Daniel Way (born April 15, 1974) is an American professional skateboarder, company owner and rallycross driver who has been awarded Thrasher magazine's "Skater of the Year" award twice. He is known for extreme stunts, such as jumping into a skateboard ramp from a helicopter, a Skin Phillips photograph of this feat appeared on the cover of Transworld Skateboarding magazine. Matt Hoffman is known for pioneering megaramps, including one that Danny Way used to jump the Great Wall of China on a skateboard.

Way was born in Portland, Oregon, United States (U.S.). His childhood was marred by difficult circumstances. His father, Dennis Way, died before Danny's first birthday – Dennis was jailed for failing to pay child support to his previous wife, and after nine days in jail was found hanged in his cell; his death was ruled a suicide. Following his father's death, his mother Mary dated a number of men who abused Mary, Danny, and his brother Damon. Mary subsequently remarried, to Tim O'Dea, who introduced Danny and Damon to skateboarding and surfing. The couple subsequently divorced and Tim died following a surfing session. Danny lost another adult in his life when his childhood mentor Mike Ternasky died in a car accident.

Professional skateboarding

Way was introduced in the Powell Peralta skateboard company's video "Public Domain" in the late 80's and H-Street skateboard company's videos Shackle Me Not and Hokus Pokus and, shortly afterwards in 1991, co-founded the skateboard company Plan B, together with Mike Ternasky. He has been injured repeatedly, including breaking his neck in 1994, and as of 2009 having undergone 13 operations.

Plan B (1991–1998)

The Plan B company was formed as part of the Dwindle Distribution company, at that time overseen by Steve Rocco and Rodney Mullen, and, like Way, Ternasky was also formerly with H-Street, where he co-managed the company with Tony Magnusson. Ternasky, to the dismay of Magnusson, managed to convince numerous H-Street team riders to resign and assist with the development of the new brand. Ternasky's intention was to create a "super team" with riders such as Way, Colin McKay, Mullen, Mike Carroll, Matt Hensley, Rick Howard and Tas Pappas.

Plan B (2005–onwards)

Around 2005 rumors emerged in regard to a plan, devised by Way and McKay, to relaunch Plan B. Second-phase team member Paul Rodriguez has referred to this period as a time when Way and McKay were talking about "bringing back the dream; awakening the giant", while fellow recruit PJ Ladd has stated, "I had heard about it. That there was like a rumor that Plan B was maybe gonna come back and I think it had gotten around how much a fan of it I was as a kid."

In 2005, with the financial backing of Syndrome Distribution, Way and McKay reformed Plan B Skateboards, maintaining their roles as company co-owners, as well as professional skaters. Way has explained, "For the sake of what we were a part of, I think Colin and I, you know, didn't want to let go of the formula that gave us the motivation that pumped out all of those videos and stuff that we were able to pump out." Way has revealed that, while he and McKay are the co-owners of the relaunched company, they have adopted the business model that they learnt of from Ternasky during his time running the first phase of the company.

Info Source: en.wikipedia.org

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