(Steve Cave) I’m here with Pierre-Luc Gagnon. How are you doin’?
(Pierre-Luc Gagnon) Pretty good – how are you?
(Cave) I’m doin’ well. Thank you. So can you tell me a little about your start in skateboarding?
(Pierre-Luc Gagnon) I just started back home in Montreal, Canada, when I was like 8 years old. I asked to get a board for my birthday, and my dad bought me one. There was a vert ramp at my house, I pretty much started on vert, skating vert and quarter pipe stuff, and a little bit of street. We ended up having a skatepark in Montreal from 92 till 98, and that’s where I ended up starting to skate a whole lot.
(Cave) So how long you been pro?
(Pierre-Luc Gagnon) Since 97
(Cave) Nice. What’s your favorite trick to do?
(Pierre-Luc Gagnon) I don’t really have a favorite trick, I just love skateboarding. The whole concept that skateboarding’s an art form, and no one’s there to tell you how to skate or what to do and how to do it - it’s just about being original and unique. That’s what’s so good about it.
(Cave) What’s the best part about being a pro?
(Pierre-Luc Gagnon) You get to make a living out of it. I get to make money skateboarding! I get to travel the world for free, and get to do what I love doing, you know?
(Cave) What’s the worst part?
(Pierre-Luc Gagnon) Um … I don’t know, injuries I guess.
(Cave) You get your fair share?
(Pierre-Luc Gagnon) Yeah, trying to stay away from ‘em!
(Cave) So outside of skateboarding what do you love?
(Pierre-Luc Gagnon) Girls! (Laughs)
(Cave) Do you have any advice for any young skaters out there?
(Pierre-Luc Gagnon) Just have fun. Keep doing what they are doing, have fun skating, and be original. Just don’t limit yourself to street skating. Skate everything. I think it’s good to experience every aspect of skateboarding, everything that’s out there. It’s good to try it and experience it. You don’t judge a book by it’s cover, so if you haven’t tried vert skating, then you don’t know what it’s like to skate vert, you know? So you’re better off trying everything before you limit yourself to one type of skating.
Pierre-Luc Gagnon definitely doesn't limit himself. He's one of the few pro skateboarders to try the X Games Mega Ramp, and he not only tries but won silver on the Mega Ramp both years the competition has been held - in 2004 and 2005! Read more about Pierre-Luc Gagnon in his Pro Skater Profile.
