Pole jokeys: dirty billy snags to Large at world's first handrail showdown.

WHEN NATAS AND GONZ WERE SMASHING INTO the three-stair banister back in '87, they had no idea such rudimentary rock 'n' roll sliding would birth a discipline that would quickly eclipse the then-popular launch ramping of the day. Nor did they have any inkling that rail skating would continue, onto higher and longer rails, encompassing all the popular lip tricks of the day and then some, to be the most exciting and followed discipline in board sports some 15 years later. And let's not even get into the whole snowboard rail thing or that sport where you get pulled behind a boat and plow onto giant pieces of PVC, 'cause you'd have to be friggin' Nostradamus to make that kind of logical leap. No one could have predicted that freak show. But like Natas' head (and this has nothing to do with ego, the dude has a seriously gigantic dome that seems to be gaining weight with every trade show), rail skating has ballooned to be damn-near the absolute measuring stick of worth when it comes to an up 'n' comer's sponsorabili ty or a vet's over-the-hillness.

And it's notable that among those competing at the DNA and Tumyeto International Coup D'Etat Skateboard Exposition rail contest, the only over-30 vet to get past the boardslide was Ed Templeton, who sliced through a Smith and a frontside feeble, looking strikingly more together than the bulk of the competition. Everybody else was wacky fuckin' kids. Finally, a chance to see the new breed, unedited and in their element. They were going berserk.

The famous San Dieguito Academy rail was resurrected and reborn with wooden stairs and a brief run-up and landing, all of which were swarming with handrail maniacs and related media.

RELATED ARTICLE: Coup D'Etat Highlights:

Josh Harmony: Frontside nosegrind, frontside crooked grind, and the backside Gersh grind

The Baby: Somehow someone's baby got on the course and did a frontside boardslide

Daniel Shimizu: Almost got the frontside hurricane to fakie 

Corey Duffel: Almost got clobberated on kickflip backside 50-50s

Anthony Mosley: Backside lipsildes

Adrlen Mallory: F-troop upstart manhandled Willy grinds and Smiths to fakie

Gailea Momolu: Almost pulled the nollie helicopter to backside lipslide

Chris Haslam: Landed the bigflip to frontside boardslide surf-style, bro

Leo Romero: Nollie frontside nosegrind, nollie crooked grind, and smacked his coconut on a switch bluntslide attempt

Joey Poirez: Slick moves to match a similar hair style, including the dreaded kickflip to 50-50

Jon Allie: The cat's out of the bagl Zero's secret weapon kickflipped to frontside boardslide, regular and to fakie, and kickflipped to backside lipslide a little more solidly than most people are comfortable with. Just wait for that movie!

Billy Marks: Got dirty with kickilips to regular boardslide, boardslide to fakie, frontside boardslide, 50-50, feeble and frontside lipslide. If you need a trick kickflipped into, Billy's your go-to guy. The judges put him in first and he won $10,000, which is about 10,000 more than he's ever had. Good job, Billy.

Don't recognize some of these names? Well get used to it, 'cause the shake up is on! Thank you Natas! Thank you Mr. Gonzales. Where would we be without you?