Shane Borland is a surfer and skater known for his hard charging, fully committed airs, and seamless style between boardsports. He’s been featured in video parts for core surf-skate brands like Chapter 11 TV and the Rage Team. And to prove his chops as one of the best, Shane won the Keris Cup — an invitational event in Uluwatu for skaters and surfers across the globe.
With all great cross-sport athletes, we often wonder which one they started with. Or in Shane’s causality dilemma… is he a surfer who skates, or a skater who surfs?
Where are you from, and how’d you get into surfing and skating?
I’m from a little town right next to Malibu called Topanga Canyon. Did most of my growing up in Malibu and around L.A. I got into surfing and skating because of my dad and brother. My parents are both from Venice and grew up around the Dog Town era so my dad always did both. My brother, who’s six years older than me, was a pro longboarder when he was young so I was pretty much around the surf scene since I was born. I actually took to skating first but always did both.
Describe your style as a skater versus as a surfer?
I feel like my style is pretty similar on a surfboard and skateboard, or at least I hope it is, haha.
How does your surfing compliment your skating, and vice versa.
I feel like surfing has always helped my style on a skateboard and given me a good flow. Doing airs on a skateboard since I was young has definitely helped me with airs on a surfboard, and just not being scared to send it on a big section or land in the flats because it’s a lot scarier to land on concrete than water.
It definitely is scarier. Are you a surfer who skates, or a skater who surfs?
That’s an interesting one because I’ve always felt like a skater that surfs because I was sponsored for skating first and started getting paid for skating first and was going on skate trips way before surf trips. But now I’m definitely more in the surfing world and could say I’m a surfer that skates so I don’t know, it’s all the same to me.
How do the communities and vibes differ between surfing and skating?
I feel like surfing is definitely a bit more serious than skating, especially the competitive side of things. The skate community does a really good job at keeping its roots and always paying respect to the people, places, and things of the past, which I back.
You won the Keris Cup, congrats. Tell us about that experience and how you got the job done.
Yeah, thank you! It was definitely one of the coolest experiences I’ve had, and a highlight of my career. It was just so epic having so many legends in one place, from the judges to the competitors, it was a stacked lineup. It really never felt like a contest though, just a bunch of homies surfing and skating all day. I honestly was just having fun and trying to go as hard as I could every surf session and skate session.
Is there more money to be made in surfing or skating?
That’s a hard one. I think it’s pretty similar, like there’s the top dogs in both that are making really good money, and then everyone else is kinda just doing alright. I feel like they make money in different ways. Like the surfers that have the most money are the guys winning all the contests, but there’s guys in skating that don’t even do contests but everyone wants to skate their shoe so they’re killing it.
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Gear question for the techies out there. What boards do you ride?
Standard shortboard is 5’6″ x 18 5/8″ x 2″-and-something-thick, I forget, haha. Skate setup is 8.38, 149 trucks and 54 mm wheels.
How’d you link up with The Rage crew to film Shane Day? Tell us about that insane ender backside air.
I met most of The Rage crew when I was like 14 and have always been homies since. They started hooking me up with grips when I was like 19 but never linked up for any trips or anything just cause they’re all in Oz and I’m in the States. We were able to link up for a trip this year in Indo and ended up getting some good waves and some solid clips. It kinda just fell into place. That backside air was pretty random. I surfed for like two hours that morning and didn’t land shit and was actually calling it a day on that wave. When I took off, I thought I was just gonna do a turn and then I bottom turned and that section just kinda popped up and I gave it a go and luckily it worked out. It all happened so fast, but I’m really hyped to put that up.
Gnarliest wipeout?
Hmm.. I’ve been pretty lucky with slams for the most part, but I actually did break my ankle in Bali the year before. That was my first broken bone. I was skating the bowl at the Pretty Poison Bar in Bali for their 10th anniversary party and just had a weird landing on a frontside air. When I landed I sat back on my back leg and just folded my ankle. I had to get rushed to the hospital and they wanted to do surgery right then. But I was over getting surgery in Bali so I ended up chilling for a couple days and then flying back and getting surgery at home.
