The Wallenberg Set, also known as the Wallenberg Four or simply Wallenberg, is a popular location in the skateboarding community. Located at the Raoul Wallenberg Traditional High School in San Francisco, California,[1] it consists of four tiers of pavement and curbing, adjacent to a stairway and next to a parking area. The section notable for skateboarding measures 4 feet 4.8 inches (1.341 m) in height and 16 feet 6 inches (5.03 m) in length.[1]

Since becoming notable, the school has re-profiled the "run up" to the set, and it is no longer possible to use adjacent Vega Street to gain speed in order to jump the entire set; speed has to be obtained from a ramp, roll in, or by some other form.[2]

The address of the school is 40 Vega Street, San Francisco, California 94118. The GPS coordinates of the Wallenberg Set are 37°46′49″N 122°26′48″W / 37.78014°N 122.44664°W / 37.78014; -122.44664.

Coverage in skateboarding media

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The Wallenberg gap first appeared in Mark Gonzales's part in "Video Days," a 1991 skateboarding video released by Blind Skateboards.[3]

In 1999, Danny Gonzalez performed a Kickflip to Melon grab as seen in Transworld's "The Reason".[4][5]

In 2004, Thrasher skateboard magazine hosted "High Noon at the Big Four" at the famous spot. Unlike traditional skateboarding competitions, there were no rankings or standings; the event was billed as a "big tricks contest." In order to encourage skaters to attempt difficult tricks, cash prizes were offered for landing specific ones. Andrew Reynolds was the first skateboarder to successfully perform a frontside flip. Darrell Stanton performed a switch backside 180. Lindsey Robertson landed a heelflip over the set.[6]

On 30 May 2009, Thrasher magazine's Back to the Berg contest was held at Wallenberg, in which another set of difficult tricks were landed. Jordan Hoffart's varial heelflip, Nick Merlino's switch heelflip, Chris Cole's backside 360 and switch frontside flip, Cody McEntire's backside bigspin, Andrew Pott's hardflip, and Lizard King's 180 ollie north, ollie disaster, and scarewalk.[6]

Andrew Reynolds backside flipped the set.[7] The trick appeared on the cover of the May 2007 issue of Thrasher and was also added to Reynold's part in Emerica's Stay Gold [8] released in 2010.

Chris Cole was the first one to 360 flip it in New Blood a skateboarding video by Zero Skateboards. Some of the most popular skateboarding tricks that have been performed include Frank Gerwer's kickflip over the set. Lindsey Robertson performed a backside heelflip over the gap at the Thrasher contest. Some other tricks include a backside 180 (Diego Bucchieri), a pop-shove it (by Steve Nesser - 411VM #66), a switch ollie, a switch frontside 180 (by Tony Manfre - montage in Free Your Mind from Transworld Skateboarding), a pop-shove it to melon grab (Jeremy Reeves, from footage featured on Thrasher magazine's website). [citation needed]

Forrest Edwards landed a Switch Kickflip down the stairs; there are photographs of the feat in the April 2013 issue of Thrasher, and a 'magnified' clip of the trick on Thrasher's YouTube channel.[9] On the same day, DJ Gaudin landed a Switch Backside Kickflip.[10]

Chris Joslin performed two tricks down the set for his Etnies Album part. The first was a hardflip backside 180 which was only captured from one angle since he landed it on his third attempt. The second was an inward heelflip. Both tricks had never been done (NBD) at this location.

On November 9, 2019, Miles Silvas switch back heeled the set after five trips to the spot spanning over four years of attempts.[11]

Never Been Done (NBD's)

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Year Skateboarder Trick Video
1991 Mark Gonzales Ollie Indy Blind - Video Days
1998 Diego Bucchieri Backside 180 Ollie Think - Dedication
1999 Danny Gonzalez Kickflip Melon Transworld - The Reason
2002 Frank Gerwer Kickflip 411VM 60
2002 Tony Manfre Switch Ollie Thrasher - Jaded
2003 Tony Manfre Switch Frontside 180 Transworld - Free Your Mind
2004 Steve Nesser Backside Pop Shove It 411VM 66
2004 Andrew Reynolds Frontside Flip Thrasher - High Noon at the Big Four
2004 Darrell Stanton Switch Backside 180 Thrasher - High Noon at the Big Four
2004 Lindsey Robertson Heelflip Thrasher - High Noon at the Big Four
2005 Chris Cole 360 Flip Zero - New Blood
2007 Jeremy Reeves Pop Shove It Melon ?
2007 Andrew Reynolds Backside Flip Emerica - Stay Gold
2009 Chris Cole Backside 360 Thrasher - Back to the Berg
2009 Chris Cole Switch Frontside Flip Thrasher - Back to the Berg
2009 Jordan Hoffart Varial Heelflip Thrasher - Back to the Berg
2009 Nick Merlino Switch Heelflip Thrasher - Back to the Berg
2009 Lindsey Robertson Backside Heelflip Thrasher - Back to the Berg
2009 Cody McEntire Backside Bigspin Thrasher - Back to the Berg
2009 Andrew Pott Hardflip Thrasher - Back to the Berg
2009 Lizard King Backside 180 Ollie North Thrasher - Back to the Berg
2009 Lizard King Ollie Disaster Thrasher - Back to the Berg
2009 Lizard King Scarewalk Thrasher - Back to the Berg
2013 Forrest Edwards Switch Kickflip Thrasher - NDB at Wallenberg
2013 DJ Gaudin Switch Backside Flip Thrasher - NDB at Wallenberg
2014 Zach Wallin Nollie Backside 180 Enjoi - Oververt
2015 Shane O'Neill Nollie Backside Heelflip Shane Goes
2015 TJ Rogers Switch Frontside Bigspin Blind - IOU
2016 Ryan Decenzo Frontside 360 Ollie RDS - Enter the Red Dragon
2016 TJ Rogers Switch Frontside 360 Ollie RDS - Enter the Red Dragon
2018 Chris Joslin Hardflip Backside 180 Etnies - Album
2018 Chris Joslin Inward Heelflip Etnies - Album
2019 Miles Silvas Switch Backside Heelflip Primitive - Encore
2020 Brandon Turner Switch Hardflip Sk8mafia - The Sk8mafia 2020 Video
2024 Dylan Jaeb Fakie Kickflip Primitive - Daydream
2024 Toby Ryan Nollie Backside Flip REAL Skateboards Presents Toby Ryan

References

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  1. ^ a b "WE CHARTED SOME OF SKATEBOARDING'S MOST ICONIC SPOTS". Jenkem Magazine. 2017-07-27. Retrieved 2020-07-03.
  2. ^ "The Wallenberg Four Stairs". Retrieved 2020-07-03.
  3. ^ Colberg, Tait (2013-06-21). The Skateboarding Art. Lulu Press, Inc. ISBN 978-1-300-09709-9.
  4. ^ "Video". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 2021-12-14. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  5. ^ "WHAT HAPPENED TO DANNY GONZALEZ?". July 20, 2011.
  6. ^ a b "Junk Drawer". Thrasher Magazine. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  7. ^ "Classic Covers: Andrew Reynolds". YouTube.
  8. ^ Miner, Jon (Director) (2010). Stay Gold (Motion picture). Emerica.
  9. ^ "Video". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 2021-12-14. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  10. ^ "Video". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 2021-12-14. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  11. ^ "My War: Miles Silvas" – via www.thrashermagazine.com.
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