R.I.P. Steve Schneer, Skateboarding Will Miss You!

Gone Skating Blog Is Sad To Report News Of The Death Of A Skateboarding Legend, Pro Skateboarder Steve Schneer.

Steve Schneer, a pioneer in the archives of vertical skateboarding, dating back to the 1970’s, was found dead at his home is Boise, Idaho. This is a sad time for skateboarding, for we have truly lost a good friend of our sport. Steve was such a great skater and an all round nice guy. Many friends, both past and present, will feel sorrow after finding out this tragic news. Here’s what the obituary stated.

OBITUARY:
Stephen R.Schneer, age 51, of Boise, Idaho, died Sunday, February 2, 2014 at his home in Boise. Funeral arrangements are still pending at Summers Funeral Homes, The Boise Chapel. To find out more details follow the link here: http://www.summersfuneral.com/

Steve Schneer grinding the Obstacle Bowl in Phoenix, Az. 1984
Photo: J. Goodrich

Steve Schneer was a show stopper and crowd favorite when he dropped in to take his runs, no matter what the event was. Anyone who ever saw Steve skate, knew him for his unique stunts he would perform right in the middle of a contest. Even during his practice runs he would intimidate the other competitors, for example, by skating a full boar practice session, while barefooted and shirtless, as seen in the frontside invert pictured below.

Steve is probably best known for the Schneer invented trick known as the “Ho Ho Plant.” Steve would stall these gymnastic type inverts on the vertical top coping for what seemed like over 30 seconds, or forever in the world of professional skateboarding. Schneer’s upper body strength and balance was never contested by any fellow skate pros, because not many could do a hand plant (invert) with both hands planted on the obstacle top, like the traditional “Ho Ho Plant.” Steve would sometimes stall the trick long enough to pick his nose, or make hilarious small talk with another skater on the upper deck. Also, If you ask key partakers in the world of skateboarding, most will credit Steve Schneer with the first frontside invert to be landed, dating back to 1978 and being publicly claimed by Steve and others who witnessed and reported the epic trick.

Amazing Barefooted FS Invert Over The Channel
Photo: Unknown

Steve Schneer, known as a true pioneer of skateboarding, having invented several tricks he may, or may not have gotten credit for, but among his skating peers, he was given proper respect. Steve seemed to be held to a higher standard of skating when he performed for the crowds. The intensity Schneer would bring with these amazing stunts and tricks nobody else would dare try, was spectacular to watch no doubt. I’ve seen Steve over the years, here and there, skating in competitions and in a demonstration, always skating strong and more recently riding for a classic skateboarding company known as, “Old Cocks Skateboards.” It seemed there was always a mention of the fun times encountered on trips and good reports of Steve from long time friends, such as Alan Harley Mercier.

Steve was the 1970’s skateboarding version of what Tony Hawk brought to skateboarding in the 1980’s with an increased level of of trick difficulty and a bag full of new tricks nobody could touch. Some of his tricks were called circus tricks due to the level of difficulty they demanded, but with Steve there was never any moments when pride would get the best of him. He was a peoples person and an impressive entertainer, always in full effect and leaving nothing on the table when he finally finished the Steve Schneer skateboard show.

Last year I can remember talking with Steve Schneer and Alan Harley Mercier about tagging Steve on a Facebook post with a special proposition for Steve’s due recognition for his contribution to the sport. Doing this in his honor really got Steve’s attention on the FB post, which simply honored Steve for an annual “Steve Schneer Day,” celebrated every April 15th. Steve popped up in the FB post with in a minute or so and was stoked that someone would do that for him in his memory. We laughed and talked about days of old and how this art form we all love just never leaves you no matter what age you reach. We were forever young Steve mentioned and those were the last words I heard him say.

Steve Schneer skates the legendary Heineken Pool in 1979.
Photo: J. Goodrich

Below isWikipedia’s mention of Steve Schneer’s invention of the “Ho Ho plant,” or at least credit for being the first skateboarder to attempt and land the popular old school trick, which made way for other popular versions of the trick like the impressive street version known as the street plant. Not many skaters in the history of skateboarding could pull of these Ho Ho plants on a vertical wall like Steve Schneer could and often with a lengthy inverted stall, for what seemed like an impossible amount of time.

Read about the trick in Wikipedia, under “Lip Tricks, Inverts/Hand Plants.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lip_trick

The description says, this is where both hands are on the coping at the same time at one point during the trick, enabling the person to walk on their hands if so desired. Both hands must be on the coping, because the trick is actually an invert to eggplant. Now the “Ha-Ha plant” is a similar trick, except it is basically a stalled invert where the front hand briefly rests on the coping before returning to grab the board. The Ho-Ho was conceived by Neil Blender, but first done by either Jeff Kendall or Steve Schneer.

Below is Steve in the popular NHS, Santa Cruz, OJ wheels advert, as seen at:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/old.advetisements/

“Molecules In Motion”

Steve Schneer was involved a a movie called “Molecules Of Motion.” the skateboarding film was produced in 1987 and featured the Gullwing Trucks skate team. Most of the footage was provided through demos, contests, and various street skating events taking place in the southern California region. The film also used local punk bands from the San Diego district such as “Infrared” and “Sister Rae, and was narrated by former DJ, “Dred Scott.” This video is sometimes mistakenly referred to as “Molecules In Motion” due to the closing credits of the video, calling the movie “Molecules In Motion.”

Movie Cast Lineup
Mark Rogowski – Himself
Chris Miller – Himself
Steve Schneer – Himself
Tony Magnusson – Himself
Jeff Kendall – Himself
Erik Jueden – Himself
Gavin Troy – Himself
David Crabb – Himself
Jason Jessee – Himself
Steve Claar – Himself
Don Pollard – Himself
Keith Wachter – Himself
Ron Allen – Himself
John Hogan – Himself
Dred Scott – Narrator
Denise Ames – Gullwing Machine-Gunner

Steve Schneer tips one in this very steep private Heineken Pool, 1979.
Photo: J. Goodrich

R.I.P. Steve Schneer, thanks for all the great memories, it was a pleasure to know you and to follow your exuberant career. Our thoughts are with the Schneer family during this trying time of loss and of course with all the followers and friends Steve Schneer had made over the years.

By Rich Monday

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