Name: Chris Pullar
Born: 1981
Lives: Raised in Richmond, now living in Caulfield
Preferred terrain:
Street and skateparks with street courses that feature lots of bigger obstacles. I've never been into bowls or mini ramps, to skate or to watch, and didn't really skate ramps with transition a whole lot, but since the opening of Rampfest a few years back, and the reopening of The Shed, I've started to warm to it because I enjoy going big.
How did you get into skating?
Had a pair of roller skates as a small boy, then when I was about 9 my best friend at the time turned up on my doorstep in some blades and I scored some of my own shortly after. When I was 14, my friend at high school, lent me his copy of the early VG film The Bottom Line which changed the way I perceived the urban landscape forever.
What's so good about rolling and what inspires you to keep going?
The level of progression in rolling has always been amazing, and it’s the opportunity to push the progression in my part of the world that keeps me skating the way I do.
Liu Kang stair gap - Astoria Park NYC 2018
photo: Craig Benabu http://www.irollny.com https://www.instagram.com/irollny/
Skate travels:
Went to the Katherine in the Northern Territory in 2002 with a crew of skaters to do demo's in every school, campaigning for the construction of the city's first skatepark. Our campaign was a success.
NYC and Philadelphia, American summer of 2004, ’05, ’06. Had a recurring job teaching skating to kids at a summer camp near New York, wound up in Philly with Hayden Watt, staying with some of our favourite U.S. skaters, skating spots we’d seen in many skate films and getting some tricks in dvd’s Hustlin’ For Pennies, and Choose Your Genre.
Entered in the X-Air in Wellington, New Zealand in 2007, a televised event similar to the X Games. Rad fun, met the trans-Tasman crew for the first time.
Was on the Back From The Dead Tour in 2010 which began in Melbourne for the 2010 Vic Titles and finished in Brisbane a week later with Velvet Couch Clothing's annual Right 2 Roll real street contest.
Hit Napier in New Zealand in 2012 with some Melbourne and Hobart homies for some park and street skating with the finest in NZ. Check the edit, in 3 parts, here -
https://vimeo.com/48783793
Did a 10-day European skate trip in 2013 with two friends from France, which included street skating in Barcelona, Spain, attending the Pro Bowl Contest at the world famous Marseille bowl in France, and some park skating in the south of Switzerland.
In 2014 I went on another European blading adventure, this time for 5 weeks with 5 other people in a camper van across 6 countries. Entitled the Joint Tour (not a smoking reference), we attended 4 major contests, travelled 8,000 kilometres and made an hour long video of the whole thing.
Joint tour part 1 https://youtu.be/wLvpwi2vopQ
Joint tour part 2 https://youtu.be/7RS7EyYc0eM
In 2017 I took my skates on a trip to the North American west coast. This included skating a partially snowed-in skatepark in Kamloops Canada with the Mushroom Blading guys and recording a How To Be Unpopular podcast with them, and hitting The Skate House skatepark in Los Angeles USA with Robbie Pitts and got to meet some of the new breed of LA rollers.
Link to How To Be Unpopular podcast - http://www.mushroomblading.com/podcasts.php?id=229
2017 also saw me hit up Amplitude Skatepark while in Bali in Indonesia. This place has a pump track like nowhere else on earth and is an absolute must if you’re able get there.
In 2018 I returned to NYC, turned up to the Astoria Park Professional Conference contest in Queens and scored accolades and prizes and made new friends. I then attended The Blading Cup in Santa Ana, California, catching up with friends and making many new ones.
How did you become involved with Bayside Blades?
I used to work at a small skate store in Albert Park and met Neil and Andrea when they first opened their shop in Hampton. Over the years I have kept in touch, helping out with clinics from time to time, and in late 2008 they offered me a place on their Team.
Skate setup: Razors Shift Skates with a flat set up of 8 x 60mm wheels for street and park, and 80mm in metal Ground Control frames for cruising and street hockey.
Reason you ride this setup:
I don’t like to compromise my ability to roll for my ability to grind. First and foremost I love to ROLL, and with eight wheels I can turn more freely, go faster, roll smoother on rough surfaces, and absorb more impact on gaps than if I were rolling on four wheels riding anti-rocker or freestyle.
Favourite skaters:
Dustin Latimer and Tim Ward.
Other interests:
Skateboarding, snowboarding, live music, b’ball, inline street hockey.
Musical tastes:
Punk rock, funk, jazz, indie, break beats, drum'n'bass, hip hop, reggae.
Favourite places to skate:
My local park in Prahran is a rad session on a Thursday evening during daylight savings, and street skating in the city at night is always the best. The Melbourne Freeride skate through the docklands every Wednesday night is pretty good for this.
Comps:
- 3rd place Open Street, Australian Titles @ Riverslide, Melbourne VIC 2006
- 1st place Open Street, Rolla Bash @ Prahran VIC, 2006
- Best Trick, Shep Skate Battle, Shepparton VIC 2006
- Open Best Trick, Melbourne City Skate Jam street contest, Melbourne VIC 2007
- 1st place, Right 2 Roll 6, Brisbane, 2008
- 2nd place, Right 2 Roll 8, Brisbane, 2010
- 3rd place, Right 2 Roll 9, Brisbane, 2011
- 4th place, Right 2 Roll 10, Brisbane, 2013
- 2nd place OG Street, Victorian Titles @ Rampit VIC 2013
- 2nd place OG Street, Australian Rolling Open @ The Park, Geelong VIC, 2014
- 2nd place OG Street, Victorian Titles @ The Park, Geelong VIC, 2017
- Hellman Award, Blade Battle @ Brunswick Heads NSW, 2017
- 3rd place Sponsored Street AND Best Trick, Australian Rolling Open @ Ramp Attack, Brisbane QLD 2017
- Best Trick, Astoria Park Professional Conference, Queens NY, USA, 2018
- Best Trick, South Australian Titles @ Munno Para, Adelaide SA, 2019
- Hellman Award, Blade Battle NSW Titles @ Balina NSW, 2019
- Most OG award Trash Your Town video edit street contest 2021
Photo Above - Fishy in Tasmania, Pic by Ben Dean.
Photo Below - Gap over the fence - Docklands - Melbourne - by Hayden Golder
