Ed Templeton

Innovator, inspiration, and true individual, Ed Templeton’s influence on modern skateboarding can’t be understated. When it was announced that he’d be the subject of a future series of Patrick O’Dell’s Epicly Later’d show on VICE, expectations soared, as fans of the Tempster anticipated a heavy story. Minutes into the first video, Templeton speaks candidly about his tumultuous upbringing, revealing details of his life that most interviews hadn’t explored, before going into his salad days of skating in Huntington Beach. What’s immediately apparent in watching episode one, is the impact that freestyle skaters, including Sole Technologies’ Don Brown, had on Templeton’s approach to street skating.

His crew sought out to perform the technical tricks Brown and others were executing on their standard street boards, most notably the ollie impossible, which Templeton mastered and took to every street obstacle possible. The innovation happening in Huntington Beach drew attention from all around the skate scene, eventually drawing Natas Kaupas and Mark Gonzales to the weekly jams they’d hold in an empty racquetball court. To learn more about the history of HB and how important it was to the skate scene in the late-‘80s/early-‘90s, we asked Templeton to give us some top fives detailing the little known history of Huntington Beach.

Top Picks

By Ed Templeton

Top Five Skaters From HB…

Jason Lee. Famous pro skater turned famous actor.

Tosh Townend. Pro skater with a legendary pro surfer father in PT Townend. PT has his feet in the HB surf walk of fame.

Mark Gonzales aka The Gonz. Lived in HB while he was the biggest pro in the world for Vision.

Jason Dill. Was pro for Alien Workshop, and now Fucking Awesome. He grew up down the street from me and we skated together in our formative years.

Chet Thomas. One of the best when we were kids. He starred in a Cheerios commercial and we all made fun of him. He went on to do the company Darkstar.

Top Five Skaters From HB You Never Heard of Unless You Skated In the Late-‘80s…

Steve Robert. Had a part in the famous World Industries video Rubbish Heap.

Skip Pronier. Was pro for Black Label, still see him around.

Marty Jiminez aka Jinx. Was pro for Vision. The first time I moved out of my parents house I rented a house from him. We still hang out.

Riky Barnes. Pro for Black Label and local legend when I was just starting. He was the teacher’s aid in my physical education class in middle school.

Edwin Carunguy. An am for Vision and even had ads in the magazines. He joined the Navy and is still around doing art projects.

Top Five skaters not from HB who lived in HB…

Geoff Rowley. Current pro. From Liverpool, UK, called HB home for years.

Andrew Reynolds. Current pro. From Florida, called HB home for years.

Tom Penny. Current pro. From England, called HB home for years.

Arto Saari. Current pro. From Finland, called HB home for years.

Don Brown. Pro for Vision in the 80s. From the UK, still lives in HB and runs Sole Technologies, the biggest skater owned skate shoe company.

Top Five skaters from HB you never heard of…

Erik Estrada. He was hands down the best skater in HB in the mid-80s. Early innovator of lots of today’s street moves. Blew out his knee and disappeared.

Jake Burns. Surprised he didn’t make it in skateboarding. Clean style. Heard he’s still around with kids. Surfs.

Aaron Devine. Was good buddies with Skip Pronier and skated together all the time.

Jamie Hart. My good skate buddy. We skated together every day for years. He rode for a company called Channel One and had some coverage in the mags.

Nyjah Huston, wait a second.

You can keep up with Ed’s adventures on his Instagram. Anthony Pappalardo is an NYC-based writer and author who contributes to Vice, Jenkem, ESPN and more.