There can never be a greatest skater of all time, nor can you make a ranked list of the best skaters. Different time periods, individual styles, unique trick choices and, of course, basic opinion all prevent direct comparisons from ever taking shape. How would you compare Mark Gonzales to Danny Way? Or Daewon Song to John Cardiel? You just don’t do that. It’s kind of a shame, though, because making lists is human nature and it’s always fun to cobble together the names of legendary skaters.

We found a loophole to this paradox. The Periodic Table is comprised of the elements that form all matter in the universe. From Hydrogen to Plutonium, these are the building blocks of our existence. They all stand alone—none is “better” than another, and atomic numbers are not a rank, they are essentially a placement holder. Well, here is a Periodic Table with many (but not all) of the individuals who have contributed to what skating is today, as well as the guys that are paving its future.

No rank, no list. No problem.

As seen in the November 2015 mag.



(Click image above to enlarge. Vertical format below. / Design by Adam Creagan)

Even with enough spaces for 118 names, this was still a tough edit. It felt like a crime to leave off certain people but that’s our list to represent the foundation and future of skateboarding. Now tell us in the comment section the three names of skaters, from any generation, that contributed significantly to skating and should have been on here.