The 900 is a 2½-revolution (900 degrees) aerial spin performed on a skateboard ramp. While airborne, the skateboarder makes two-and-a-half turns about their longitudinal axis, thereby facing down when coming down. It is considered one of skateboarding's most technically demanding tricks.

Performance by Tony Hawk

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On June 27, 1999, Tony Hawk, one of the most successful vertical pro skateboarders in the world, landed the 900 at X Games V after ten failed attempts. It was past regulation time but, as one announcer said, "We make up the rules as we go along. Let's give him another try." Other skaters protested, but Hawk continued. Hawk twice landed on his board, but it flew out from under him. When he finally completed the trick, his arms windmilled and his hand barely grazed the ramp.[1] Nonetheless, he rode away.[citation needed]

In his book, the 900 was last on the wish-list of tricks Hawk had written down a decade earlier. Other tricks on the list included the ollie 540, kickflip 540, and varial 720. In a 1999 interview, Hawk said he does not have "any desire to spin further."[2] He successfully landed the trick during press interviews for the video game Tony Hawk: Ride and at the "Tony Hawk: RIDE Presents Stand Up for Skate Parks" event.[3] In 2011, Hawk was still able to land the 900, and posted a video of the trick via his Twitter account, stating, "I'm 43 and I did a 900 today."[4][5] On June 27, 2016, Hawk was again successful.

Pre-Hawk

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A number of opinions exist about pre-1999 900s. The most prominent of these is the argument that Danny Way landed the 900 in 1989, and it appears in an early Santa Cruz film.[6] In 1999, Tony Hawk said:

"Well, he was shown in a video almost 10 years ago. He was really close, but he didn't make it. He came the closest by far, but they cut the video before he fell. So it may have misled some people. There are only four people who have been able to spin completely and he's one of them. Tas Pappas and Rob Boyce also have spun it, but they haven't landed it."[2]

Successful landings

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On vert ramp

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  1. Tony Hawk, June 27, 1999, X Games V, San Francisco, California, USA[7]
  2. Giorgio Zattoni, April 2004, Marianna HC, Ravenna, Italy[8]
  3. Sandro Dias, May 2004, Latin X-Games, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil[9]
  4. Alex Perelson, July 2009, Maloof Money Cup, Costa Mesa, California, USA[10][11]
  5. Zac Rose, April 2012 at Rye Airfield, New Hampshire, USA[12]
  6. Asher Bradshaw, May 23, 2014 at Woodward West in Tehachapi, California at the age of 10[13][14]
  7. Gui Khury, 2017, then-youngest person to land a 900 (age eight)[15]
  8. Ema Kawakami, August 2022, youngest person to land a 900 (age seven)[16]
  9. Arisa Trew, May 29, 2024, first female skateboarder to land a 900[17][18][19]
  10. Keefer Wilson, July 19, 2024, Tony Hawk's Vert Alert, Salt Lake City, Utah[20]
  11. JD Sanchez, August 11, 2024, X Games Vert Pro at the US Open of Surfing, Huntington Beach, California[21][22]

On mega ramp (Big air)

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  1. Bob Burnquist, September 4, 2010, first fakie-to-fakie indy 900 and first 900 on a mega ramp, Vista, California, USA[23]
  2. Mitchie Brusco, July 2011, Nescau MegaRamp Invitational, São Paulo, Brazil[24]
  3. Elliot Sloan, October 2, 2011, first tailgrab 900, Maloof Money Cup, South Africa[25]
  4. Tom Schaar, October 2011, on mega ramp at Woodward West in Tehachapi, California, USA[26]
  5. Jonathan Schwan, April 2013, on mega ramp at Woodward West in Tehachapi, California, USA[27][28]
  6. Tas Pappas, April 2014, at Megaranch, Melbourne, Australia[29][30]
  7. Keefer Wilson, October 2019, Megaranch mega ramp, Melbourne, Australia[31]

Beyond the 9

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900 Variations

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  1. Kickflip Body Varial 900 - On August 22nd, 2024, Gui Khury landed the world's first kickflip body varial 900 at his home ramp in Brazil. [32][33]

1080's and more

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  1. In March 2012, Tom Schaar landed a 1080 on his fifth attempt at Woodward West, CA[34]
  2. In August 2019, Mitchie Brusco became the first person to land a 1260 (three full and one-half revolutions) in the Big Air competition at X Games Minneapolis.[35]
  3. In May 2020, Gui Khury landed the first 1080 on a vert ramp.[36]

Other sports

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The 900 can also be attempted on a BMX bike, skis, snowboard, inline skates or a scooter. BMX rider Mat Hoffman was the first person to successfully land the 900 on film at a competition in Canada in 1989.[37] In 2002 at X Games VIII, Hoffman took the trick a step further by landing a no-handed 900.[38] BMX rider Simon Tabron's signature trick is the 900.[39] In the 2007 at X Games XIII, Simon Tabron landed the first back-to-back 900s on a bike.[40]

Because the gear of snowboarders, skiers, and inline skaters is affixed to their feet, the 900 is not considered to be a difficult trick for professionals in those sports and is performed comparatively often. 1620-[41] and 1800-degree[42][43] spins have been landed on skis, a 1620 has been performed on a snowboard[44][45] as well as on inline skates,[46][47] and a 1080 on BMX[48][49] and on scooter.[50]

References

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  1. ^ Polly Sprenger. "Twist and Shout at the X Games". Wired-vig.wired.com. Archived from the original on 2007-03-11. Retrieved 2014-06-22.
  2. ^ a b 1999 Summer X Games: Chat wrap: Hawk soars to legendary status Archived April 4, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Stand Up for Skateparks: Tony Hawk Lands The 900 For His Foundation Supporters". tonyhawkfoundation.org. October 11, 2009. Archived from the original on November 4, 2013. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
  4. ^ "Tony Hawk 900 in Linkoping Sweden". YouTube. 3 October 2012. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
  5. ^ Hawk, Tony [@tonyhawk] (2011-05-14). "I'm 43 and I did a 900 today" (Tweet). Retrieved 2014-06-22 – via Twitter.
  6. ^ "Danny Way- Risk it". YouTube. 2010-11-01. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2017-06-25.
  7. ^ "Tony Hawk 900". YouTube. 2008-07-23. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2014-06-22.
  8. ^ "The 900 - Giorgio Zattoni - Volume Video 3 - June 2004". YouTube. 2006-12-21. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2014-06-22.
  9. ^ "Sandro Dias 900". YouTube. 2006-09-04. Retrieved 2014-06-22.[dead YouTube link]
  10. ^ "Alex Perelson 900". YouTube. 2011-12-12. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2014-06-22.
  11. ^ "Alex Perelson Makes History". ESPN. July 12, 2009. Archived from the original on January 14, 2016.
  12. ^ "Zac Rose 900 Stomp". YouTube. 8 May 2012. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2014-06-22.
  13. ^ Strege, David (30 May 2014). "Asher Bradshaw is youngest skateboarder to land a 900". Men's Journal. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  14. ^ "10 yr old Asher Bradshaw - Youngest To Land 900". YouTube. 2014-05-29. Archived from the original on 2022-04-10. Retrieved 2022-04-10.
  15. ^ "Skateboarder Gui Khury lands first-ever 1080 on a vert ramp". Surfer Today. May 9, 2020. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  16. ^ "7-year-old skateboarder breaks half-pipe record". Good Morning America. August 9, 2022.
  17. ^ Blakely, Brian (30 May 2024). "Arisa Trew Makes Skate History as First Woman to Land a 900". TransWorld SKATEboarding Magazine.
  18. ^ "'Glass ceilings are so 2023': Watch as skateboarding legend Tony Hawk hails Aussie teen's world first". ABC News. 30 May 2024 – via www.abc.net.au.
  19. ^ "Arisa Trew lands the 9000". YouTube. 2024-05-29. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
  20. ^ Tony Hawk Vert Alert: Road to X Games - Day 2 LIVESTREAM | X Games. Retrieved 2024-07-27 – via www.youtube.com.
  21. ^ @jdsanchez___'s FIRST 900! | X Games. Retrieved 2024-08-11 – via www.instagram.com.
  22. ^ JD Is Completely Jacked At Skateboarding | Dan Corrigan. Retrieved 2024-08-13 – via www.youtube.com.
  23. ^ Salo, Adam (17 September 2010). "Burnquist talks about the MegaRamp 900, contest season and life after "Extremely Sorry."". ESPN.com. ESPN. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  24. ^ "14-year-old Mitchie Brusco lands MegaRamp 900 in Sao Paulo, Brazil". ESPN.com. July 7, 2011. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
  25. ^ "Elliot Sloan lands first 900 tailgrab on MiniMega at Maloof South Africa". ESPN.com. October 2, 2011. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
  26. ^ "12-year-old Tom Schaar youngest skater to land 900". ESPN.com. October 17, 2011. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
  27. ^ "Theeve welcomes Jono Schwan and new Mega Truck". YouTube. 2013-04-03. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2014-06-22.
  28. ^ "Jono Schwans 900 on the Woodward West MegaRamp". woodwardwest.com. April 8, 2013.
  29. ^ "Tas Pappas First Australian to land the 900 at the MegaRanch". YouTube. 27 April 2014. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2019-04-19.
  30. ^ "TAS PAPPAS LANDS THE 900". SLAM Skateboarding Magazine. 28 April 2014. Archived from the original on 14 October 2014.
  31. ^ Keefer Wilson Lands The 900!! | Keefer Wilson just became the youngest Australian EVER to land the 900‼️ Catch him and the rest of the Nitro Circus crew when we bring the You Got This... | By Nitro CircusFacebook. Retrieved 2024-07-27 – via www.facebook.com.
  32. ^ "Watch: Gui Khury Lands the World's First Kickflip-Body Varial 900". 23 August 2024.
  33. ^ "Video: Gui Khury Lands 1st 'Kickflip Body Varial 900' 25 Years After Tony Hawk's 900". Bleacher Report.
  34. ^ Skateboarder Tom Schaar "My First X": The Evolution Of The 1080 by NetworkA (published to YouTube on Jun 25, 2012)
  35. ^ "Watch Mitchie Brusco become the first skateboarder to land a 1260". For The Win. 2019-08-03. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  36. ^ X Games (2020-05-13). GUI KHURY: World's First Skateboarding 1080 on Vert! | World of X Games. Retrieved 2024-07-27 – via YouTube.
  37. ^ "March 25th 1989/March 25 2011 – my first 900, 22 yrs". mathoffman.com. March 25, 2011. Archived from the original on November 4, 2013. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
  38. ^ "The 25 Best BMX Performances in X Games History: 1. Mat Hoffman, No-Handed 900, 2002 X Games in Philadelphia". Complex Networks. Jul 28, 2011. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
  39. ^ "BMX: Simon Tabron 900". YouTube. 2008-09-12. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2014-06-22.
  40. ^ "* 2007 X-GAMES @ 23MAG BMX". 23mag.com. Retrieved 2014-06-22.
  41. ^ "1620 on Skis in Halfpipe". YouTube. 11 October 2009. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2014-06-22.
  42. ^ "Torin Yater-Wallace 1800 in competition". YouTube. 11 March 2012. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2014-06-22.
  43. ^ "First Switch 1800 in Competition". ESPN. March 7, 2012. Archived from the original on November 4, 2013.
  44. ^ "1620 on Snowboard - World record - "They came from"". YouTube. 2009-09-23. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2014-06-22.
  45. ^ "Ulrik Badertscher 1620 - Dew Tour Snowboard Big Air". YouTube. 2012-12-18. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2014-06-22.
  46. ^ "Wake Schepman Official First Ever 1620 On Rollerblades". YouTube. 2013-08-21. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2014-06-22.
  47. ^ "Wake Schepman: World's first 1620 (Woodward)". rollernews.com. August 18, 2013. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved November 1, 2013.
  48. ^ "BMX 1080 first ever X-Air 2007". YouTube. 12 February 2007. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2014-06-22.
  49. ^ "Mike Spinner Pulls World's First 1080 at X-Air: February 12, 2007". bmx.transworld.net. February 12, 2007.
  50. ^ Jordan Jasa (2011-09-07), 1080 on a Scooter!, archived from the original on 2021-12-21, retrieved 2018-02-13