The reigning king of vert, Pierre Luc “PLG” Gagnon combines technical mastery with bionic heights and pressing amplitude – with an astounding capacity to land complete runs. So while one rider may go a bit higher, and another may land the occasional 900, nobody in the sport can put it all together like PLG. And if they do, straight up, the Canadian transplant more often than not ends up with the golden hardware. A torqued knee in 2006 and subsequent radical reconstructive surgery only added to PLG’s legend.

A four-time consecutive winner of the core Tampa Pro Vert contest, casual fans of skateboarding might be almost be desensitize to the back-and-forth nature of halfpipe skating – almost video game-like when watching the precision of PLG. And more impressive than his quiver of tricks, including multiple 720s, nollie Indy heel flip 360s, a kick flip McTwist body varial, switch heel flip frontside 360, Tre flip (360 flip mute to fakie) and a switch frontside pop shove it boardslide, the fact that he can pull all of them in one run is why he’s the world’s top vert skater. Ratcheting his game up a few more clicks to a whole ‘nuther level, PLG’s also a favorite to win anytime he drops into the MegaRamp.