Talkin' With The Team #5 - Cain Lambert

Sponsors?

Sk8 Skates, and I get Brixton packages occasionally.

How long have you been sponsored by Sk8 Skates?

12 years!

How did you get on the team?

It was awesome. I woke up one morning around 7:00 am to go to school and there was a note slipped underneath my bedroom door, it read “find the tallest thing in your backyard”. I ran outside and on a tree in the backyard was another note that said, “climb the building at the end of the block”. Luckily, I had climbed this building numerous times, so bright and early in the morning I am scaling this building to find my next clue which read “go look in the back of mom’s vehicle” (clearly Colin had arranged this scavenger hunt). In the back was a box with some sk8 tee’s, boards and a big sign that said, “welcome to the team”. I remember going to school that day in a “team” shirt feeling like the coolest 11th grader in the joint, turns out I was still a loser.

Favorite Sk8 Skates rider from the past?

Bill Acheson and Jason Crolly

Favorite Sk8 Skates rider from the present?

Brock is more talented than everyone on the team, so I'll pick him.  

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Favorite up and coming Winnipeggers?

I like anyone who is good, but struggles. These days, when we have these discussions about who rips, it seems to centralize on the dudes who are clearly gifted at skateboarding. That’s great, they should get their kudos and all that, but I always get stoked on people who you can tell really need to try.

I feel like when I am skating with a lot of people these days, we’re not actually skating together, instead I feel like they are putting on demos, just doing the same really good tricks over and over and over. It’s almost as if they expect to be that good, and don’t seem to care when they do something sick. Honestly, if you’re not getting stoked on what you’re doing, why would I?

My vote is Meagan Kost. It has been so inspiring to see one of my female friends become possessed by skateboarding. She has such a positive outlook on skateboarding as a whole, and her opinion isn't swayed by years of conditioning to know what is "cool" or not, she just loves skateboarding! 

What are you working on right now?

Nothing, but I graduate University in 5 months, and want to focus my free energy into something cool. I want to be part of a video that has an art direction and good music. Maybe take a long skate trip and make a video out of that. I am so sick of generic Instagram bullshit, it doesn’t get me stoked.

Best day of your life?

In 2009 I had to get open heart surgery. I found out that I needed the surgery approximately a year prior to getting it. Unfortunately, a year is a long time to think about a potentially life-threatening surgery, so once the day of surgery came, my mind was set on “well, I am probably not going to wake up”.

On the day of the surgery I was so nervous that the doctor recommended that I take a “cocktail” that will relax me (it was fentanyl). This cocktail was so effective that as I was getting wheeled in the operating room, I started singing Four Horsemen by Metallica (oddly enough the song is about dying). Once in the room, I remember the doctor putting the gas mask on my face and asking me, “where is your favorite place to skateboard”, I responded “Woodsworth”… (these days a 2 ft high quarter pipe is more realistic).

Okay, so back to the question. Since it had been a year of convincing myself I was going to be dead, the moment I awoke from surgery, I remember being so blown away that I did it! It was done, I wasn’t dead, and I was probably high as a kite, so that combo was the most overwhelming joy I’ve ever experienced. It literally changed my outlook on life, I am so thankful to be alive every day.

Tell us a good story about another team rider?

When I was 17-18 and Colin was 22-23 we still lived together. At the time I was working a fairly lucrative job, and Colin, I believe was either unemployed, or saving money to get married or some shit. For my own amusement, I would make ridiculous bets with him for not very much money. One time, I bet him 10 bucks that he couldn’t each a frozen pizza pop in 5 minutes. The last bite was in his mouth on the 5-minute mark, and I refused to pay him. Another time, I bet him 20 bucks that he wouldn’t chug a full bottle of Italian dressing. This time he did it, and won the 20 dollars. However, to my amusement, he had a date later that evening with his girlfriend (who is now his wife) Dana, who had to spend the entire night waiting in our basement while Colin succumb to extreme diarrhea. Note to take away, if you’re ever constipated, chug a bottle of oil based dressing.

Gnarliest trick ever done in Winnipeg?

Colin Lambert’s wall ride at the Art Gallery, Austin Thomas’ 50-50 on the double kinked hubba at St. Ignatius church, and Eric Milinkovic trying to ollie China town 19 with dish rags in his shoes as protection.

What are some slang terms that only Winnipegger's use?

“Garvey” is a good one, because I don’t know what other people call it when you over shoot a crooked grind and end up crumpled on the ground. Referring to getting drunk as "crumpled" is pretty good too. Oh, and I once heard Jack Kennan refer to getting "hammered" as getting "nailed to the cross", I really like that!

Who should get on the team next?

I think Meagan Kost rips, and I think having a girl on the team would be awesome. She’s not there quite yet, but at the rate she progresses I could see it happening one day.

Fane and Kian are a cool brother’s combo, they remind me a lot of Colin and myself. I know from experience that doing the same activity as your sibling motivates you to progress, but it also makes you progress in different ways in order to self-identify. Fane is handrail dawg, and Kian is a tech daddy, cool juxtaposition.

My favorite though, as far as style, personality and tricks, must go to Craig Anderson. That dude is a cool as cucumber.

Follow Cain Lambert on Instagram @cainbert

Photo by James Morley @jamesmorley