, and I watched that like 40 times probably.
Last person from your generation who posted new footage that’s made you want to get out there?
Classically trained frontside noseslide. PH: Bram De Martelaere
Last place skateboarding took you for the first time where you’d like to spend more time?
Whoa, the French Riviera. That was recently, the Copenhagen trip, but not Copenhagen; it was Biarritz and Bilbao.
Last thing Jeff Grosso said to you that made a lot of sense?
I don’t know if he said it to me, but he said it on something “You’re not supposed to learn skating from a coach. You’re supposed to learn it from your friends”. It was something like that.
Last book you read?
Does listening count? Andre Agassi, Open. It’s really good. Then I tried to find another person who might be interesting, and I started listening to Grant Hill’s book, and that’s just so boring! Through Nike, I haven’t crossed paths with Andre Agassi, but I would love to. I actually haven’t really crossed too many paths via Nike. Although, one time I was in the same room as Serena Williams after she had just won Wimbledon. I didn’t get to talk to her or meet her or anything, but I saw her in person, and that was kind of wild.
Last board you broke? Was it Baker 2G?
Yeah, other than focusing one, it was. That’s the only board I’ve ever broken, still.
Last words?
Tighten up.
We want to thank Elissa for taking the time out to do this one, and for the decades of inspiration. We also want to thank Lance Mountain, Bram De Martelaere, Tom Shattuck, and Blake Matthews for sending photos, and Colin Kennedy for helping to line up this conversation. Be sure to follow Elissa on Instagram for further updates. You can shop with us for products from Elissa’s long standing sponsors Spitfire , Nike SB , Baker , Thunder.
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