Zoltan Torkos plants first kickflip but Volcom says it don’t count if it ain’t above the lip

Late last week Zoltan Torkos pulled the first ever kickflip on a surfboard to be captured on film. The above clip quickly went viral, clocking over 140,000 views in four days. The clip was submitted to Volcom for the Kick-Flip Off competition but denied the $10k because it wasn’t above the lip. When Stab called Jack Morrissey, Volcom’s surf team manager, gave us the rundown:

“Basically, since the the kickflip was a mid-face one where he didn’t come off the lip, he’s not eligible for the grand prize of 10 thousand dollars. Even though it was the first kickflip pulled in surfing, it wasn’t off the lip like a proper air, y’know? We’ve had a lot of guys send in over the years and we feel it wouldn’t be fair to them because they’ve been trying to do it off the lip. We obviously want to help him out, hype him up for what he’s done. It’s just the fact of the rules.”

“Rule #3. The kickflip must be a real air “above the lip” – No backwash, No chop hops, or anything in the flats or below the lip of the wave.”

Stab called the friendly Santa Cruz local to ask him how he feels about the failed attempt:

Stab: How do you feel after missing out on 10 Gees due to a technicality? 

Zoltan Torkos: I’m really happy, ’cause this has brought the focus I intended it to, to the fact that this was pulled for my best friend, Carl Reimer, who was shot to death on my mother-in-law’s door step. It was, more or less, the wrong place at the wrong time. The shooter didn’t even know it was Carl. He was just leaving a low-income housing flat. The shooter jumped out of a bush and shot Carl. It was just a random act that I’m still trying to make sense of. The last day, before he died, I surfed Steamer Lane, did a kickflip and fell. He said, “You can do this!” So that was the last thing he told me before he left my house and was murdered. It has stuck in my heart and in my soul to get this done, do it for him and make it the Reimer flip. Turn kids onto ‘Pull tricks not triggers, shoot ’em with a camera.’

For how long did you try to plant it? Oh my god! I’d even tried them before the contest. We have these wedgy beach breaks and I’d play around, but with no seriousness. It took my friend inspiring me to push surfing to a new level and inspire kids to prove you’re a man through surfing. Or go on a super ramp with your skateboard and see how scared you are. Or perform a magic trick on stage. The adrenaline’s out there and there are positive ways to get it. Society has shown people to take the coward’s way out a lot of the time.

Has the clip boosted your surfing career? Man! It’s been a crazy emotional road. It’s hard to say how big the avalanche will get, but, you know, the snowflake has hit the top of the mountain. –Simon Nicholas