S1 Lifer Stories / Lance Mountain
LIFER STORIES: FROM THE BATTLEFIELD — LANCE MOUNTAIN
Angelo’s Bowl — Malibu, CA
by Gregg Witt
In the hills above Malibu, overlooking the Pacific, sits a skateboarding bowl that feels connected to the past without being stuck in it. Angelo’s Clover Bowl — a reconstruction of the legendary Skate City clover from the early ’80s — isn’t just a dream spot. It’s a living memory, rebuilt so skaters across generations can feel a piece of what came before while creating their own version of it.
Lance Mountain showed up wearing a Skate City Staff shirt — something he printed up for fun, a simple nod to the place where helmets and safety gear first entered his world. It added a quiet bit of nostalgia to the session, landing naturally in a bowl modeled after the one he grew up skating.
This was the first session for LIFER STORIES, a rider-portrait short video series we’re producing.
Before the session, we sat with Lance, skated a bit, then sat down and listened. What follows is simply his perspective — unfiltered thoughts on skateboarding, safety gear, and where it fits into his life now.
A Few Questions for Lance
Q: When you think about skateboarding now, what matters most to you?
Lance: “I wanna remember things… and I've hit my head so many times that I don't remember things.”
Lance: “I wanna remember things… and I've hit my head so many times that I don't remember things.”
Q: Growing up skating, what was safety gear to you back then?
Lance: “When we were young, safety wasn't a thing at all.”
Lance: “When we were young, safety wasn't a thing at all.”
Q: What changed?
Lance: “The equipment got better. You could actually knee slide out of a move, go twice as high.”
Lance: “The equipment got better. You could actually knee slide out of a move, go twice as high.”
Q: And now?
Lance: “It’s more important than it’s ever been to me.”
Lance: “It’s more important than it’s ever been to me.”
From there, it just became another great Malibu session. First time there for some of us, and as cringy as it might sound, the bowl felt like an endless concrete wave. Between runs, we kept dodging dog toys getting launched into the clover, and every now and then someone would stare off and squint for a quick wale watch.
After the skating wrapped, Angelo brought everyone inside and showed us a handmade replica of the original Skate City sign he keeps in his home.
Good session, good crew, Lance being Lance.
S1 LIFER STORIES — From The Battlefield / Lance Mountain
S1 Helmets
Directed by Gregg Witt
Filmed by Jamie Mosberg
S1 Helmets
Directed by Gregg Witt
Filmed by Jamie Mosberg
Lance wears the S1 Lifer Helmet