When I catch Gabbers on the phone, he’s in Vista, San Diego, chilling with Dane Burman, Forrest Edwards, and Zero’s TM, Kurt Hodge. They’re in the living room of their skate house, where Gabbers has been staying during his time in The States. Gabbers was our Australian Skater of the Year back in 2015 and he’ll be 32 by the time this magazine comes out. Since winning SOTY off the back of his part 5 Years At The Bottom in 2014, Gabriel Summers has made a name for himself internationally, earned signature board status from Zero, had last part in Damn It All and established himself as a world-class pro. He’s also faced his fair share of challenges along the way: he’s passed kidney stones, had a few false starts with board sponsors, battled injuries and witnessed skateboarding transition into the Internet era.
Gabbers explains that, as we speak, he’s in the latter stages of filming another part for Zero. He just got back from a filming trip in Tucson, Arizona, and a few days after our interview, he’ll be off on another trip down to Mexico. Seven years on from his SOTY win, I asked Gabbers about the impact that the award had on the trajectory of his career, and the great things that followed.
pre soty
I think SOTY has changed a lot since I won in 2015. I worked on that PD Distribution part [5 Years At The Bottom] for two-and-a-half years leading up to it coming out. That was the part that won me Skater of the Year. Before then, I never really took skateboarding seriously. I had interviews in Slam, but I was kind of taking the piss, partying and drinking. I was a skateboarder, and I was in the mags, but I wasted a lot of time. I think around 2012 or 2013 was
