Troy Sliter

Troy Sliter
	No-Handed 50/50 in the Santa Cruz "Wheels of Fire" video, circa 1987.
Internet Links
Links
Profile
Division	Pro
Nationality	American
Gender	Male
Location	Portland, Oregon, USA
Home Town	Menlo Park, CA
Stance	Goofy
Pushing Method	Regular Push
Style	Freestyle, Street, Vert
Born	Age: Eternal teenager
Sponsors	Santa Cruz
Favorite Stuff
Hobbies	Skateboarding, drums, skateboarding, baseball coach, skateboarding
Skaters	Jeff Hedges, Joe Lopes, Ray Meyer, Gary Holl, Dave Cox

Bio

I tried skateboarding once when I was 13 years old. I’m still trying. I got started skating with my best friend, the king of stoke, Jeff Hedges. We skated a few local ramps and pools in the early 80’s that we were lucky enough to get in on and at one ramp I met a guy (David Cox) who could spin like 50 360’s on command every time. He would spacewalk up steep hills. He could daffy for days. I couldn’t believe my eyes and was so inspired I cut down my old Micke Alba board into a freestyle shape and started to dink around on it after our vert sessions.

As skateboarding was dying we got even more into it. I became close friends with Dave and we eventually moved into an apartment in Santa Cruz together where we’d hit the Santa Cruz boardwalk daily to freestyle. Usually it was after a full day of skating or when there was nowhere else to skate. We both got jobs at Santa Cruz Skateboards and Dave became pro for them. We were both inspired by Gary Holl (Skate Kings) and Ray Meyer (Santa Cruz legendary pro). One day I was lucky enough to be down at the boardwalk skating by myself when a film crew showed up and (unbeknownst to me) was filming for Wheels of Fire. It wasn’t planned. As far as I was concerned the camera guy was just in my way. Next thing you know I have a full part in the video to a kick ass song and I’m officially labeled as a freestyler. I can’t complain. It helped me get sponsored and it wasn’t long that I was entering NSA contests across all 3 events (Vert, Street, Freestyle). I still skate on a regular basis at some of the best skateparks in the world in Oregon. I haven’t owned a freestyle board in decades but can still be known to bust out a few moves on occasion at the session.