Name: Chris Pfanner
D.O.B./Age: 7/17/1984, 28 years old
Age Started Skating: 12 years old
Nickname(s): Pfannman
Sponsors: Volcom, Vans, Anti Hero, Spitfire Wheels, Thunder Trucks, Nixon, Eastpack
Krush: You grew up in Nigeria. Is there much of a skate culture there or did you get into skating when you moved to Austria?
Chris Pfanner: The first encounter I had with a skateboard was when I moved to Austria at the age of 10. I saw skateboarding in Ninja Turtle comics and stuff like that, but I never saw a real skateboard until I moved to Austria.
You lived in Austria and currently live in Germany, what’s the European skate scene look like?
You know it’s not really that different than the US. In the end it’s all just skateboarding. I guess the main difference is that the whole skate industry is concentrated on the West Coast of the United States, there is more money involved in it (in the States), so people take it more seriously. People can actually live off of it, you know skate for a living. In Europe it’s getting there, people are starting to make a living of it, but it’s not as serious as it is in the US.
When I think of skating in America I think of skate parks and established skate areas, is Europe more of a street skate scene?
Well yeah, the boom with skate parks just started and there have been more and more skate parks being built. But, I’d say it’s more like 50/50. There are skate parks and there are people who are more street orientated and stuff.
Favorite person to skate with?
You know, through all of the trips that I do I get to skate with a lot of different people and I really enjoy that. As long as I have someone to go roll with, it doesn’t matter, you know? Ha. As long as he’s down to skate and just wants to have fun, that’s good to me.
Worst slam?
Oh wow… I still take crazy slams. But, a very memorable one was when I was 18 I tried to grind this 16 stair hubba. On the first go I grind it but that was just because of the paint it had on it. But after that first go I had already scratched the paint off of it. On the second try, when I jumped in, I just got stuck at the top and was falling down headfirst. I somehow managed to put my leg in between. I could actually hear all of the bones in my foot break. Like all of the five middle foot bones snapped through. That took a long time to heal. I was out for like six months. Luckily I was young then and when you’re young you recover really fast from injuries like that.
Where’s the coolest place you’ve traveled to through your skate career?
For skateboarding it’s really hard to top Barcelona. Everyone still wonders why that city is so amazing. The whole city is like a skate park. We always used to imagine that the architect of the city had something to do with skateboarding or had a kid that skateboarded that told him all of these different spots. You never come across architecture like that.
How did you get hooked up with the Anti Hero team?
Yeah, back in 2006 the guys from Deluxe started flowing me Spitfire Wheels and Thunder Trucks, and that went good. I had a few trips to the States, had some magazine coverage and all that. So they wanted to put me on the real team as an am. In 2007 Julian Stranger was in Barcelona, and I got to know Julian. We spent a week together, went skating together, had a few beers together. And one thing led to another. Two weeks after his visit to Barcelona he wrote me an email saying that he would be really stoked to have me on the team. I was like WOW. Haha. That was it, I’m not going to say no.
What’s it like riding for the Anti Hero team? Those guys are badass.
They represent skateboarding the way I see it. The way they approach skateboarding, it’s like no big planning involved around it or nothing. It’s just getting the crew together, jumping in the van, just drive, see where it leads you. Keeping it simple. Keeping the crew all together. When you go on trips with crazy schedules and fancy hotels it somehow loses the feel. It gets some sort of serious. Just to be able to do what I want to do, the way I want to do it, and that’s why Anti Hero is exactly for me. That’s why I feel really comfortable with those guys.
Anything cooking in the AH workshop that you’ve been developing and testing that will be dropping soon? Signature line, video drops?
Yeah, we are working on a new video at the moment. But we still have to figure it out. Now a days with the internet and everything DVDs have lost their appeal. I guess we’ll probably do a web-video like everyone else is doing. We’ve got to go with the time. That’s where the most people will see the footage.
What does your set up look like these days?
I ride an 8.25” board with 149 high Thunders and 53mm Spitfires.
Favorite item(s) of clothing?
When I’m skating I prefer the Stage 4 shoes that we all developed with Vans. For jeans, Volcom makes really good stretch denim, which is key for skating so you have freedom in your movement and everything. Maybe a hoodie every once and a while to keep the bruising low. And that’s it. Haha.
(Signature Question) Krush’s slogan is “lead the crowd“. How do you think you are leading the skateboarding crowd?
ME? I don’t know. I don’t think I’m leading the skateboarding crowd. Haha. I just do my thing. I guess people are still stoked on it. So I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing.
(Signature Question) If you could have a super power what would it be and why?
Oh! Teleport man. All those flights across the Atlantic just get tiring.
Do you listen to music when you skate?
Oh certainly! Music is life. When I skate I need something fast, to get me pumped up. I listen to a lot of old punk music.
(Signature Question) What (to this point) has been your most “Krushable” (epic) moment?
My most epic moment? I mean, I’ve had so many epic moments and every one has been unique in its own way. If I’d have to say one or two, the first time I met my lovely fiancé was one. And getting on Anti Hero was a big moment for me. It’s tough though when you’re put on the spot like this you can’t remember anything. But that’s right, my fiancé just reminded me, when I first got my board on Anti Hero, that was a really big deal for me. It took a little bit, everyone was always asking me when is it going to happen, and it took so long that I was believing maybe it wasn’t going to happen at all. Then boom, one day it came. I remember I was so happy I was like a little kid receiving his Christmas present for the first time. Haha. It was insane. Lastly, above all, when my son was born and that comes before anything else! That was my most Krushable moment.
What’s next for you? Working on any projects, traveling, video parts, signature lines?
We are working on the Anti Hero video and a Vans video as well, which should be due out next year. For the Vans video I got to decide a lot of the trips we went on, places in Europe and such. It’s going to be a lot of stuff people haven’t seen yet. I’m really looking forward to the reaction of the people. Apart from that I’m just planning on spending more time in the States with my family.
Be sure to follow Chris on Facebook to stay up to date on video drops and from his travels.
Got questions for Pfannman? Post them in the comments below and we’ll have him answer them for you.
