Beyond great skating, what makes a certain video stick in your head, months later, years even? How does a certain song worm its way into your ears, why does a certain feeling resonate deep within? With the release of Phantom and his appearance in the latest Plastic Pushers installment, but also a solid minute of Norwegian bangers on IG and an intense New York piece directed by Mr. Torres, Cody Lampman has undoubtedly provided a steady stream of footage over the last couple of years. Yet, I’ll ask the question again:
What makes Ashes one of the best skate parts in recent history?
Of course, Orville Peck's hit Hope to Die sounds as magnificent as ever, and the lyrics convey an emotion that hits all the right notes and echoes a sense of nostalgia, taking us back to the time when video parts were still a revered form.
And of course, there are the skills Geoff Phillip & Mykel Fatali display behind the lens, a certain urgency palpable in the rush that comes with filming a part in just a couple of sessions in the streets of Denver and Salt Lake City. And there’s delicate care in the way they capture their friend's tricks, their camera work doing wonders to replicate the feel of a good old “classic section”, adding another sensitive layer to the final mix.
“Focus the mind on one thing, absorb the old examples, study the actions of the masters - penetrate deeply into a single form of practice.”
And of course, there’s the skating, and everything that comes with cherry-picked spots and painfully precise vision. A serious man, deliberate in his actions and facing a strict deadline before flying out of the country, Cody came up with a spot map, a trick list, and got to work. The short span over which it was filmed brings a cohesive feel to the project, while the variety of clips and wide range of skills is nothing short of impressive.
Lacing an AOTP on a wall rail, he then proceeds to do it the other way, before landing what’s arguably the most epic pudslide in blade history. And yet, the trick that impresses me the most is the true makio on the electric box, for sometimes it’s the fine details that end up leaving the strongest impression.
“To be in harmony with the wholeness of things is not to have anxiety over imperfections.”
For someone whose fire burned bright, with Xsjado and USD sponsorships as well as an amazing Scumpire part, and then stepped away from the limelight for several years and seemingly disappeared in Eastern Europe, there’s no denying Cody’s Ashes felt like the rising of the phoenix. Above are but a few elements, and I don’t pretend to offer a definitive answer to the original question, but ultimately this is without a doubt one of the skate sections I’ll still be watching a long time from now, its soundtrack playing in my head, the tricks rolling in slow motion, the feeling resonating deep inside…
Memorable indeed.