Waiting for Lightning Page #5

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as far as a group of guys

all in one place.

It set the standard.

And these guys were

creating something

that wasn't there before,

tricks that weren't

there before.

It was this

totally new thing.

And Mike Ternasky saw

what they could do,

and he brought

the most out of them.

When I had to film

something tough,

you'd want

Mike T. there.

You'd want

that reinforcement

while you were trying

whatever you were trying.

'Cause in those days,

you know, some of that stuff

you just didn't really know

if it was even possible.

- Yeah!

- Yeah, Matt!

He gave you something that

just blew up inside of you.

That just like, oh my gosh,

I can't sit still now.

I have to work for this.

Yes! Hey, Rodney.

Push.

That accountability,

like, we need that.

Mike saw different things

in me that I didn't see.

He was a big part of making me

a believer in myself.

You got it, dude.

Just go right now.

You're not too tired.

Do it again.

Talent only takes

you so far.

It's putting

your head down

and going that does

the rest of it.

Danny worked really hard.

It wasn't like it was

just easy for him.

We'd all slam

and get back up,

but most of us

would stop.

He never did.

He just kept pushing.

That was

real good.

If he says he's

gonna pull this off,

there's not a doubt

he's gonna do this.

If he didn't,

he would do it

until he either broke

his leg or something.

You know,

he would not stop.

Like Terminator.

He had a new peer group

that he needed respect from

and that he needed

to be accepted by,

so he was pushing the limits

of what he was capable of

and in doing so, you know,

shifting the paradigm.

- Whoa!

- Aah!

That's

good enough, dude.

Danny Way could have

done anything.

Anything.

Danny Way,

skater of the year,

selected by the readers

of Thrasher magazine.

During that era, he was

also a pro snowboarder,

a gnarly motocross dude,

and a super good surfer.

The higher your goal,

the more focused

and intense you get.

I don't know Danny's

whole process,

but I can imagine

he has to get himself

into a place

that's pretty intense.

And it's got

to make interaction

with other people

pretty hard.

And, uh, it's probably

not all healthy.

Danny was a teenager

with no parental supervision

with a peer group around him

that could perpetuate

his adolescence.

Got two

of these babies.

Mike wasn't

with Danny 24/7.

He knew there was

a lot of partying going on,

and had no problem

calling anyone out

for anything

at anytime,

so we just got better

at hiding it.

You know,

it's like any kid.

The mom's like,

"My son's an angel".

Meanwhile the kid goes out the

back door just ripping sh*t up.

We're seriously gonna

jack someone up.

That peer group really, I think,

pushed him in directions

that wasn't the best

or the healthiest for him.

Someone right now

is, like, walking

and they have no idea

what's gonna happen!

Like, they're

peacefully walking.

There was no parents

to stop anything,

so whatever stupid idea

that we came up with,

that's what we did.

Oh, my god,

you missed!

Smashing something

and running away

and getting

away from the police

is a great

bonding experience.

That's a great way

to build a friendship.

I didn't do sh*t!

- No?

- No, b*tch!

The type of men

that are risk-takers,

they have

a certain recklessness.

I think that's a necessity

in what we do.

Ha ha!

Whoa!

If you can make it

through that reckless time

and maybe find

your direction

and kind of straighten

the car out, you survive it...

But in the beginning,

you have a lot of ammunition

and you're shooting

at every direction,

waiting to see

if it hits something.

I was downtown skating

and I looked across the street

and both my parents were, like,

standing looking at me.

I knew it, immediately,

when I looked up

and saw them the way

they were just looking

across the street at me.

I was like, "Oh, god,

what happened?"

Mike was really happy with the

way things were going, you know?

A lot of things

were lining up,

and his guys were

doing good in contests.

Colin and Danny were

in the plane with him.

He told them that he had done

so much of what he wanted to do.

You know, if he died

right now, he'd be happy.

Well, I heard he

was going into work.

I think Dave Andrews actually

witnessed this accident,

or he was actually

driving to work

and he saw that

there was an accident,

and had no idea that Mike was

actually in that accident.

Yeah, I mean, just,

I mean, devastating,

and, you know,

yeah, it was just devastating.

He was pulling out

off a stoplight,

and an older lady

ran the red light.

T-boned him.

When Mike passed away,

I was just like,

"Sh*t, man.

This sucks for Danny.

What is he gonna do now?"

It was just absolutely

tragic for him to lose Mike

because I think it was at such

a pivotal point in his life.

Short of our stepdad Tim,

he was the only other person

in Danny's life

that really grounded him.

He didn't have

that sounding board

that could really tell him

morally or ethically,

whatever, that what you're

doing is wrong or right.

I was a friend,

and there's no way

I could be that sort

of mentor to him.

I had no idea that

that was on the horizon.

I always felt, like,

this sense of security

with Mike

in the picture.

"If all else fails,

I can call Mike,"

and I was

completely lost.

We're hearing that there's

problems in the building,

but we're listening

for the key things:

It's finished

and it's safe.

At that level

of danger,

there's no room

for any error in the design.

- Thirty-two inches.

- Okay.

If it's off a half inch,

that's all the difference

in the world.

Hitting the quarterpipe

at 50 miles an hour

going into a ramp

three stories tall

and flying three stories

out of it,

that thing better

be perfection.

Skateboarders

are grown men

in T-shirts and shorts

and puffy shoes.

The Chinese guys don't like

being told

what to do by grown men

in kids' shorts.

We know how

to fix this.

It'll work if they will do

what we ask them to do.

I know, but...

He think you change

your mind many times...

We haven't changed sh*t!

Come over here and tell them

exactly what I said.

This is the plan,

the blueprint.

It's so hard to communicate

with the Chinese,

and the whole process

takes four or five times

as long

as it normally would.

And then the pride gets in the

way, and that's even harder.

Do you know

distance?

How much do you want

to move the scaffolding?

- Thirty.

- Thirty.

Eighty.

Eighty inches back.

A cultural barrier,

that's a big one.

If JT and Brian

can't do what they do,

Danny can't do

what he does.

It's definitely...

one of the most

challenging situations.

I've just never

failed before,

and I don't want

to fail now.

Danny got

injured surfing.

He got taken down

by a wave

and driven into the bottom

of the ocean headfirst.

It literally could

have killed him.

I remember him

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