Remembering John Slaby: The Artist and Skateboarder Who Invented the Half Slab

Yesterday, I got the unfortunate news that my friend and skatecrew brother, John Slaby, passed away. While John is widely known for the incredible album art he did for bands like Title Fight, Turnover, Tigers Jaw, and Tiny Moving Parts, he was also a lifelong fan of skateboarding. 

Here is a collection of John Slaby’s North East Skate Crew video parts. 

John Slaby Purple (2016)

John Slaby Blowin’ It (2012)

John Slaby Two Weeks Notice (2005)

John Slaby The Sons of Manute (2002)

John Slaby Noreaster (2001)

John Slaby Young Gunz (2000)

I met John while skating a curb behind a supermarket in Shavertown, PA, in 1997. We spent countless hours learning to skate and just enjoying the warmer Pennsylvanian months outdoors. While my interest in skateboarding faded and then later returned, John’s interest never faded. He skated in full force from 1996 or 1997 until he passed from cancer in 2024.

There are two gigantic details I’ll remember about John Slaby’s skating. 

1. He could do a trick we called the “half slab.” Many years later, we learned this trick became called a forward flip (or dolphin flip). Since I saw John do it first, he will always be known as the inventor of the “half slab” to me.
   
   You can see John do a half slab right at the 4:16 mark in his 2002 The Sons of Manute skate part.
   
   
2. John could ollie impressively far. He was able to clear gaps that none of us even saw as gaps. He would simply charge at them, pop, and the clip was captured. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by John Slaby (@johnslaby)

I’ll take that as my lesson to be more like him and try to remember to charge full speed at the gaps that others don’t.

John’s passing is a reminder to please tell all of your friends and family that they matter and to keep skating as long as your aging body allows.

I am sending my deepest condolences out to his fiancé, his family, and all of his friends.

John’s official obituary can be read in full here.

Steve Weber

Steve Weber is the passionate snowboarder, skateboarder, and author behind Board of the World. He understands that most gear reviews focus on having the perfect snow conditions, but his testing methodology is different. Living in Pennsylvania, Steve describes exactly how a board performs when the conditions aren’t perfect. His reviews cover performance on ice, hardpack, and flat-out brick conditions. In other words, he reviews boards for the conditions that East Coast riders actually face.

Bringing 27 years of East Coast snowboarding and 21 years of skateboarding experience, Steve is a 42-year-old intermediate park rider. His recommendations are informed by decades of battling icy conditions, ensuring every review accounts for the board’s performance on the roughest of terrain.

For the last five years, Steve has poured his passion into writing in-depth, unbiased reviews that help riders make informed decisions about the gear they’ll use. He also works part-time at a snowboard shop in Northeastern Pennsylvania, which gives him a direct line to learning about the new gear tech months in advance. When he’s not writing reviews, Steve is often found riding at Montage Mountain and testing out new boards.

Steve’s goal with Board of the World is simple: to help every reader find the right gear so they can have fun outside from the first time they use it.