Adrian Prince 1965 - 2002

Adrian Prince, founder of Slotstik Skimboards passed away this week.  It is with a profound sense of gravity that I write this.  I will include some of my own thoughts here but first lets hear some from Grady Archbold and a close friend of Adrian's, Dave Montgomery.

Hi Aaron, This is Dave Montgomery.  I thought you might want a skim pic of Adrian to put up on your site in his memory. All the skimmers from Ventura are devastated by the news, as I am sure everyone who knew him is. Sometimes in life, our small problems can build up and happen all at once and become an overwhelming burden that seem like too much for us to carry. The skim community is too small for us to cast judgment (spread rumors, talk trash, etc.) on each other, especially without knowing the facts.  We need to listen to our bros when they are troubled and not let the little things stand in between our friendship.  Once they are gone, it's too late to say how you really feel.  We are all not perfect, we all make mistakes.  We need to understand each other and not be so quick to judge, because skimboarding is our common bond.

I first met Adrian four years ago at the Slotstik contest in Ventura.  It was one of my first contests and I was scared to death.  I wanted to do well because rumor had it that if you did well at the Slotstik contest then you were next in line to ride for them.  I ended up winning the contest and the next thing I know, I see Adrian walking towards me.  After some small talk he ends up asking me to ride for him.  I have never been blessed with good communication skills, so I think I said that "I would think about it".  Like I had several offers waiting for me at home.  I snapped back into reality and I called him the very next day and said that i would love to ride for Slotstik.  And that was it.  My skimboarding career was complete.  All I ever wanted to do was ride for Slotstik.  It was the only company that mattered to me.  Slotstik was so appealing because it was not dull and old fashioned like Victoria, or close-minded and money hungry like Zap.  Slotstik was about something more.  It was about making the best boards and having the best riders ride those boards.  But the thing that did it for me was that you didn't really ride for Slotstik. You rode for Adrian.  He didn't care about contest results or magazine shots.  He was happy just to hear through word of mouth that you were skimming well.  That made me try harder because I wanted to make him proud.  This made me a better skimboarder.  Adrian made Slotstik skimboards feel like a family rather than a company.  I had so much pride in being apart of that family. I still do. I always will.

Until the occurrence of recent events, I had forgotten all of this.  You see, I left Slotstik and went to a company that I thought I had a better future with. I thought there was more room to grow there.  This caused me to totally forget why I started skimming in the first place.  I started skimboarding because it was fun.  Not for money or pictures in a magazine.  Slotstik taught me that philosophy.  Adrian was my sponsor.  But more importantly he was my friend.  And the only reason I started writing this is to say what I will never get a chance to say to my friend.

I want to say thank you.  Thank you Adrian, for showing me what skimboarding is supposed to be about.  Thank you for making me apart of the family. I now have life-long friends (Geo, Mezzy, Dano, Wet boy) because of you.  We all knew you were having problems.  I am so sorry that I looked over them and didn't take them as seriously as I should have.  But I want you to know that Slotstik won't die with you. It will always be in our hearts and minds.  As will you. 

That's all I wanted to say.  I will miss you Adrian.  We all will.

Thanks for everything.

Grady

One day me and my homeboy Dave Arvelo were looking for a new skate spot.  We lived in Lake Forest, but our calling was the beach.  Any chance we had, we were there.  You might say that we were Surf/Skate/Snow freaks.  One day, our path happened to take us to Aliso beach were we first saw Skimboarding.  When our eyes hit the surf we were blown away by these three guys on boards that looked like surfboards, but had no skegs. Later we found out there names were Chris “The Bear” Berry,  Matt Crowl and Bruce Kapatrick.  They were doing airs back into the waves and just having the best time.  Lets not forget this was in the early 90’s so we went out and bought boards.  First we rode boards from other companies but no one really cared about two shubees trying to learn how to skim.  Me and Arvelo had a whole different approach to skimming.  We were all about doing skate and snowboard tricks on our skimboards, and Dre wanted are in put and what we thought would make better boards.  He took us under his wing in a very loving way.  And ever since we have had a lifetime friendship.  I’m writing this at 1:04 PM on the day of the funeral.  I’ve had a hard time dealing with this.  I’m a Father and a lifelong Skimboarder.  I still can’t believe that Dre is gone.  I’m not going to make it out to the funeral today but felt I had to write this letter to put a closure to my Fears of Death.  For all who care with all the trouble in this world today, try living in the( NOW ).  Right NOW!   Don’t worry about past things.  They can eat you up inside.  Listen to your friends when there calling out.  It's not all about you.  I’ve helped put on the SlotStik contest for the last 8 years and never made a penny off the sport.  I was in charge of getting all the prizes for you people to enjoy for all the hard work and time you also put in to help this Core Sport grow.  This Sport has had lots of ups and downs.  I wasn’t here from the beginning, but when the train came to my town, I got on and never got off.  Long Live SlotStik.

Michael Talyor - "Spence"

Adrian Prince's contributions to the people and the sport of skimboarding will never be forgotten.  In many ways Adrian Prince was the most innovative board builder this sport will ever know.  From the beginning, he always had an eye for experimentation in design and construction.  The list of things Adrian did first with skimboards could fill a book.  He truly enjoyed making skimboards better.

In the late 80's, skimboards looked a lot different than the boards you see today.  Boards were commonly big, round and flat.  Adrian changed all that.  Almost single handedly, he changed everyone's mind about what a skimboard should look like.  His experimentation with shapes back then has directly affected the shape of the board under your feet today, regardless of who made it.

Then there is Adrian the man.  He really epitomized many of the things that make skimboarders the best people on earth.  No matter who you were or where you came from, if you had a skimboard under your arm, Adrian was your friend.  Looking back on my early years in the sport, I find that many of my most memorable sessions were shared with Adrian.  I don't think it was because the waves were better and I don't think it was because he was around all the time.  I think it was because whenever he was around, he brought with him a positive vibe that was unwavering.  Sharing a session with him made everything just a little more fun.

And that's all that that you can ask of a man. 

A fitting memorial service is pending.  We are looking for input on how best to plan a service which celebrates a life cut short.

Please post any suggestions you might have.

You can contribute to a fund for the Prince family here.

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