Dark slide is a skateboarding trick where the skateboarder slides on an obstacle with his board upside down. The dark slide was invented by Mark Gonzales in 1991. He grabbed his board upside down, jumped and placed his board onto a rail upside down and slid down it like in a board slide, but sliding on the griptape side of his board, and then flipped his board the right way up at the bottom of the rail, landed on the board and rolled away. Rodney Mullen was the first skater to perform a dark slide without grabbing in 1993. Instead of jumping while holding the board in his hand he made a half kickflip and landed it on a ledge. Mullen's trick was originally called a half flip darkslide. Dark slides are often performed on well waxed ledges instead of rails and with wax already applied to the grip tape side of the board.
