Mike Crum, Dallas native, was a vertical skateboarding prodigy, becoming a professional by his mid-teens in 1991. Mike went on to travel the world competing as a first generation X-Games athlete. By the mid 2000s in California, Crum helped create several successful skate companies before becoming a father and returning to Dallas. Back home, he along with his friend Rob Cahill and others began building their own private skate facilities in South Dallas. As the years passed, what started as purely exclusive spaces became more open. “It felt so good to share what we built. What we didn’t realize at first, was that we weren’t just sharing our skate park, we were sharing our culture.” Crum is now 4DWN’s Director and resident pro vert skater, overseeing the only professional vertical ramp freely accessible to the public in the entire country and, the only skate community committed to service. “Our values here aren’t unique, but the community built upon them is.”
Rob Cahill, unlike Crum, was a first generation street skater from rural Texas. Cahill first discovered skateboarding in a skate magazine when he was 12 years old, and became obsessed. Cahill eventually landed himself in those same magazines as a sponsored skater, the great ambition of his childhood dreams. In 1996, Rob was discovered by scouts for Ford Models at a skate demo, and started a career in fashion and entertainment working for top brands from Los Angeles to Milan. During this time he also took advantage of scholarships and grants to study physics and philosophy at The University of Texas, graduating in 2001. Cahill then entered the corporate world in Dallas, having quick success at a Lloyd’s Of London brokerage. By the late 2000s, he left the corporate career behind to pursue entrepreneurial interest eventually leading him back to his passion for skateboarding. Cahill partnered with Crum on several companies before founding 4DWN Project together, as a way to further the culture that he credits as his own saving grace.
