"I'm always at the plaza skating. It doesn't matter if anyone else is there, I'll skate by myself," Desmond Hoostie says with a laugh. But it's true. He honed his street skating skills by becoming a dedicated Vancouver plaza local back when it first opened in September 2004. A few years later, numerous Canadian skaters migrated westward to come skate the now-iconic spot under the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts. Desmond took notice of the new talent congregating there: "Alot of east coast guys came like Spencer Hamilton, Paul Trep and Wade Desarmo," he explains. "It was insane watching Spencer progress to where he is now."

Desmond has also joined the ranks of fast-paced progression. In 2009, he beat out Spencer Hamilton and Mike "Hashbrown" Schulze at the Matix Lord Of The Lines final event, taking home a $3500 stack. He also stood out as the third-best overall skater on Day 1 of DC's King of Vancouver. Contests aside, his latest footage can be seen in TENS, and he recently sealed the deal as an official signed member of the Adidas Canada skate team. Dez is on the rise.

Age: 21
Hometown: Vancouver, BC
Current Residence: East Van
Stance: Regular
Sponsors: Adidas Canada, BLVD skateshop, Think skateboards, Hubba wheels, and United clothing.
Video Resume:
-Bigger and Better Things [Don't Sleep Productions], 2006 – "The first clip I had in an actual video was in Benny Stoddard's first one, but it was only one trick hidden in the bonus section of the DVD."

-Wizard Smoke [Salazar Productions], 2009 – "I was really hyped to be a part of it. Stacy Gabriel asked me if I could do this backside bigspin for the project. The dust made that trick a little harder because it was flying into my eyes – I just closed them and committed, then somehow rolled away."

-TENS, [Don't Sleep Prod.], 2010 - "That's the first video I've actually had a section in."

Favourite movie quote: "And you know what else? I don't give a f*ck."-Bishop (played by Tupac), Juice

When did you start skating, and how did you first get into it?
I pretty much started in Grade 8. I grew up in East Van and ended up moving right next to China Creek skatepark [Vancouver-proper's oldest concrete park, built in 1979]. I could see it from my house, and I was always wondering what they were doing there. One day I ended up getting a board and cruised around there.

You grew up skating the Creek's historic bowls, but you're a tech street skater. How did that happen?
I would always carve around doing speed lines at China Creek, but I didn't really see myself progressing that way. Then again, it took me like 2 years to be able to 50-50 stall in the tea-cup [laughs]. The city ended up putting in flat bars on the rough ground around the park, and I would just skate those everyday. When the Vancouver plaza opened, I wanted to skate there a lot more. That's what changed the way I skate to this day. It's been awhile, but I'm sure I can still launch an airwalk out of the tub at China Creek [laughs].

Fakie bigspin manual bigspin out. Brett Box sequence.

How did you get involved with TENS?
I randomly went down to Cali 2 years ago with Stacy Gabriel and Derek Swaim, and I came back with maybe 5 clips. I'd been filming a lot in Vancouver, and Sean Lowe came up to me and said, "You're gonna have some tricks in the video...", which caught me by surprise. I was stoked. I guess Dave [Ehrenreich] and Benny [Stoddard] wanted to put me in there. They had that old Cali footy of me, so I kept sending them clips and it went from there.

Why are you so drawn to manuals?
Probably because the first time I'd ever seen someone do one, it made no sense to me. There was this older guy named Darcy who skated China Creek; he would do flatground nose manuals around the park every day. That's what drew me to manuals. Once you figure them out, they're the funnest. But it's definitely challenging to be creative and do manuals you've never seen before.

What manual combo has given you the most trouble?
That's hard to say, because I've spent hours on so many. One I really had to work for was in this old promo video I made. It was just at Bonsor skatepark, on the Pier ledge – an inward heel manny to front 3-shuv out. I couldn't believe I landed it.

In late Jan '10, Adidas flew you out to Toronto as a sort of "meet-and-greet" with the Canadian team. How did that go?
It was my first time going to Toronto. It felt a little awkward at first because I didn't really know anyone on the team other than Chuck [Charles Rivard] – he used to live in Vancouver and we'd skate the plaza all the time. On the Toronto trip I just skated and got to know the guys. I had no idea Tim [O'Connor] was going to be there, that was a surprise.

Didn't you fully rep Adidas gear way before you ever got on?
[Laughs] Yeah, I'd always rock the shell-toe – my favourite shoe for the longest time. Once they put a team together in Canada, I thought: "Wow, if I could be on anything, I'd wanna be on that program." Now that I'm actually on, it's unreal. I can't even believe it.

What's your worst habit?
Probably sugar. I throw down pop like nothing – I'm down for any kind of root beer. I wish I could cut it. With skating, I hear that some people say I stress too much. But I don't care, I'm just skating – you have those good days and those bad days.

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Related:
Lord Of The Lines Finals Video
Video: Billabong Damn Am Day 2
DC King Of Vancouver 2009