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Specifically, which world records of your own are you trying to surpass?
For the high air, which is 231/2 feet above the deck of the ramp. And then the distance record [for a jump between ramps] is 79 feet. I'd like to break 100 feet here soon just to get it done before I'm too old to do it.
You're 38 now. How long do you think you can do this?
I've been very abusive to my body physically, but I've also been very smart in the sense that I'm taking care of myself with diet and my training. I'm not trying to be the oldest guy out there, but I definitely don't want to stop before I've accomplished some of these things on my list.
You've had 13 operations?
Sixteen now.
Do you still have pain from any of your injuries?
Absolutely. I have recurring injuries, I have injuries that healed the best they could, but they're not perfect. My ankle from jumping the Great Wall has been a nonstop problem since. I've had four surgeries on it, and it still bothers me all the time. I've got my name on the Wall there, but the Wall has definitely got its name on me too.
Do you have any regrets about what this has done to your body?
The one thing I do regret is, if I just sit around all day, my body gets so sore and my back is just a mess sometimes. And sometimes I sit there and I do feel guilty. Because I do respect my body enough and I think the greatest gift on the planet is to feel good. I'm giving that up — for what? The fame and the money aren't driving me to do what I do. There's a greater calling. Without my skateboard career, I don't know how much of a purpose I would have. I can justify it to myself knowing I've helped inspire people to challenge themselves.
So you sleep with your pig?
I don't sleep with him. He's getting too big now. But when he was a piglet he slept in our bed all the time. He's a mini-Vietnamese pot belly pig, and he's my pet. He's potty-trained — he goes on the grass like a dog. He goes to the door and squeals and you let him out. Pigs are very intelligent. He can do every trick in the book — he plays dead, he sits, he stays, he does 360s, he does it all.
What's his name?
Ollie. Ollie is a skateboarding trick and a pig name at the same time.
