Ventura skateboarder Curren Caples ready for hometown X Games

Ventura native and professional skateboarder Curren Caples, who has won two X Games gold medals, has never considered himself competitive.

His mother Shelly sensed his noncompetitive nature. So, in 2013, when he was a teenager ready to buy a car and needed her signature, she agreed to help out as a way to encourage his skateboarding.

The offer worked.

That year, Caples finished second in the skateboard park competition at X Games Barcelona and, later the same year, won gold at X Games Munich.

"I went into the Munich event really hungry for it," Caples said. Then 17, he ended up purchasing an Audi S5.

Now, at 27, he’s ready to compete before a global audience in the city where he grew up.

The finals for X Games California will bring skateboarders, BMXers and Moto X riders to the Ventura County Fairgrounds for three days starting July 21. The events will be broadcast on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 and will be livestreamed on YouTube and other platforms.

Caples' last gold medal was in 2015 at X Games Austin.

"I'm definitely going to be pretty nervous just because it's my hometown and there's a lot of hometown hype for me," said Caples, who will perform in the men's elimination street event during the Friday competition. "I want to go out and have a good showing."

Young start

Caples, who lives in Los Angeles and has a home in Casitas Springs that he rents to friends, has been skateboarding since age 4. He remembers going to Skate Street in midtown Ventura that had ramps 16 feet tall. He was 9 when the indoor skate park closed.

"I think I was dropping in that thing when I was 7,” Caples said. “I got comfortable skating big stuff when I was a little kid. It definitely contributed to the way I was able to skate."

Later, his parents took him to SkateLab in Simi Valley and Vans Skatepark in Orange County. Both have since closed.

As a younger skater, he rolled through larger halfpipes and bowls. He has since gravitated toward street skating, which is more stop-and-go and uses a lot of handrails and stairs, he said.

The Audi he bought at 17 after his gold-medal win in Munich may have helped hone a competitive mindset, but it soon provided another teaching moment.

More: Building the Summer X Games: Ramps, courses come to life at Ventura County Fairgrounds

Caples' mother had told him if he got a speeding ticket, the car would be taken away.

"Three days later, I got a speeding ticket," Caples recalled. He'd been caught on a farm road in the middle of the night near Naval Base Ventura County, Point Mugu.

"I got it taken away for a year," Caples said. "I understood the punishment. I got caught going 107 (mph). I was young and reckless, I guess."

Shift in focus

Caples, who is sponsored by skate-related clothing and footwear companies, including Vans, has done less competitive riding as he switched focus to putting out professional street skating videos on his Instagram page with 475,000 followers.

The X Games helped to contribute to his long career, but putting out skateboarding videos has made the most impact, he said.

"I'm definitely really grateful for winning them ... but when it comes to skateboarding, I'm more proud about putting out a video that took me a couple of years to film than winning an event," Caples said.

Those who know Caples are looking forward to seeing him compete at the X Games. He is known for skating "casually, with lots of style," said Dave Balton, manager at BlackHole SkateShop in Ventura. Balton said he has known Caples since he was 10.

"He's actually rather quiet," said Balton, who used to run the Ventura skate shop Five Points for 33 years. "I think his style speaks for itself. Like any good surfer or anyone at the top of their game, he's super fun to watch, really exciting."

Caples' dad Evan, a former professional surfer, said his son tends to skate well under pressure. Performing in front of his hometown could be good for his X Games aspirations.

"The reality is the performance level is ridiculous these days," Evan Caples said. "For a guy like Curren who's not focused on skating contests anymore, the cards are really stacked against him. My goal for him is to just do the best he can. Skate creatively, separate himself from the others in hopes the judges will really appreciate it and score him high."

For more information on the X Games, go to tinyurl.com/mtedmybr.

Wes Woods II covers West County for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at wesley.woodsii@vcstar.com, 805-437-0262 or @JournoWes.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Ventura skateboarder Curren Caples ready for hometown X Games