PHOTOS BY JOSHUA WORD
WORDS BY MIGDOL

So how long have you worked at Avalanche?
About 2 years.

What is the most fucked up thing to ever happen there?
One time some huge fat lady slipped on some posters that were on the ground. When she was going down she ripped some more posters off the wall. She laid on the ground for about 20 minutes complaining about her back. Then she tried to get the owner to give up all the information so she could sue us.

What did the owner do?
He told her he would give her 25% off on shoes.

Did she go for it?
Nah, I don’t know, the owner just scared her away.

Why, is the owner a badass or something?
Yeah he’s a hard ass like that.

What did he do to scare her away? Did he threaten her life?
He gave her a hard time. He didn’t really threaten her he just talked her out of it. He’s a smooth talker.

So he gave her 25% off on shoes, what kind of shoes did she buy?
She didn’t get shoes. She didn’t take him up on his offer.

What kind of poster was it that she slipped on?
It was actually an Osiris Jerry Hsu poster.

I bet that is not the first fat chick that Jerry Hsu has taken down, if you know what I mean. Working at a Skateshop can be one of the most boring jobs ever, how does Avalanche rank?
Yeah it’s really boring, long hours nothing to do.

Do girls come in and want to trade sex for product?
Surprisingly no. If it were closer to the skatepark maybe but for the most part there is hardly anyone who comes in here.

Is it a front for a drug operation?
No. It’d be cool if it were though, it’d probably be a little bit more exciting.

Here’s one question we always ask in our Shop Talent interviews how is the MILF situation there?
Yeah there are always hot milfs here. I’ve heard some stories about MILFS. Some of the other guys, I guess got offered it for some free shoes or something.

You’re kidding? So a hot mom was like, I’ll trade you a BJ for some shoes?
Yeah something like that. That’s what I got out of the story.

Has the store ever been robbed?
We get people stealing some shirts and stuff. We caught some kid trying to steal some trucks once. He shoved some trucks down the front of his pants. I saw him and watched him and he was moving around all weird. The owner came up and asked the kid, “What’s in your pants?”. The kid said, “My package”. The owner was like, “I’m not stupid! Show me what you got in there.”. Finally the trucks came out.

So did you guys mark the trucks down since they were in some kids pants touching his junk?
No he put them back in the case and charged full price.

So somebody is skating around with a set of trucks that have been in some kids pants!