Interview: Ross Anthony - 08/01/30

I often describe Ross Anthony to people who don’t know him as “one of the craziest guys I’ve ever met.” I think it’s a pretty accurate description and I always say it with admiration, not disapproval. The crazy things Ross does are not merely stupid or dangerous. To be fair, lots of the stuff he does is both stupid and dangerous, but most of it is just daring and adventurous. Whether it be hopping trains, teaching preschool, making lewd jokes, hunting down ghost towns in central Pennsylvania, or bareback horse-riding at three in the morning after a night at the bar, Ross is always down for some sort of an adventure, and above all, making sure other people are there to share in the fun.

Ross is equally daring and unique as a rollerblader. His recent section in Know Rollerblading reveals his hammer-dropping potential, but he’s also technical, smooth, and stylish. And despite his obvious skills, he’s very humble and approachable. He spends nearly every summer at Woodward Camp hanging out with the kids and teaching them how to rollerblade. He’s willing to skate with anyone and everyone, as long as, above all else, they’re skating to have fun.

Ross recently had surgery on his shoulder, and since he’ll be off his skates for a little while, it gave me the chance to talk to him about skating in Philly, his travels, his fascination with atmospheric phenomena, and his literary plans for the future.



Ok, so let’s start of with some of the obvious questions, where’s home?
Wayne, PA...just west of sunny Philadelphia.

How many years have you been skating?
Not enough … sure I’m old but I’m still hungry

How long have you held the somewhat meaningless label of “ASA Pro”?
Since 2003…but ASA stopped existing/being cool in ’99 so go figure that one out.

Who are your sponsors?
Adam Killgore and Chris Majette (Denial Clothing and Genre Wheels).

So, how's your shoulder?
Healing…slowly. Right now my tummy hurts more from eating too many pain pills.
You should get some Flintstones Chewable Morphine. I heard it’s delicious…


Ross Anthony - AO Topsoul

Ok, so anyway. Can you tell me about the Philly scene?
Wow this is a toughie … its ok I guess. I miss the Poetry in Motion days though. Now all the OG’s (Fredrick, Shuda, Lux, etc…) have moved on with their lives and have passed the torch to people like Cheshire, Schmidt, and Shaw. Back in the day everyone in Philly used to skate together as friends. Now some of the “big names” think they are too cool or something to skate with everyone. On one hand it is sad and I wish we could all just be friends again but on the other hand they are the ones that are missing out on all the fun sessions.

You’re a well traveled skater, where’s your favorite place to skate in the US?
Take me to a spot and I will probably skate it. I don’t care about the obstacle I skate as much as the people I’m skating with. My friends get me hyped to do tricks and one of the best things about traveling is making new friends. I guess I’d have to say that some of my new favourite people to skate with are the up and comers from Bama [Alabama for those of you not familiar with United States slang]. When I went down there to skate I had so much fun. You guys know who you are and hopefully I will be back soon to thrash with y’all.

Where’s the coolest place you’ve ever skated in the world?
Hands down the Black Pearl Skatepark in the Cayman Islands. We were there for about four days [with Jon Jon Bolino and Adam Killgore] and even on the last day we were finding new things to skate. Plus snorkelling is mad fun and doing that all morning before going to the park was the best thing ever. Thanks Peaks.


Ross Anthony - Soyal

One place you’d like to go:
The world is so large and I want to see it all. If I had to pick one place though I’d have to say New Zealand. I’ve heard so many good things, especially about the south island.

Sketchiest place you’ve ever been:
Haha, Jason Bord’s house in Muncie, IN…love ya buddy. For real though, going anywhere alone at night is scary whether it is an abandoned warehouse in the ghetto or the freight yard trying to catch a train.

Explain your book (idea):
Eventually I’d like to ride a motorcycle from Florida to Alaska with some crazy twists…but if I told you all about it then you wouldn’t want to read it right? Expect to see me in Oprah’s Book Club ‘cause I won’t settle for less.

Why do you hate Montreal so much?
I don’t hate Montreal…I just hate the majority of the people that live there. If the city was empty I’m sure it would be very nice.

Explain your relationship with Woodward:
Woodward is awesome. Most of the close friends I have these days I’ve met through Woodward. Besides being an awesome networking place, it’s a pretty banging skate facility too.

Explain your fascination with the Northern Lights:
It’s not just the Northern Lights that I’m fascinated with. It’s everything about the Great North. I want to see everything that the north has to offer and the Northern Lights just seem like a really cool thing.

Do you know the technical name for them?
Aurora Borealis I think. I forget what the Southern Lights are called. Those are a little bit harder to see because they happen less often and only in Antarctica [note: the Southern Lights are called aurora australis].


Ross Anthony - AO Fishy

Did you know that Auroras are produced by the collision of charged particles, mostly electrons but also protons and heavier particles, from the magnetosphere, with atoms and molecules of the Earth's upper atmosphere?
Yes actually I did. And did you know that the lights are easier to see when sunspots are higher? Apparently the sunspots or sun storms give off a lot of those protons and electrons. I was going to try to go see them this year but after some research I found out that sunspots are at an all time low.

I know some of the cool kids will say that it’s “gay” to have a favourite skater, but who’s yours?
First I’d tell the cool kids that it’s gay to rollerblade. Then I’d tell ‘em right now that I’m feeling Richie Eisler (with both hands…no homo).

What does rollerblading need more of? Less of?
More – kids to start skating.
Less – big headed pros.

Why do you rollerblade?
Shits and giggles.

I guess this is where we do shout-outs…
Umm, yea shout outs are played out but thank-yous are always good. Killah and Majette I can't thank you guys enough...Drew, Dustin and Jeff, thanks for the photos...Jess, thanks for being my best friend...Willie, thanks for being the man ... last but not least, Bernty and Be-mag, thanks for thinking of me and giving me this opportunity.

Photos: Drew Amato, Dustin Watson, Jeff Brockmeyer and Jero
Words: Bernhard Isopp


Ross Anthony - Transfer


Ross Anthony - AO Makio


Ross Anthony - Soul to gap

Tags: denial ross anthony