Skateboarding veteran and owner of the sickest BS 540 Stalefish, Buster Halterman is answering the Who? What? Where? Why? and How? from the GO211 community as he plans to wrap up another Dew Tour season in the top ten. This Pennsylvania native turned skater turned agent and lover of all things beer is answering anything and everything you ever wanted to know about the ups and downs of skateboarding, clothing design and life on the road. Fire away he's all yours.......

Hands down, my favorite and most inspiring pro that i looked up to was Chris Miller! Who else was GOD back then? haha.

Jay, I stay motivated because my parents gave me some old fashioned stubborness. Therefore, when I frequent the ramp, I can't leave until I challenge myself and something feels good but doesn't come easily. Then I obsess about it and can't wait to get the good feeling back, possibly the next day. That good feeling of rolling and landing a trick that I'm struggling with, is what drives me. Beyond that, I have to say all my friends that I skate with on a regular basis are what motivate me! it is so fun to hang out, skate, talk smack, bet on tricks, call each other a "pu$$y" and just roll. That hasn't changed since day one...which is the essence of skateboarding (and BMX I assume!).

Nikozg! good question...but the answer is HIWTVI! That stands for Home Is Where The Vert Is. Also, "STREETS ARE FOR CARS" has been my motto throughout my career!!! Please people, that has always been a joke but a funny motto. Why? Well, i started skating vert and that sensation of weightlessness at the top of the ramp got me hooked. I just couldn't believe the feeling...somewhat defying gravity for a second. I did street skate a little with friends, but it just didn't do it for me. I thought it was fun, but it surely didn't give me the rush that a McTwist did or a 50/50 to fakie (at the time). Street skating wasn't huge when I first started either. Vert was the most popular style of skating and the magazines reflected that! So, naturally, I began there and remain hooked. Otherwise, modern street skating requires talent I don't have time to catch up on...

Alexi, you rule little man...nice profile. Keep the vert alive. I've been skating since 1985, you do the math because I know you probably skipped you homework tonight. Here's the tricky part, I took a 5 year hiatus from my career where I really didn't skate that much...so, if you take away those 5 years, how many years would that be? Chris Miller influence me most I think. No, I have never competed in a street contest...but actually, that has been a personal goal that i may fail at. Can I enter beginner category if I enter street? haha.

personal drive, Alex Perelson, Danny Mayer, Chris Miller...and energy drinks are what keep me going...chewing tobacco kept me going in the 80's....haha.

You are right on man...especially if you ride for REAL skateboards, my least favorite brand by the way. I mean, who or what claims that they are REAL? Where has the modesty gone!!!??? Anyway, there are too many video games and i can't keep up with them. though i give credit to Tony's game for "creating skateboarders" i really don't play them nor promote them nor advocate polluting the minds of youth. Real? what is real is matter of perception. To me, real is skating with friends and doing what i want on my own terms. So, yes, to me that is the most important part...keeping it real, nikozg.

Jamie, shortest question, short answer. I've never been to Bali so i can't say. I'd love to go though.

WOW! First of all, what an amazing user name!!! i just can't believe it...i thought i only had one fan and that it was Alex Perelson. Now i have two, so killer. Seriously people, I'll answer anyway, cause the rat actually asked a good question. First of all, i hope Alex's agent negotiated a multi-year deal. Second, yes, companies always tighten the belt (halt spending) and trim the fat (cut the spending on marketing first and foremost). So Alex, you better continue making the finals and the "big show" or Monster may consider you "fat" and you'll be cut for 09. LOL. In the end, Alex, you'll be solid with sponsorship support if you are an elite...if you are not, expect harder times. In these times of vert death and economic uncertainty, the rich keep their sponsors, the poor struggle to keep them! That's my two cents.

Tom, thanks for the question. I only made one cameo appearance in a legendary BMX video called "Dorkin' in York III". I grew up about 30 minutes from Mark Eaton, Jamie, Kook, Kevin Jones, etc. They frequently rode my barn ramp and inspired me to progress. They were very gracious and I remain honored to be a Dorkin' video. Those guys are legends and brought Blyther, Joe Johnson (the bmxer, not the skater) to the barn....crap, they even brought Dave Voelker. Legends, all of them. The funny thing is that my first real interview in a glossy, established mag was in Freestylin' BMX magazine. I'd love a copy of that if anyone has a backup!

Mitchie, when you are 36, married, have two boys, a full time job and try to skate for fun/job, then there's no such thing as "time off". Great first question though. My oldest son is into BMX and recently I've been taking him to the track to race. He loves it! So I take him to the track when I can and skate with him at the YMCA sometimes too. He loves skating but is working slowly in to it...my youngest son is 3 and a rambunctious little guy. he's obsessed with little cars and food, so I play cars and make lots of food for his little gas tank. I'd say the family's favorite dinner is Risotto...Portabello Mushroom Risotto with Orange roughy fish. My wife loves to make it too! Desert? I'd say chocolate chocolate chocolate! Movies? Sorry, Micthie, I can't remember the last movie I saw, let alone my favorite. Usual Suspects was a great one though. Check it out in a couple years.

This will require some lengthy text. Like I’ve said many times, vert is alive more than ever, though it still is the smallest discipline within skateboarding. I really think that there’s a generation gap in vert…after all, most guys in are in their late 20’s and early 30’s. Finally, there’s a new wave of little vert kids that are passionate about skating vert as their primary terrain in skateboarding. Tampa AM last year had about 34 kids in the AM contest. Half of them easily have PRO-Tential – hucking multiple variations of flip tricks and 540s! Unfortunately, vert skating isn’t promoted in the magazines/videos nor supported heavily by industry companies. I’m saddened by this…I believe vert skating is a tremendous tool, or catalyst, that attracts people (kids) to the skateboarding. Hands down, without vert, Xgames and Tony Hawk’s video game, there would not be as many kids skating today! Vert and those media outlets appealed and broadcasted to the masses a sport that was unfamiliar. Because so many kids got in to skating, we now have over 2500 public skateparks across the country. Many of those skateparks pay a small tribute to vert by including some deeper bowls and vertical structures that demand speed and transfers. Some actually foot the bill for a vert ramp. In the end, straight vert ramps exist here and there and each have their little batch of locals committed to the sensation of vert. Otherwise, the state of vert (for the masses) lies in the concrete bowls that give you a gist of what it’s like to fly through the air like a vert ramp. Although, you don’t see many 540’s and 6-10’ airs on that stuff…mostly because the terrain is still smaller (than a typical half pipe) and people aren’t padding up!

My favorite beers in order are: Tecate, Dos Equis, a good German Hefeweizen, Blue Moon, anything else German

Another long winded answer here...I took a hiatus from skateboarding for many personal reasons. When I was 21-2 and I had only been pro for 2 years. Vert skating was being hated on and skateboarding in general seemed to take a dive in the marketplace. Because of this I was losing sponsorship support. Skating just wasn’t putting food on the table and I had bills to pay. Such is life! At the same time I was kind of frustrated with my personal skating and I just wasn’t good enough in my own mind…I fealt that my career was failing and I was done. One year after being pro, I was in full time college, working a night time job and started a clothing company (with a friend) called Fuel. Oh, and I did have a girlfriend too. Skateboarding as a part time hobby/career just took the back burner and eventually I had less and less time to skate…I fell a bit behind and by 93 was sponsorless anyway. My barn ramp was still around but skating with friends occurred semi often…but just not enough. My focus was on a new education and a new company that I had dreams of creating. In Early 93 or 94 we moved the company to South Carolina, and then I got out of that and moved to Ohio to work for Alien Workshop. I did all their clothing design and production. SC and OH both lacked vert ramps and I lacked motivation when I thought of sucking hard on the streets. Although, here and there I’d do a slappy on a curb or something. What brought me back? Well, I moved to California 1997 and set up a satellite office for the Workshop. I started skating for fun (again) with some old friends like Adil Dyani, Paul Wisnewski, Steve Saiz, etc. We’d skate a couple times a week at the old Reef ramp and the DC ramp (indoor). Then those guys twisted my arm and convince me to skate in the DC Armageddon contest. This was only a couple days after I saw my first live XGames contest in SD. I thought the contest was a little cheesy, but I still wished I was on the deck with all my friends skating and competing…I felt pretty emotional actually, like I passed up a dream and regretted it. Anyway, I entered the Armageddon contest and qualified first and ended up in 4th or 5th I think. It was so funny because I was completely unsponsored, the industry (photographers, company owners, icons of skateboarding) hadn’t seen me in 5 years and I was just skating for fun anyway…the next think I knew, weeks later, I was getting sponsored and planning trips for demos/contests and getting an interview in Thrasher. Eventually, I had to resign from The Workshop and nab the opportunity to rekindle a dream. I’m very thankful skateboarding, the support of my wife and my friends. Ah, a second chance!

Well, this will be fun…Jocks and mainstream hated skateboarding in the early 90’s and surely didn’t dress like them or think like them. Skaters hated the jocks and were misfits, somewhat. Maybe that had to do with the size 44 jeans that kids would wear when they actually had a 32” waist. When I came back in late 90’s, it was cool for pros to dress like Jocks and be in to team sports! Meanwhile skateboarders were cool and the “lifestyle” the norm. Alternative became your average, mainstream kid. The skateboard industry was laughing its way to the bank and giving no credit to vert skating and Tony’s game. The core still claimed core but was selling shoes to the Jocks they grew up hating. Contradictions were everywhere…then many of these core companies became publically traded. But going back again… Skateboarding had changed drastically from my first career to the rebirth. In 1990 my status was built on magazine and video coverage, much like it is today with street skating. The magazines and skate industry (in general) abandoned vert as part of skateboarding in the early/mid 90’s. Since this, vert was drastically underground. All my pro friends that stuck with it lived very rough lifestyles and still managed to keep motivated to progress vert skating. Many guys like Steve Berra and Danny Way shifted to street skating. Heck even Tony Hawk had some mean video parts back then. They were successful and respected with this shift. When I came back, or had a rebirth, the core of skateboarding had become completely street based and vert became this “entertainment” part of skateboarding. Kids still loved to watch it, but it still wasn’t cool to do it (said the mags). Most companies seemed to have a “token vert guy” because they secretly love vert (not to mention they didn’t mind the mainstream exposure/outreach, lol). Anyway, vert and my career were forced to survive in demo/contest land. That was different from the late 80’s/early 90’s. Fortunately, these outlets have promoted the sport of skateboarding to the masses while providing sponsorship opportunities for many pros. I accepted this and enjoyed, meanwhile I attempted to shoot progressive photos and video for my sponsors as much as possible.

Time! The passing of time was the best thing to happen to skateboarding. With this, more people got exposed to an amazing activity (or sport for the lack of a better word). Out of these people came more participants who fell in love with skateboarding. Because more people fell in love with skateboarding the industry grew tremendously. Because the industry grew we have more ams/pros, more dreams, more skateparks, more media outlets, more progression of the sport, less insurance issues….etc. In the end, people from all over the world “get” skateboarding. Doctors and Lawyers skate or used to. Parents use parks as daycare centers and sometimes parents go skateboarding with their kids. People don’t say, “when are you going to stop riding that thing? Isn’t that for kids.” They don’t question it. I can skateboard with my kids at the YMCA and it’s “cool”. That’s an indescribable feeling!

My ipod is not working and besides I’m musically dysfunctional. I love music, however I rarely even travel with an ipod or listen to music while working or driving. I like it when It’s on and I hear it, but I don’t mind it if it’s not floating through the air or in my ears either! All being said, my ipod is probably stuck in the 80’s and 90’s with a bunch of Metallica, GnR, Dinosaur Jr., Mega Death, Bad Brains, Fugazi, Jawbox, Operation Ivy, etc…..That’s my favorite music.