Plan B by Sarai Nunez

EST.

1991

Contents

Then (4-7) The Rise and Fall of Plan B Skateboards . . . page 4

Now (8-13) A Look at the Team Today . . . page 12

True (14-15) A Look at the Upcoming Plan B Video . . . page 14

Then

Carl Hyndman (Art Director): knew right off the bat how video would be. Filming for able started almost before was finalized.”

In the summer of ‘91, Mike Ternasky left H-Street skateboards to start a new company known as Plan B. What emerged, in the following months, was possibly the most star-studded skateboarding team of all time. By ‘92, surrounded by near impossible hype, Plan B’s first video, Questionable, essentially flattened skateboarding and laid the groundwork for progressive videos for years to come. Followed up by Virtual Reality, in ’93, the Plan B dynasty seemed poised for a decade long reign. However, only months after the release of the company’s second video, half the team quit to start Girl Skateboards. As Plan B rebuilt, and began mounting a third offensive, disaster struck in ’94 when Mike Ternasky, the backbone of the company, died in a car accident. One month later, with the company struggling both financially and structurally, Danny Way, the heart and soul of the team, sustained a severe spinal chord injury, sidelining him for the next two years. While Plan B would go on to release two more videos, Second Hand Smoke in late ’94, and The Revolution in ’97, the downward spiral set into motion by the loss of Mike Ternasky would never be overcome. The following, as told by those involved, is the story of the Rise and Fall of Plan B. Danny Way: “I had ridden for H-Street for a long time and I wasn’t happy with a lot of the stuff going on. It got to a point where they were just putting random people on the team. I remember looking at the team list at one point and just being like ‘Who are all these dudes?’ It just got blown out of proportion.”

Sal Barbier: “Sometimes you start a team and its just like real close. Plan B was like that. We were all street skaters. We all wore the same clothes. We all liked the same music. We made fun of the same people. Nobody rode for some crazy clothing line. Nobody rode for some wacky ass trucks. We were all on the same page.”

Matt Hensley: “Just comparing our H-Street boards to the World Industries boards—they were all thinner and looked better. I think everybody on the team at the time was like, ‘Why can’t our boards look like that, I want my stuff to look like J.Lee’s stuff.’ Mike (Ternasky) just called me up one day and was like, ‘we’re breaking off. We’re starting our own team under Rocco.’”

Jacob Rosenberg (Filmer): “Literally my reaction was, ‘That’s fucking awesome!’ Mike (Ternasky) wanted a tight group that ‘Had the juice.’ as he would say. But these guys, these guys were the juice. It was a super team. No team was ever created in that way.”

Danny Way: “It was definitely rolling the dice on our part. Mike (Ternasky) and I had to take the first step. Plan B was basically an idea we had settled on. We had to get it to a point where other people would be motivated to take the step with us. I really didn’t know how the other riders would react.” Sean Sheffey: “It sounded pretty promising. I was stoked. I left Life. I knew Matt (Hensley) and Danny (Way). I had met most of the dudes like Mikey (Carroll), Rick (Howard), and Rodney (Mullen).”

Danny Way: “Koston got left behind [on H-Street]. We had a vote. I voted for him. Ternasky wanted him. Believe it or not, Mike (Carroll), Rick (Howard), and Sean (Sheffey) voted him off. Putting Rodney (Mullen) on was kind of thrown around as a joke at first. Everybody kind of looked around and we were like, “Seriously, what if we try to get Rodney on Plan B.” Everybody was like, “Fuck yeah, let’s do it.” Colin McKay: “He was still trying to do freestyle. No joke. Ternasky nurtured Rodney to skate street. He wanted him to jump down gaps and ride a bigger board and all that.”

Pat Duffy: “I started looking at all the names Rick Howard: “He would take you under his wing. He would look out that were involved and was just like, ‘Holy for everyone.” shit’. I figured I just got lucky.” Colin McKay: “The first ad, which said like “Five of these ten riders are quitting their current sponsors to ride for a new company…” That was just genius. That thing made waves.”

“Ternasky important a Questionthe team

Pat Duffy: “He was like a little kid when it came to footage. He loved it. He loved filming. He‘d have his studio at the house and any time we were over there he was always showing us footage of everyone on the team. He’d be showing it in slow-mo, like ‘Check this out’. I think, really, that got everyone really hyped. I think we fed off each other.” Mike Carroll: “Sometimes you need someone to give you confidence that you don’t think is there. Ternasky could bring that out.” Colin McKay: “I witnessed some of Duffy’s stuff first hand. He was still sort of in a trial period. At E.M.B. and some of the rails. He just threw down so hard it was obvious that he was on.”

Matt Hensley: “I remember doing a backside noseblunt on a miniramp and he was like, ‘You’ve got to slide it. You’ve got to do a noseblunt slide’. At that session, I just sort of lost it. I talked to him for a long time and eventually he was just kind of like, ‘Well, maybe you should bail out for a little while.’ I went home that day and decided, ‘I’m moving. I’m moving to Chicago and am going to try to be a paramedic.’ That’s exactly what happened.” Sal Barbier: “I had like two and a half to three weeks to film for that f--king thing (Questionable). All of a sudden all the pressure flips and all that shit had come in. I never really wanted to skate like that. It got to a point were there was like two and a half weeks left and I was just like, “all right, just tell me what you want me to do, bring me there, and I’ll do it.”

Pat Duffy: “It freaked me out. It was totally weird. It was just like a whole new thing for me. I didn’t know how to deal with it. People are coming up to you and everything.” Colin McKay: “From Questionable we just went straight into filming for Virtual Reality. There was no break.” Rick Howard: “There was like no options but to outdo yourself for the next video. For someone like Duffy, who went apeshit in his first part, it must have been hard for him to keep up for his second part.” Carl Hyndman: “Ryan (Fabre) and Sean (Sheffey) had the whole issue with Sean’s wife. It was pretty gnarly. I think Ternasky kind of sat down with him (Ryan Fabre) at one point and let him know he had to leave.”

Ryan Fabre: “I wish that circumstances could have been different. I mean for at least a year or two after that it did a lot of damage Sean Sheffey: “Filming with Ternasky was to me. We’re cool now. But, I’d rather not say pretty serious. It was really demanding as far as getting you discipline down and stuff. anything about it that Sean wouldn’t want Ryan Fabre: “He grinded the flat rail at the But it helped. He would suggest certain stuff said. It’s still usually the first subject with anyone I meet.” San Pasqual School—then went out and we should do or tricks to try down certain 50/50d the steep rail out front. He grinded it spots. Mostly he knew what was possible.” Sean Sheffey: “Don’t fuck with another once, then Hensley rolled up and he hadn’t man’s property, that’s all I got to say about Danny Way: “He’d seriously tell you how seen it. Everyone was telling him like, ‘Man, that.” to put your feet and shit. He knew all the he just grinded that rail.’ Hensley was like, tricks.” Tony Ferguson: “I was friends with Rick. ‘No way, can you do it again?’ Pat was like, Guy Mariano and Tim Gavin where trying Colin McKay: “I remember going on tour ‘Yeah sure, I’ll do it again,’ and he just with Ternasky and Rocco and you seriously to get me on Blind. I was talking to Rick grinded it again.’ (Howard) about it and he was like, ‘Just chill. wouldn’t kickflip the pyramid at the demo Jacob Rosenberg (Filmer): “Duffy’s part was Just chill. Don’t’ do it’ Later, he called me up without getting $100 off of one of those pretty much done 6 months before the dudes for it. We pretty much milked it for all and was like, ‘Ride for Plan B.’” video came out. So Pat kind of set the tone it was worth. But they knew what they were Colin McKay: “I was probably skating more for what everyone else had to live up to. doing. And, yeah, when your 16 years old, street then vert at that point. It was the same They knew they had to bring it.” 100 bucks to make a trick doesn’t hurt.” thing with Danny (Way). There were seriRick Howard: “It was filming all day and ously no ramps in San Diego at that point. Danny Way: “Once we started looking at all night. That’s all we did, skate and think the Questionable footage, I mean just seeing Danny would fly up to Vancouver like 3 or 4 about the video. You’d really take any tricks Duffy’s shit, we knew that we had the heavi- times a year just to skate vert.” you had and bring it to the furthest extent est, progressive, modern Danny Way: “All the vert in Questionable you could take it. Ternasky would bring it to skateboarding video that anyone had ever and Virtual Reality was probably filmed in the table, but you would put the pressure on seen. It became pretty apparent early on.” a matter of ten sessions. Colin and I more yourself.” or less looked at what we were learning on Carl Hyndman: “It was insane at the street and tried to apply that to vert. A lot of premiere, seriously insane. People were people sort of piece together existing tricks. blown away.” Our frame of mind was to create original Colin McKay: “Every couple seconds the tricks. A lot of that really came from street audience would just explode. They would skating.” roar. Everything in the video was just so groundbreaking.”

Then

Carl Hyndman: “Sal (Barbier) had a little bit of a harder time getting footage together. Ternasky would sort of be like, “What are you going to do. If you’re not going to get footage you have to make a decision.” I think Sal kind of got talked into doing his retirement part in Virtual Reality. I think he might have regretted that later.” Danny Way: “After Virtual Reality came out, I think people just expected us to have every video be better then the last. It became kind of a battle. I think we ultimately put ourselves in a position where if the new video coming out wasn’t above and beyond the last video we had it would almost be detrimental to the company.” Mike Carroll: “I was sick of filming, being told that I had to step it up. There were all kinds of little things that I didn’t want to deal with anymore. I felt like pretty soon I was going to get a retirement part. I would talk to Rick about it. We came up with this idea that we could actually do something. Which became Girl.” Pat Duffy: “I heard they (Mike Carroll, Rick Howard, Sean Sheffey, and Tony Fergusson) quit from Rick (Howard). He called me up to give me a heads up. Rick (Howard) had been around Rocco and the whole business side for a while. He had a different perspective then I did. But, I would have stuck with Mike (Ternasky) regardless.” Sean Sheffey: “It felt lame leaving him. It was trippy. But I was going to go with the guys that were looking out for my best interests like Mike (Carroll) and Rick (Howard). We were around each other more then we were with the boss.” Matt Hensley: “I was kind of pissed at first. All I heard was that some of them had taken the team van, ripped all the interior, keyed it, and spray-painted it. It kind of bummed me out.” Danny Way: “I can pretty much assure you that each and every one of those guys today would agree with me—they should have approached it in a different way. They were young and that just wasn’t the way to do it.”

Colin McKay: “Mike was devastated. We were all in a hotel room and I remember him saying, “We can end this right now if you guys want.” He didn’t even know where we stood. We were like, “Fuck this, we’re doing it.” We got Jeremy Wray and (Ronnie) Bertino and it was like, “Boom”. We started right into the third video.”

Jeremy Wray: “It was just surreal. It didn’t sink in for days after that. I was sleeping at his house. The other times I had stayed over there, if I was up when he left, I would usually go with him. I could have been in that car.”

Sean Sheffey: “The funeral was within a couple of days. I was living with Mikey (Carroll) at the time. Someone called up Ronnie Bertino: “Ternasky was involved there and told him. There was the wake and with everything. I honestly have to say, the funeral. Everyone was in a whole world through all the years, he’s one of the only guys that could push you to better your skat- of shock—emotional breakdowns and stuff like that. Nobody brought our problems to ing and even better yourself. I respect him that.” for that. That part (Second Hand Smoke) was the best I ever had. I mean, he’d go to the spot with you, he’d bring you water—he Mike Carroll: “It sucks that it takes something like that to make you realize that a lot knew what you were going through. of that stuff between us was petty. I thought Danny Way: “In May ’94, we went to the first of all the stuff he did for me, not as skater, Slam contest in Vancouver. Mike’s goal was but as a friend. He did way more than any team manager needed to.” to sit down up there with Rick (Howard) and Mike (Carroll) and all those Carl Hyndman: “At the company, guys and basically make peace. He everybody was just looking around trying to wanted to go up there and figure out what figure out what to do. We all kind of winged happened to just get closure to the whole it for a while but it got real messy. thing.” The government came in and basically Mike Carroll: “We talked a little bit in Van- seized his estate and everything he owned. So we had a limited couver. He was trying to make peace and be cool about it. I wasn’t totally into it, but I amount of money to work wasn’t disrespectful towards him. Obviously with.” I wish it was a little bit different because two days later is when he…all that happened.” Danny Way: “He was the kind of guy that didn’t want to have grudges with anyone. I remember being on the plane back from Vancouver with him and he was telling me how happy he was that he had no enemies in his life and everything was going so good. The next morning, he got blind sided and killed in his car.” Colin McKay: “He was just making a left out of his apartment complex onto Paloway Road. Some old lady ran the red light in a minivan and hit him from the side.”

Matt Hensley: “At that point Danny just asked me to be around to try and help. I quit school in Chicago, packed up my pool table, and moved back to California, to work for Plan B. Eventually they put my board back out.” Danny Way: “Mike’s wife, Mary (Ternasky) tried to step in and help out. She was pregnant and her husband had just died. She was paying for all the advertising, royalties, and salaries and everything with the checks she got from World every month weren’t covering the overhead. She was basically loosing money every month it existed.” Colin McKay: “ Danny getting hurt was another huge blow. I don’t know if people realized at the time how big a deal it actually was. He cracked vertebrae in his neck. He couldn’t get out of the bathtub. He couldn’t do anything for himself. It was so fucked. Danny was the cornerstone of Plan B.” Danny Way: “I sustained a severe neck injury surfing with serious nerve damage and spinal chord swelling which put me out for almost two years. Going from Mike’s death to having that happen was such a hard chain of events.” Jeremy Wray: “Every one was glad that the video (Second Hand Smoke) still came out. It was definitely a tribute to Mike (Ternasky). Jake (Rosenberg) did all of the editing down at Mike’s house. We just sort of hammered it out. It brought in some extra money, but there was just nobody watching over the whole production run of all the various products.” Colin McKay: “Mary (Ternasky) was trying her best. I’ve got to hand it to her. But eventually, she was just overwhelmed. She was personally guaranteeing some of the loans. The damage was pretty bad. Finally out of frustration she was just like, “You guys have to take this off of my hands.” I was 20 and Danny was 22 and we started running the company.” Carl Hyndman: “Danny and Colin ended up buying it from her and taking it completely away from World (Industries).”

Rick McCrank: “It was pretty crazy. I got on and made friends with everyone pretty quick. But you’re just like thinking to yourself, like Danny Way, these guys are legends. You’re kind of in awe. I skated with (Pat) Duffy too, and I was a huge Duffy fan. At the same time, I kind of knew it wasn’t doing so good.” Colin McKay: “It was unfortunate, Colin McKay: “The videos were still going but the world keeps on off though. Even in the fourth video (The turning.” Revolution). The videos and the team were amazing but the boards wouldn’t sell.” Jacob Rosenberg: “Ternasky’s legacy lives pretty clearly Danny Way: “It was pretty much a in Danny (Way) and to a certain nightmare. Now, the financial burden was extent in Rodney (Mullen).” on Colin and me. Our board sales weren’t meeting the payroll overhead. We started Danny Way: “Anyone that dealt ever dealt paying people out of our own pockets. We with Mike (Ternasky) would tell you, there weren’t getting paid for our board sponsor, was something that would rub off. It wasn’t we’re paying other people’s salaries, and about skateboarding. It wasn’t about then working 9 to 5 for almost two years making money. It was about becoming the straight on top of that. We didn’t even have best person you could be—going above and time to skate.” beyond what anybody thought you could do.” Colin McKay: “The truth is we wanted to keep this dream alive no matter what. Out of Sal Barbier: “Every video you look at today respect for Mike (Ternasky) and in memory uses Ternasky’s format. There’s the montage of Mike. It was such an emotional thing.” first, you introduce the one new dude, get the slam section, the friends’ section, then Danny Way: “There was just one month close out with the main dude—he invented where the dept was astronomical. Colin and that shit. He made the format.” I were looking at each other like, ‘What the fuck are we going to do?’ We were probably Danny Way: “My DC part, that’s a tribute to each loosing about $20,000 to $25,000 a Mike T. right there. The high air stuff—He month. It just got to a point where we were always talked about doing it, now it’s a like, ‘Let’s get paid and let’s skate again.’” reality. He would be freaking right now. He would love it.” Colin McKay: “This light just went on, like, ‘Why are we dumping all this money into Rick Howard: “To this day, I’m proud to have a company and killing ourselves to run it. been a part of a team that put out such Why not just keep the nice memories and influential videos.” move on.’ It was just beating a dead horse. That’s when it happened. We put it to rest.” Danny Way: The timing isn’t right yet, but if there’s ever an opportunity to bring Plan B Jeremy Wray: ““It was one of those things. back and do it right, we’ll do it. You’d have to Danny (Way) got on Alien Workshop. Colin run the same ad…’Five of these guys are (McKay) was going to ride for Girl. It was leaving their current sponsors…’ time to go look for new sponsors.” Go get the biggest names out there again, but I guess these days, you’d have to be Matt Hensley: “It was the end of a reign. I offering up some serious money.” was saddened. I mean for me, it was a big part of my life. It was part of my allegiance to Mike (Ternasky). -- End --

In 2005, Danny Way and Colin McKay reformed Plan B Skateboards, maintaining their roles as company co-owners, as well as professional skaters.

“For the sake of what we were a part of, Colin and I didn’t want to let go of the formula that gave us the motivation.” -Danny Way

today

While Danny Way and Colin McKay are the co-owners of the relaunched company, they have adopted the business model that they learned from Ternasky during his time running the first phase of the company

Now

Pat Duffy

Pat Duffy changed the way everyone skated street. Breaking down the handrail barrier to another level, Duffy’s break out opener in Questionable changed the game. The rest is history. Never a one dimensional skater, Pat wasn’t limited to just a rail banger. Parks, pools, vert, and technical street skating made him stand out video after video pushing skating. After a near career ending injury on the Megaramp, Pat came back swinging, proving once again he is a terminator. A founding member, Pat Duffy embodies the history of Plan B skateboarding.

“In 1991 Mike Ternasky assembled one of the most dominant teams ever in the history of the sport and produced what many consider to be the best skate video of all time, Unquestionable. In 1994, after Mike’s tragic death in car accident the future of the team appeared to be over. Then in 2005 founding team members Danny Way and Colin McKay relaunched the brand with their own version of the super team and a dream to continue the legacy of Plan B. These are, and always have been, the athletes changing the game and upping the ante with their riding, and ‘Legacy. The History of Plan B Skateboarding’ tells their story from inception to today. Featuring new interviews with original team riders, current team riders and skate footage spanning the entire timeline to tell the complete story of the most well regarded team in skateboarding.” -Danny Way

Ryan Sheckler

When you see Ryan skate, he gets that look in his eyes. He is going to go for it despite the outcome. “Make it or break it” is the best way to describe the way it goes down. Naturally gifted with that attitude and the style to make it count shows in way he skates. You’ll see this at the X-Games, Street League, on the Megaramp, and at demos but, in the streets is where his roots are and he shines. It’s easy to say something is too big or unattainable in skateboarding. Ryan keeps pushing those boundaries of what can be done, his way. From an early age Ryan has constantly pushed himself in a path of excellence that led to the Plan B family.

PJ Ladd

A throwback to the days where constancy showed in the lines you threw down, PJ Ladd excels to his own standards of excellence. From his first mind-blowing part, the world knew he was going to change the way we looked at technical skateboarding. To say he has a smooth style is obvious. His clips are rare, although they are always worth the wait. Razor sharp, selective, unbelievable high standards, and a man of few words. He let’s his skating do the talking. PJ’s drive for perfection is a natural fit in the history of Plan B skateboarding.

Torey Pudwill

Insane pop, technical control, speed, and power is what Torey Pudwill keeps in his arsenal of skating. The progression of taking it higher, longer, and farther is what he brings to any skate sesh. His drive makes anything possible and there is obviously nothing too high for him to hit. Beyond talent, he brings a positive outlook and a witty sense of humor wherever he skates. By every definition, a skater’s skater. Raw street style is rare and Torey always finds new formulas to take his skating a notch higher in the Plan B tradition.

Colin McKay

Hand picked by Mike Ternasky as an AM for Plan B, Colin McKay has upheld the tradition of progression since day one. Innovating street skating to vert, he has always pushed what is possible on all terrains. Full street and vert parts in Questionable and Virtual Reality broke down the barriers of all video standards. A founding member of Plan B skateboards, DC Shoes, and the Red Dragons, Colin continues to change the way we look at skateboarding.

Danny Way

“Nothing’s too Gnarly.” Danny Way captures Plan B skateboarding by simply doing what he does, shattering what is possible on a skateboard. Beating the odds as injuries that should have ended of his career, Danny rose not only to where he left off but, progressed further. An original member of the OG Plan B Team, Danny has been on a mission to push skateboarding to levels achievable by his drive and love of skateboarding.

Felipe Gustavo

Hailing from Brasilia, Brazil, Felipe Gustavo came to America to chase the dream. The world saw their first glimpse of his determination and style at the 2007 Tampa Am contest, taking first place. He carries a heavy load for a young skater supporting his family in Brazil all while living his dream in the US. That smile represents his ideals and respect of his achievements. Felipe continues the tradition of Plan B skateboarding by raising the expectations and personal goals that shows in his love of skating.

Video

Pat Duffy on the new Plan B video: “It’s definitely happening and it’s happening within the next 12 months. I haven’t seen too much of it already but we have a Paul Rodriguez video that’s going to be released fairly soon because Paul is sitting on a full part right now.”

From an interview with Torey Pudwill: The whole world is wondering about the Plan B video, Torey. What’s the scoop? “It’s in the works and we’re all psyched it’s all finally coming together. It’s going to come out this year. I hope everyone is stoked on it cause we’re all working really hard. You got guys like Danny Way who’s obviously a legend and who’s changing skateboarding to this day and then you’ve got the OGs like Colin McKay and Pat Duffy. All those guys are going full force right now. And who isn’t looking forward to PJ Ladd and P-Rod as well as the am squad—all those guys are silent killers. I’m just hyped on the opportunity to be a part of a video with all these guys.” Any parts in particular you’re looking forward to? “The whole thing has just been a major team effort and I’m just psyched that it’s happening. That’s what it comes down to, but I’m so psyched to see Sheckler’s part though. Just to see a full part from Sheckler doing his thing is going to be really exciting. It’s going to be a big thing to see a full length part of him especially the way he’s skating now. A lot of people haven’t seen the stuff he can do.”