El Toro is brutal. If you’ve never heard of it before, El Toro is a set of 20 stairs, on the campus of a regular school in Lake Forest, California. It also happens to be equal-parts a Mecca and a proving ground for skateboarders and BMXers alike.
It’s a bit like Lourdes in France, but with less dying pensioners, and more seriously injured teenagers. Many have tried to mater El Toro. Most have failed. And that’s pretty much the appeal.
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Cue 16 year-old Justin Gautreau, or Lil Juice as he inexplicably appears to be happy and willing to answer to. He and his crew travelled the 1,750-plus miles from Louisiana, through five states, to Southern California so he could go head to head with El Toro.