It’s a real pity that very little roller skating video footage is preserved from the late 70s and 80s. When inlineskating got popular in the early 90s many skaters switched to blades, especially in Europe where the vert quad scene was strong. You won’t find an original quad trickionary online nor magazines. Here is a collection of some of the greatest videos in quad history that survived on the internet thanks to a few old timers.
Quad History: The 1990s
Remember Danish pro vert skater René Hulgreen? He started roller skating in 1988 and later transitioned to inlines. René is the inventor of the famous Viking Flip (a Method Grab flatspin 180). After he switched to inlineskating he quickly advanced and became extremely good at it too. He won many competitions in Europe, such as Lausanne, and the US, including the X-Games. If you look closely you see the quad influence in his early inline years.
René also made an amazing film called Air Attack which definitely is my favorite one. The rough and extremely high vert ramps they were performing crazy spins and airs on is legendary. The fact that it includes a bunch of German skaters such as Holger Sander, Olaf Hennig and Elen Fischer, and that they captured all this craziness on video is priceless. Air Attack is from 1993 and features some fearless vert quad skaters from Europe such as Taig Khris, Bo Elsbøl, René Hulgreen, Holger Sander, Olaf Hennig, Raphael Sandoz, …. ( I could not find René’s debut edit “The Eight Wheel Show” from 1991. Just the inro on his youtube)
Here’s one from the World Cup in Münster, Germany 1991. The Münster Monster Mastership was the Skateboard World Cup. It was held in Germany for many years and roller skaters had their spot in the competition. This is Brian Wainwright´s final run in 1991, he won this competition several times.
Taig Khris from France is another exceptional vert quad skater who moved on to become an inline pro. Here’s a compilation of him roller skating in the early 90s (Thanks to Brian Wainwright who conserved these on his YT). Check out Taig landing a front flip over three cars at the end!
Holger “Beule” Sander was a German professional quad skater and skateboarder and sailor and surfer. Known for his rad and inventive skating, there was nothing he wouldn’t try. He used the tips of skies which he modified, to allow him to do nose slides on roller skates. Later he cut a skateboard in two, attached trucks and snowboard bindings to both parts to ride them like quads. The tragic story of his conviction to 30 years in prison in Australia is featured in DogDays Magazine 2022. There is also plenty of foootage of him in René Hulgreen’s “Air Attack” video you can watch above.
Roller Skate History: The 1980s
These are the finals of the Münster Monster Mastership in 1988. The Skateboard World Cup was held in Germany for years and roller skaters had their spot in the competition. You can also spot Thomas Kalak, who is featured in our Yeah! Book.
Traveling further to the past to where many things skating had its start, here are two runs by US legends Fred Blood and Duke Rennie at the Oasis Vertical Rollerskating Pro/Am. I believe it’s 1980 (s.o. correct me if I’m wrong). These teenagers went on to create some quad history.
Words and research by Marta Popowska