Shane Cross

Shane Cross (22 August 1986 – 7 March 2007) was an Australian street skateboarder from the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. Cross gained global prominence within the skateboarding community during the mid-2000s, before his death in a motorcycle crash when he was 20. and was interviewed by Thrasher Magazine in 2004. He was voted by his Australian peers as Slam Magazine's Skateboarder of the Year in 2005 and featured on the covers of Transworld Skateboarding (February 2005), Slap Magazine (April 2007) and Thrasher Magazine (June 2007).

Notability Cross gained attention for numerous achievements in the realm of skateboarding, such as his successful execution of a frontside nosegrind at the iconic spot called "El Toro" following his first attempt, his drop in on a vertical wall during a tour of Australia (featured in a montage from the Time to Shine video) and his 360 flip at a location known as the "Lincoln 13". Flip Skateboards, Globe, Thunder, 4128 and Ricta. Prior to the crash, both riders were affected by alcohol, and neither wore helmets as a safety precaution before embarking on the ride. The Daily Telegraph newspaper, published in Sydney, Australia, disclosed in a post-accident article:

Boulala had a blood alcohol concentration of .162 and Cross, who died in hospital, had a blood alcohol level of .18. Neither of the men were wearing helmets.

Boulala and Cross had earlier been at city nightspot the Cherry Bar. They then went to a friends house and drank beer. County Court Judge Sue Pullen said Boulala slammed into the hotel wall at an estimated 30 km/h about 1.05am after doing two to three laps around the block.

Following a four-month coma, Boulala was subsequently charged, found guilty of culpable driving and sentenced to a four-year prison sentence. Huck magazine published an interview that one of its journalists had conducted with Boulala following his release. In the several months following Cross' death, senior Flip team rider, Arto Saari, quit from the Flip company, despite having been with the company for the entirety of his professional career, due to the distress that was caused by Cross' death.

In episode 2 of the Globe United By Fate video series, Cross can be seen performing a trick (a "360-flip" down a gap) in the Docklands area of Melbourne, Australia, while Boulala and other professional skateboarders/friends, Jake Duncombe and Lewis Marnell, are also present. The wall that Boulala and Cross crashed into during their motorcycle ride has since been adorned with an aerosol paint mural.

Legacy The Australian and wider skateboarding community was devastated by Cross' death, with the deputy editor of Australia's Slam magazine, Trent Fahey, stating that "Shane would be the most naturally talented skateboarder ever to come out of Australia". ); numerous tributes and memorial pages have been publicly released on the subsequent anniversaries of Cross' death and, in 2011, Flip uploaded a dedication to Cross on its website, stating, "We miss you buddy! Forever in our hearts. Ride on."

Cross is included in a list, 'Ten Infamous Australians', published in a 2011 edition of Transworld Skateboarding and is one of 'Seven Aussie Greats' on the Adrenalist web site (number 4).

In 2007 Duncombe, a close friend, designed a tribute skateboard deck for Cross. The deck was released by Blind, Duncombe's board sponsor at the time, and all proceeds from the product's sale were donated to the Cross family. Duncombe also attained a tattoo—drawn in Burleigh Heads, Queensland, Australia—on his forearm in remembrance of Cross. Duncombe used a photograph of Cross from the last skateboard tour that they were tour-mates on as the basis for the tattoo, and the image depicts Cross laughing while wearing a headband that holds back lengthy hair.

At the 2012 Thunderdome skateboarding contest, held at Hordern Pavilion in Sydney, Australia, Duncombe presented a skateboard griptape design that featured Cross's name (the "o" had been transformed into the Gerald Holtom-designed peace symbol and the griptape was produced in a variety of colours) and a group photograph was taken in which various competitors held up the griptape.

Reflections Marnell stated in a series of five-year anniversary interviews for Transworld Skateboarding magazine, in specific relation to the magazine's 2006 "TransAm" tour, "I mean, he was like, everyone's best friend. Because, in a way, everyone had some sort of tie with him. Everyone loved him and always good vibes; always a smile on his face." As part of the same series, sponsored skateboarder, Angel Ramirez, stated, "'Handshakes are for strangers; give me a hug'. He would always say that."

In a biographical series of Saari's professional skateboard career (part of Vice's Epicly Later'd program), Saari stated in relation to Cross's death:

We didn't really know how to deal with that. Things just got rowdy and people started lashing out on each other, and this and that – kind of blaming people and ... it didn't really hit me until months later. Like, I think it didn't-like we went to Shane's funeral, everyone was there, and it was like one of the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Like, there's like 250 skateboarders around the world, and close friends and family, all together there, and ... why couldn't it have been just like, everyone there, just like Shane 'Skater of the Year' party, or something, you know? Why did it have to be a funeral? the Globe headquarters' mini-ramp in Melbourne, Victoria; Waterloo Skatepark in Sydney, New South Wales and Pizzy Skatepark in Queensland, Australia, the state where Cross's friends and family live.

Personal life Cross stated in an interview that his favourite five bands were Metallica, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Guns N' Roses and Liquid Nelson Theory. He further revealed that he had never read a whole book in his entire life, and his favourite films were Anchor Man, Old School and SpongeBob SquarePants. Cross's favourite places were Mexico, and the Australian locations of Nimbin and Melbourne, while "friends" were his inspiration. Just Chill (unknown) Thrasher: King of the Road (2005) Flip: Feast Tours (2006) Volcom: Let's Live Shane Cross (2007) Globe & Thrasher: Money for Blood (2007) Globe: United by Fate 1 (2007) Globe: United by Fate 2 (2007) Flip: Extremely Sorry (2009)