POSTED IN Editorial
2.08.2011
Mount Rushmore, the ?Shrine of Democracy? is a massive sculpture carved into the face of a mountain in South Dakota. The monument features 60-foot sculptures of the heads of former United States Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.
With X Games upon us switching the attention to the Action Sports world we started to think what if there was a Mount Rushmore for Action Sports athletes; which faces would be carved in to the
mountain?
Before we considered the athletes, it was important to establish the criteria. For instance, we narrowed the focus of our search to athletes rather than leaving it open to the whole industry. After all, Mt. Rushmore was created from a pool of US Presidents instead of the entire universe of people who made the country really function.
Another guideline is to select an athlete from the one of four major action sports, in this case Surfing, Skateboarding, Snowboarding, and Moto.
Here?s the list of accomplishments that must be met for an athlete to be on the mountain:
- Major success within their respective sport
- Ability to progress and reinvent the sport
- Core and mainstream appeal (celebrity status)
- Capacity to transcend their sport to reach a higher level of skill and knowledge
- Influence to impact the people who participate in the sports on a daily basis
Now, with clearly defined criteria it?s obvious to us which faces to chisel into the granite of Mount Action.
First up is no other than Mr. Tony Hawk. The Grandfather of Skateboarding first stepped onto a skateboard in the 70?s at 9 years old and that moment would shape his and skateboarding?s reality forever. By the time he was 25, he had competed in 103 pro contests, winning 73 of them and placing second in 19, a record that will almost certainly never be matched. He was crowned vertical skating?s World Champion 12 years in a row.
photo courtesy of tonyhawk.com
Tony also became the first skateboarder to ever land a 900, a maneuver that eluded him for 10 years. It was one of skating?s most important moments as it played out on national TV during the X Games.
Maybe one of his most impactful contributions to the industry came when he teamed up with Activision to create the Tony Hawk?s Pro Skater video game franchise. The video game series became one of the most popular game franchises in history and continues to enjoy widespread success.
Tony has ensured the future of the sport with Tony?s Foundation which has donated more than $3.2 million to more than 450 skate park projects throughout the United States.
There?s no doubt he exceeds all of the criteria to make our list.
Next on Mount Action with little debate is the planet?s greatest surfer, Kelly Slater. No other athlete in the world has maintained such a high level of competition and success for longer than Slater. He won his first world title when he was 20 and recently won his 10th world title at age 38. Name another athlete who has the distinct honor of being the youngest and oldest champion in his sport?
He has a record 46 World Tour victories and 10 World Titles; even Mother Nature is impressed by Slater.
Slater?s crossover to the mainstream celebrity status started when he appeared as the recurring character Jimmy Slade on several episodes of the popular TV show Baywatch in the early 90s. He?s a regular on ESPN?s Sportscenter and he even threw out the first pitch at Dodger Stadium last summer.
He?s been known to date celebrities such as actress Pam Anderson and Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen. He?s gotten a taste of the rock star life jamming on stage with Eddie Vedder and Jack Johnson.
Maybe the biggest recognition of Slater?s impact on the industry came on May 8, 2010 when the United States House of Representatives honored Slater for his ?outstanding and unprecedented achievements in the world of surfing and for being an ambassador of the sport and excellent role model.?
He started the Kelly Slater Foundation that raises awareness and financial support for existing social and environmentally conscious charities.
Once again there?s another lock for the Action Sports Rushmore.
The third face to join this exclusive club belongs to the youngest member but there?s little doubt about the impact Shaun White has made in his first 24 years on earth.
He?s a two-time Olympic Gold medalist in snowboard halfpipe, and his success at X Games is unparalleled. (10 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze medals) Not to mention, he?s won X Games gold in skateboard halfpipe as well. White seemingly wins every competition he enters; even when he doesn?t it still feels like he did.
White really made his mark on the industry in the winter of 2009 when he teamed up with Red Bull to create a custom half pipe in the backwoods of Colorado. It?s there that Shaun perfected a series of new tricks that changed snowboarding forever.
During that year leading up to the Olympics snowboarders from around the world practiced feverishly to learn the ?Double Cork? turning the sport into a frenzy. At no time in snowboarding has one dude advanced the sport to the level Shaun did in one season. One of the tricks he invented was the 1280 Double McTwist that eventually won him his gold medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
Due to his Olympic success, White rose to mega-celebrity status. He?s been featured on the cover of Rolling Stone twice, he recently made his Hollywood debut in ?Friends with benefits? playing himself and continues to be the face of top brands like Oakley, Red Bull, and Burton.
Without a doubt, his success and mainstream notoriety continues to bring people to the mountains around the world every winter.
And the final face on Mount Action is Mr. Travis ?thumbs up? Pastrana. Not only is he absurdly talented on both two and four wheels he?s by far the gnarliest dude on the mountain. There?s nothing this nice guy won?t do and he?s proved it with stunts like back-flipping into the Grand Canyon on his motorcycle and jumping out of an airplane without a parachute in Costa Rica.
His success came fast and often. At only 27 years of age he?s considered by many to have reached legend status. He was a freestyle champion at age 14, a five-time amateur motocross champion, 125cc pro national outdoor champion, 125cc east Supercross series champion, and the most successful freestyle motocross rider in X Games history. He won 4 straight Rally America championships and an X Games gold in rally. If Travis does something there?s a pretty good chance he?s going to be good at it.
Perhaps the moment where his celebrity status reached the pinnacle was during a live broadcast on ESPN during the 2006 X Games. Travis looked into the camera, told his mom he loved her in case he died and then proceeded to pull the first ever double backflip on a motorcycle. It was easily one of the most defining moments in X Games history.
His life was documented in the film 199 Lives and he?s the driving force behind the wildly successful Nitro Circus Crew that has its own series on MTV and is currently in the process of filing a 3D feature film.
Try and name another athlete willing to attempt a weekend such as this; Moto X Best Trick on Thursday and Freestyle on Friday, both in Los Angeles, Nationwide debut on Saturday in Indianapolis and Rally Cross on Sunday back in Los Angeles.
Don?t let this humble charming fellow fool you, he?s only getting started and he?s already a legend.
There you have it, if the Action Sports world had a Mount Rushmore off its own these are the four faces that should be engraved in stone to memorialize their accomplishments for years to come.

Like the original Mount Rushmore, our decision to select these four faces was plagued with massive controversy and opposition, so I expect there to be some here.
So tell us in your opinion. What four athletes you would select for Mount Action?
Source: http://natehoppes.com/?p=498
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