Taming El Toro: 10 Times People Tried To Master The World's Most Infamous Stair Set

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Written by: James Renhard

Last Updated: 05 Sep 2016

The Legend of El Toro

Nestled in the sleepy suburban town of Lake Forest in Southern California is an innocent looking high school. This regular, all American school is much like many others in the country… apart from one thing. This school has featured in countless skateboard, BMX, and other action sport videos. This is all because of a legendary stair set called El Toro – or The Bull. This massive 20 stair set has seen literally thousands of skaters, BMXers and many others test themselves against it. It’s so punishing though that nobody gets many tries before El Toro digs its horns in. Here are ten of the best, worst, and bizarre attempts to tame the legendary El Toro. The Indestructibles, a new TV show sponsored by G-Shock, is coming soon to Dave.

Dan Pageau gets hurt

The middle rail at El Toro has now been removed, but back in the day, Dan Pageau tried a switch frontside boardslide down it. Needless to say, it didn’t end well.

Tuck Knee attempt

The dude walking across shot at the start of this only serves to foreshadow what’s about to come. This unnamed skater tries a stylish tuck knee down the length of El Toro. The Bull, however, was having none of it. Served.

There's no escaping El Toro

As these skaters found out, there’s no escaping El Toro’s wrath if it wants to take you out. Sina Javonpour tried dropping from a rail onto the El Toro emblem elsewhere in the same school but with the same level of success plus major grass stains which his poor mother will have had to slave to remove from those jeans.  At least he could still walk afterwards…but think of the shrubbery.

Dave Bachinsky gets personal

Skater Dave Bachinsky eventually lands this heavy kickflip back in 2006, but not before El Toro makes him pay his dues. Slam after slam is eventually rewarded with this career-defining kickflip.

Don Nguyen masters El Toro on his first attempt

El Toro is so big that grabbing probably seemed like the safer option. However, Don ‘The Nuge’ Nguyen had other plans. He was just ‘chilling’ with his friends when somebody suggested at trip to El Toro to be the first to ollie it, (as you do). On his first attempt, he ollied clean down all 20 stairs and walked away famous because of it. Madness.

Arto Saari packs his parachute

Finnish skate legend Arto Saari’s frontside boardslide down El Toro from his legendary Flip ‘Sorry’ section has stood the test of time and stands as one of the earliest tricks on the now removed rail, following Heath Kirchart’s frontside lipslide a few year’s earlier in Birdhouse’s ‘The End’. Even for a rail-slayer at the top of his game like Arto, this thing was a beast. “It’s so long” he said at the time “It’s like a parachute jump!”

Bonus: Brandon Begin's brutal BMX attempt

With the rail removed, El Toro’s hucking possibilities opened up further with American BMXer Brandon Begin attempting a banger of his own down the 20. As you can see, things didn’t quite go to plan. Fear not though, shortly after this slam, Begin was back on his feet but, inexplicably, still refusing to wear a helmet. Maniac.

Bonus: Gone shopping

El Toro’s draw isn’t limited to just boards and bikes and as its legend grew, more and more have-a-go heroes, (or to use their more common name ‘idiots’) wanted to test themselves against the punishing 20 steps in increasingly novel ways in search of Internet glory. One day Wes Verdugo dreamt up the idea of hitting El Toro in a shopping trolley. Why, Wes? Why? As the narrator says “Let’s listen to him describe the day his life changed…” We can only assume that ‘change’ involved repeated trips to the chiropractor and a reassessment of his commitment to being ‘extreme’ for his mates. Idiot.

Bonus: Hipster on a stair set, I know it's serious

BMXer Johnathan Ball decided to attempt El Toro on a fixed gear bike, the kind beloved by hipsters the world over. The super-sized stair set was having no such nonsense though. Ball caught the last few steps, with his balls catching most of the brunt, causing his foot to slip off the pedal and smash into the floor, shattering his ankle. Don’t forget to pick up those ‘Six Flags’ tickets on your way to A&E.

Bonus: Ending on a positive note

Seeing as you’ve suffered through 10 pages of ankle breaks, body slams, head bongos and splattered testicles, here’s the titanium-limbed Aaron ‘Jaws’ Homoki actually landing the tuck knee grab that so many fame-hungry mongrels tried before him, in an effort to redress the ‘wince balance’. Now, do yourselves a favour and have a cup of tea, maybe a couple of biscuits, and stay away from shopping trolleys… The Indestructibles, a new TV show sponsored by G-Shock, is coming soon to Dave.