What Happens When a Pro Skater Rides a Board Made of Cardboard?

Cardboard—is there anything it can’t do? Well, okay, there’s plenty it can’t do, but there’s plenty it *can* do, as well. It can, for example, be used to build an insanely cheap, but entirely effective bicycle (oh, and the accompanying helmet, as well). It can even be used to make foldable, functional furnature. And now, thanks to designers at Ernest Packaging Solutions, cardboard can be used to carry one of the most famous athletes on Earth: Skateboarder Tony Hawk.

As Gizmag points out, this isn’t Ernest Packaging’s first foray into cardboard-based extreme sports. They’ve already created paper surf and snowboards, and seem to be constantly on the lookout for new ways to put everyone’s favorite corrugated boxing material to innovative, and environmentally-friendly, use.

image via youtube screen capture

Hawk, for his part, is duly impressed with the paper-made skate deck, although at some point between initial tester Coby Franz’s observation that “it’s really light” and Hawk’s ramp runs, the board seems to have put on a good deal of weight—a feature Tony himself is keen to point out. Still, the fact that the board manages to survive multiple trials by fire (or, at least by feet) without cracking, bowing, or breaking, is a testament to the potential of cardboard, and paper goods in general, as a source of cheap, durable, and eco-friendly building material.

[via gizmag]