Lance Mountain


Robert Lance Mountain is an American professional skateboarder and artist who was one of the prominent skateboarders throughout the 1980s, primarily due to his involvement with the Bones Brigade. As of August 2017, Mountain continues to skate professionally and his sponsors include Flip, Nike SB, Indy, Spitfire, and Bones Bearings.

Professional skateboarding

Powell-Peralta to The Firm

Lance Mountain took first or second place in over a third of every amateur contest he participated in. Mountain's first skateboard deck sponsor was Variflex, a company that he joined in 1981; Mountain then moved to the Powell-Peralta team in the following year. In a 1983 interview with John Haugh of Skater of Fortune magazine, Mountain said he left Variflex because they were "doing nothing for me or the sport as far as I'm concerned". It was during his time with Powell-Peralta that he formed a strong friendship with Stacy Peralta, the team manager and director of the Bones Brigade video series. Mountain appears in eight Bones Brigade videos, including the well-known video The Search for Animal Chin.
Some of Mountain's early skating influences were early titans of the sport like Steve Caballero, Darrel Miller, and Ray "Bones" Rodriguez.
Mountain gained further eminence when he won the Upland Turkey Shoot contest at Upland Skatepark in 1983, an event in which fellow team riders Steve Caballero, Mike McGill, and Tony Hawk also competed. This was followed by Mountain's 1984 appearance in skateboarding's first, full-length company video The Bones Brigade Video Show, in which Mountain filmed the segue segments for all of the "vert" and "freestyle" parts; the segments depict Mountain as he skateboards throughout the streets of Los Angeles, US.
In the early 1990s, the skateboard industry underwent a major transformation; the popularity of street-style skateboarding superseded that of vert skateboarding, thereby diminishing the status of the Bones Brigade while the prominence of the next wave of skaters increased. In 1991, Mountain left Powell-Peralta to cofound his own skateboard company "The Firm" and, together with former Powell-Peralta teammate Ray Barbee, recruited a team of notable skateboarders that included Bob Burnquist and Rodrigo "Tx" Teixeira.
Following the company's further development, The Firm signed a distribution deal with Blitz Distribution. Following four videos and over a decade of existence, Mountain announced the end of The Firm on March 13, 2006.

Flip

Following the demise of The Firm, several former team members were recruited by the Flip company—Mountain, Burnquist, and Teixeira. As of March 2013, Mountain and Burnquist continue to be sponsored by Flip. As a team rider for Flip, Mountain is one of the professional skateboarders featured in Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, an appearance that marked Mountain's first appearance in the Tony Hawk series of video games.

Sponsorship

As of October 2012, Mountain is sponsored by Flip, Independent Trucks, Spitfire, Nike SB, and Stüssy clothing.

Influence

In Transworld SKATEboarding's "30 Most Influential Skaters Of All Time" list, Mountain was selected in the eighteenth position and Skin Phillips, the editor-in-chief of the magazine, commended Mountain for his ability to "put a smile" on the faces of skateboarders over four decades of professional skateboarding. At the time that the list was released in December 2011, Mountain stated in response: "I feel like I've influenced in the sense that if you want to do it, do it. If you don't want to do it, don't do it. But don't rely on what people are saying you can do or saying what you can't do."

Other work

Artist

Mountain is a prolific artist and, as of March 2013, a catalog of his work is featured on the official Lance Mountain website, . The catalog is divided into three sections: "Art Shows", "Art Owners", and "Random Stuff".
In 2011, Mountain and his son contributed pieces to an art exhibition that celebrated the life of Joe Strummer, the former band member of The Clash who died in 2002. Mountain also provided graphics for a Peralta-directed television movie named When Disaster Strikes.
In July 2023, Mountain participated as a special guest artist in the Los Angeles art and music collective Surf Skate Roots Rock, reuniting with fellow skateboarding pioneers such as Tony Alva, Steve Olson, Lonnie Toft, etc.
In June 2024, Mountain organized an art and memorabilia exhibition to coincide with his 60th birthday. The exhibition was titled "Everything Must Go" and was held in Los Angeles, California. Skateboard equipment, photographs, paintings and other works produced or accumulated over the course of Mountain's career were featured.

Inventor

Mountain is often cited as one of the inventors of the fingerboard, as he fashioned the prototype out of cardboard, pencil erasers, and a disassembled Hot Wheels toy in the late 1970s. Mountain's invention was featured in a Transworld Skateboarding magazine article, as well as the Powell Peralta video, Future Primitive. The fingerboard was initially created as a fun do-it-yourself project, for which kitchen sinks were used to emulate pool riding, and has since evolved into a major toy category that has sold multiple millions of units.
Together with Caballero, Mountain was the co-designer of the Independent "Stage V" skateboard truck; Mountain is also the co-inventor, with Neil Blender, of the transitional skateboard maneuver the "Gay Twist".

Personal life

Mountain's self-identified faith is Christianity, and he has been married to Yvette Loveless since November 31, 1984. The couple are parents to a son, Lance, Jr.

Contest history

All contest results are covered in Thrasher Magazine and can be checked at the Thrasher Magazine Archives.

Filmography

Mountain appears in a brief, uncredited cameo role in Lords of Dogtown, in which he appears as a "bobby" police officer in England during a scene that portrays Tony Alva filming a commercial.

Videography

  • Summer Sessions
  • Powell Peralta: The Bones Brigade Video Show
  • Powell Peralta: Future Primitive
  • NSA 86' Vol. 1
  • Powell Peralta: The Search For Animal Chin
  • Skateboard Superstars
  • Powell Peralta: Public Domain
  • Powell Peralta: Axe Rated
  • Thrasher: Savannah Slamma
  • Powell Peralta: Ban This
  • Powell Peralta: Propaganda
  • Powell Peralta: Eight
  • The Firm: La Buena Vida
  • Fruit Of The Vine
  • 411VM: Issue 50
  • Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator
  • Chlorine
  • The Firm: Can't Stop
  • Thrasher: King Of The Road 2004
  • Thrasher: Beers, Bowls & Barneys
  • Thrasher: Beer Helmet
  • Black Label: Who Cares? The Duane Peters Story
  • Flip: Feast Tours
  • Thrasher: Keg Killer
  • Elwood: 1st & Hope
  • Nike SB: Nothing But The Truth
  • Independent: 30th Anniversary Tour
  • Firsthand: Lance Mountain
  • Flip: Extremely Sorry
  • Nike SB: Don't Fear The Sweeper
  • Bones Brigade: An Autobiography
  • Poweredge: We Are Skateboarders
  • Nike SB: SB Chronicles, Vol.3
  • ''Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off''