A shoeless Samoan with hamburger feet, Chris Yandall was one of the top pro slalom racers of the mid-1970s. Right after graduating from high school in Michigan, Chris started skateboarding and moved to Pacific Beach, San Diego, California, where he became the manager of PB Surf Shop. By 1974, Chris could lay claim to two firsts: bombing the famous Tourmaline Hill before anyone else, and becoming the first skateboarder to be sponsored by Tracker, starring in the brand’s debut ad! Also sponsored by G&S, Chris went on to place first in slalom at both the 1974 San Diego City Championships, and the 1975 World Championships, which were also held in San Diego, beating out competitors from all over the world and being featured on CBS television. Always into computers, Chris left California in the late ’70s for a programming job in Germany. He invented skogging, or skateboard jogging, which is free riding on the flats for exercise. He even marketed a line of decks suited to pushing using both feet, which was the perfect activity for Mr. Perpetual Motion. Chris continued to skate slalom and free ride until he passed away on April 20, 2014 at age 59.
Chris Yandell
When you see Chris Yandell head down the ramp, you realize from the tight control and the intense concentration that he’s giving it all he’s got. At the very top of the ranks of slalom skaters, Chris puts a lot of thought and energy into his skating and produces results for his efforts with great consistency. Lately he’s been turning his attention to freestyling as well and is already making contributions to that area of skating.
Chris’s slalom style combines a hard pump with his feet one behind the other angled to the side in the center of the board, maximizing the flex, with hands out in front slightly, always analyzing, picking out the line ahead of him.
A member of the Boy Scouts of America, Chris is using his participation in skate- boarding to earn badges toward his Eagle Scout credentials. That’s maximizing your potential.
Source: Laura Torbet, The Complete Book of Skateboarding (Funk and Wagnalls, 1976), p. 104, the spelling Yandell was not correct in the book.
Loved that guy! First met him at PB surf shop. Skating secret pools with him and Russ Gosnell.