COSTA MESA, Calif. -San Diego teenager Alex Perelson spun around and around and then halfway around.
When his skateboard touched back down in the halfpipe, he was still aboard, having landed a rare and difficult 900.
Just like that, the 18-year-old Perelson went from virtual unknown to winning the vert competition and $75,000 at the Maloof Money Cup on Sunday.
Perelson became the fourth person to land a 900-degree rotation, or 2 1/2 spins, at a major competition. Tony Hawk, also from San Diego, was the first to do it, 10 years ago.
"It was so weird just because of the crazy situation it was in," said Perelson, who stuck the 900 about midway through a 25-minute jam session that concluded the vert competition. "I don't know, maybe it will sink in later. It just feels like I was either trying to kill myself, or make it. I made it."
The richest payday in skateboarding concluded Sunday evening at the Orange County Fairgrounds with Chris Cole winning the street competition and $100,000. He beat a field that included defending champion Paul Rodriguez.
Asked about winning that much money, Cole said he'd "save it, pay taxes. I'm a family guy, so I have a wife and a son so I don't really do any big purchases." Originally from Philadelphia, he lives in San Marcos in northern San Diego County.
Sponsored by Joe and Gavin Maloof, the brothers who own the Sacramento Kings, the Maloof Money Cup pays out some $450,000 in cash and prizes.
Perelson's victory was significant because it came against established veterans, and he landed a traditional trick in a new format.
Defending champion Pierre-Luc Gagnon finished second while third went to Bob Burnquist, an X Games gold medalist who three years ago rode a skateboard into the Grand Canyon, descending the rest of the way with a parachute.
Perelson had tried the 900 a few times during Saturday's semifinals but failed to stick one. Burnquist predicted he'd land one Sunday.
"Alex Perelson is the story of this event," the 32-year-old Burnquist said. "I just love his humility and I just really enjoy skating with him. He's got no attitude. He goes out there and does a 9, first try for the first time. It's just beautiful. It just feels like vert skating is in great hands. It's not so much pressure on our backs so much anymore."
Perelson joins Hawk, Brazilian Sandro Dias and Italian Giorgio Zattoni as the only skaters to land a 900 at a major competition.
"I wouldn't put myself up there with those guys," Perelson said. "They're so much better than me at skating. I'm just a young guy."
The 900 stands out because "It's scary and crazy," Perelson said. "You spin a lot. That's basically it.
Perelson said he only got serious about doing a 900 about a month or two ago.
"Only a few people have done it," he said. "It's kind of a big trick. Since you're a kid, it's the biggest trick you hear about. It's just a big deal, especially for vert skating since Tony Hawk did it 10 years ago."
Perelson said it helped his frame of mind that the competition opened with skaters dropping down a mini mega ramp and doing tricks on a rail that led into the halfpipe. Perelson had a well-rounded set of tricks on the rail and in the halfpipe.
By the time the jam session began, he was loose.
"This type of jam format really brings up the excitement level, and the crowd really gets behind it, too," Perelson said. "It's much more exciting than saying, 'Just put together a run with 17 tricks.' Instead, you give them 25 minutes and tell them to do whatever they want like a normal session would be.
"This gives you a lot more freedom to do the tricks you want to do. You're not really worried about falling too much. You can fall as much as you want, try as many tries as you want. Basically it gives you a lot of freedom."
Cole said the key was being consistent with his tricks on a course with obstacles that included ledges, stairs, handrails and even a green picnic table. Most of the obstacles replicate real obstacles skaters flock to around the United States and in other countries.
Here, the skaters aren't in danger of being chased off by police or security guards as they often are on the real streets.
Built by leading skate park designer Joe Ciaglia, the street course cost $250,000 and was made of 210 cubic yards of concrete. It has to be torn out by Tuesday.
"They put it over the top. It was above and beyond any street course ever," Cole said.
Tommy Sandoval was second and Nyjah Huston was third.
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