Natas Kaupas

Natas Kaupas (born 1969 in Lithuania ) is a former professional skateboarder.

Natas grew up in South Santa Monica, also known as Dogtown. His career began in 1984 when he was discovered by Skip Engblom, who ran the skateboard company Santa Monica Airlines. Natas was sponsored by Santa Monica Airlines and appeared on the cover of U.S. magazine Thrasher Skateboard. Due to its exceptional skateboard tricks like the Ollie wall ride, he caused a lot of stir in the skate scene. In 1985, Natas was pro skater. In Skater video Streets on Fire, he led a 720 ° turn on a fire hydrant. This hitherto unique trick was named as " Natas Spin" after him. In 1991 he left Santa Monica Airlines and founded his own company called 101 Skateboards. After a good start this, however, went bankrupt after a few years. Today is Natas fashion designer at the outdoor sports company Quiksilver.

Natas is also mentioned in Rodney Mullen's autobiography "The Mutt " and is a playable character in the video game Tony Hawk's series of skateboarding.