Biography of X Games Athlete Danny Way

Danny Way was born on April 15, 1974 in Portland, Oregon. His father died when he was only eight months old. His stepfather eventually introduced him to skateboarding.

At the age of twelve, Danny Way was already entering skateboarding competitions. That year, he won his first competition. Two years later, at the age of fourteen, Way was sponsored by Powell Peralta. He skated with other members of the Bones Brigade.

At the age of fourteen, Danny made his first appearance in the skateboarding video, "Public Domain: Bones Brigade Video 4." After doing the video, Danny's eyes were opened to the world of professional skateboarding. He dropped from Powell Peralta in order to turn professional for H-Street.

Shortly after joining H-Street, Danny Way began making videos and was often the main skater in the videos. The first two videos Danny appeared in for H-Street were "Shackle Me Not" and "Hokus Pokus."

After two years with H-Street, Danny decided to move on with his skateboarding career by joining Blind. After only a year with Blind, Danny decided to start his own company, Plan B Skateboards, in 1991. Thrasher Magazine named Danny their Skater of the Year in 1991 as well.

Just three years later, while at the top of the skateboarding world, Danny broke his neck while surfing in Hawaii. After a year of treatment, Danny Way returned to skateboarding and won the Tampa Pro Vert Competition.

A few years later, in 1997, he broke the world record for highest air reached on a skateboard. He also became the first skateboarder to jump onto a vert ramp from a helicopter.

After more injuries knocked Danny out of skateboarding, he once again returned in 2002. That year, he helped build skateboarding's first Megaramp, which he used to set the new world record for longest ramp to ramp jump and highest air.

With a year of practice on his Megaramp, he won the first Skateboarding Big Air competition at the X Games where he launched himself 79 feet on his skateboard. The following year, Danny Way took his big air even higher when he used a ramp to jump over the Great Wall of China becoming the first person ever to jump the entire wall using no mechanical assistance. That same year, Danny Way won his second consecutive X Games Big Air Gold Medal.

Danny Way continues to cruise through big air on his skateboard into 2006. In April 2006, he broke the world record for the biggest drop onto a ramp when he jumped 82 feet and 3 inches into a quarter pipe at the Hard Rock Café in Las Vegas.