Photo: MonsterEnergy.com
PLG after his win at the Maloof Money Cup

Photo: MonsterEnergy.com
PLG frontside air.

PLG during practice at X Games 16

Photo: Alli
PLG on his way to victory at the Boston Dew Tour
stop.

Pierre Luc Gagnon has been leading the charge on the competitive vert ramp circuit this summer. With a win at the Boston Dew Tour stop as well as X Games and the Maloof Money Cup, PLG is the man to beat. Carrying all the right momentum heading to Portland this weekend for the Wendy's Invitational, we thought it appropriate to see how he was feeling about his current streak and what the future holds for the remainder of 2010.

- James Sullivan

What's your mentality heading into Portland?

My mentality going into Portland is good. I'm just trying to be well rested. I've been on the road the past 2-3 weeks. I was in Woodward East with the campers practicing then straight to X Games, then straight to Maloof and that was a lot of skating, so I'm just resting for a few days. I'll go skate tomorrow lightly but I'm feeling great about my skating. I'm feeling dialed right now about Portland. It's a very similar ramp to X Games and Maloof that's going to be at Dew tour, so I feel ready but I just don't want to show up and be tired. I want to feel fresh and confident and skate the same way I've been skating the last few months.

You're style combines technical street skating and vert skills. Tell us about that.

I love street skating. I love doing flip tricks. That's what inspires me on vert -- is to watch street skating and see what they're doing and then do that on the vert ramp, cause that's progressive skating if you ask me. I like doing those tricks but I also like being powerful at the same time and going big so I'm always working on going big each year but technical skating is definitely my strength.

Thoughts on fellow competitors?

I m in the middle age wise with older guys like Bucky and Bob and Andy then there's me and then there's the younger guys. Skating died in the 90s and I came up in 96-97 so there weren't many up and coming guys during that time. I'm 30 and those guys are mid-late 30s and the young guys are in late teens and early 20s. Pedro Barros has been skating really well lately; he's really consistent with skating and really powerful for such a young guy. Perelson is extremely talented but it's hard to know what to expect. Pedro might not have as many tricks as Perelson but he's really consistent you know he's always going to give you a strong performance.

So you're feeling like you re in your prime?

Yeah I feel like I'm in my prime but I also feel like I can learn so much more. Skateboarding has so much to offer that's why I love it so much because there's always ways to learn and improve. Even if you win a contest you'll always look back at an event and I know there's always something I could've done better.

What's up with the Shaun White factor?

I have a lot of respect for him. He doesn't skate for two years then comes back and skates really well. It's just a bummer that the media puts him on a pedestal ahead of all the skaters that have been there the whole time and even if he doesn't win he gets more play then any of the other skaters...it's just unfair to the guys like Bucky and myself, Andy and Bob who've been there supporting skating and winning contest for years.

I also thought it was disrespectful that he pulled out of the best trick at X. I guess he was bent out of shape that he didn't win the contest or whatever. The thing was he skated great and he put a lot of pressure on me. I had to dig deep into my bag of tricks to beat him. He had two amazing runs and got second so it seems that he has nothing to be bummed about.

Thoughts on Dew Tour and winning the Dew Cup?

Dew Tour is a major part of the season. X Games is one (vert) contest, same with Maloof. Dew Tour is four stops over a few months. You can't just be hot one day or one weekend and be lucky. You have to be consistently good all season if you want to win the whole tour. That's why it's a major accomplishment if you win the Dew Cup.