Kumba: I don't know much about you personally, other than you are from Pittsburgh and that you are 18 years old. One thing I do know is where you got your name from, from doing gymnastics if I remember correctly. Do you still do gymnastics and what are the most impressive tricks you can do?

Gymkid: Ya, I'm a senior, I actually turn 18 in May. This fall, I'm heading to college for mechanical engineering. I applied and was accepted to Penn State, Penn State Honors College, and Rochester Institute of Technology, and I'm waiting to hear back from Virginia Tech, Carnegie Mellon, Rensellaer Polytechnic, and Stanford (I'm not gonna get in even with my 1510 heh). So, ya. I did get my name from gymnastics. I did it competitively for 10 years, practicing 15 hours a week, starting in first grade and ending in 10th. My most impressive event was pommel horse, I kicked ass at that. My most impressive trick was probably a double-layout dismount off of rings. The short answer of why I quit was I realized I wasn't going to do it in college, and instead of staying in a sinking boat for 3 years while all my friends had normal social lives (plus I wasn't having that much fun) didn't seem like a good idea. I miss it. In fact, last night I had a dream that I rejoined and did pommel horse. It's had a major effect on me and that won't go away, even if I can't do double layouts anymore.

Kumba: Now, in researching for this interview, I came across your Paradise Falls runner up page. At the end of the first paragraph, Iris says, "and to gymkid dude....LEAVE ME ALONE." Why do you think he said this? And, do you think you annoyed me when you asked over and over about this interview?

Gymkid: Paradise Falls was my first good park release, as well as RCTU's first club park release, so I was hella eager. So, I bugged iris a little bit too much, something Thorpedo has since learned not to do as well. Paradise Falls is a really good park, I suggest everyone take a second look. I like the Amazon and Calypso areas best.

Kumba: You have been known to pull a lot of pranks in your day, mainly on Critic. Which do you think was your "best" prank and who might you have in mind for your next one?

Gymkid: Well, unfortunately, the original critic prank I wasn't too much a part of. I just made fun of him a lot afterwards. We've since buried the hatchet. Me and MysteryMod (with help of iris) got him again pretty good and his club RCTA. We pretended to be a terrible noob with screens of a suspended log flume (lol?), and then gymkid and iris posted how great it was and how RCTCritic should have let him into RCTA. It was great. By the end, critic was like "ya, we'd love to have someone as talented as you join!". I tried to get him a 3rd time, but he's wisened up. Next targets: think someone annoying and who needs to be put in their place. And no, it's not me!

Kumba: How did you feel when your park with Scarface became a runner up? Looking back on the park, would you change anything if you could?

Gymkid: - Of course we have both improved a lot (hell, Adam's a parkmaker!), but I love that park and it's still my favorite work of mine. Me and Adam's styles meshed incredibly, and it was a fantastic learning experience for both of us. I like my coaster designs a lot too, I did all of them except the junior. That was my first good hacking too, the River Rapids is pretty crazy, with a stallout over a waterfall. And the wave rider coaster.

Kumba: Your High Roller entry was very interesting, to say the least. What gave you that idea and, honestly, what were you thinking when you used all those flowers?

Gymkid: I regret the flowers. Most of those buildings are really detailed, watery, and unique, especially the 3d Cinema building and the building with the spiral lift hill. I like the rollersoaker acrobatic coaster too, that looks cool. A lot of the park is indeed filler, just drab 2x2 and 2x1, which is unfortunate. The flowers, I figured the rides weren't normal, the colors weren't normal, the buildings weren't normal, why should I do a normal tree job? I learned. It almost ruined the park.

Kumba: It's gonna be hard for me to forget your first entry in the Pro Tour, where you came in third to Voodoo and myself. You used some very creative and clever hacks in that park, and I really have to hand it to you there. But, you did not finish the entry. What would we have seen if it was finished? A lot of people did speculate on how the landscape would turn out. You ended up winning the video game round with a good adventure ride based on Grand Theft Auto Vice City. Do you think that is your best work yet and what can you say about what you have in store for the finals of the PT?

Gymkid: Ya, the Rapids I felt had some incredible ideas, but to look on the bright side, without losing GTAVC never would have happened. I honestly wasn't feeling the theme (Genetically Mutated Trout Ride wtf), so I don't think it would've been AMAZING, but if I woulda had another month it woulda been great :-). GTAVC I'm incredibly proud of. I think I not only captured the atmosphere of the game, but I think the whole storyline is one of my better RCT creations. I don't think that Chris Sawyer intended to have a 4 vehicle crash in which SWAT vans block the road, and then have the police car chasing you slam into them. I loved it, and all the buildings are based on buildings from the game. I was very confident I was gonna win, I had a good ride, an innovative storyline, new custom scenery, and I had enough time to complete it, something that I haven't had in a while (I rushed my first PT and HiRoller). As for my next PT, expect innovation ala HiRoller and GTAVC, but not too gimmicky. I was afraid that VC is too much of a gimmick, so this one will be more of an amusement park. I do have VERY interesting areas planned though. And I won't put 1/4 tile flowers on every tile. That's a promise. Probably. Eh.

Kumba: You're the leader of one of the biggest RCT clubs there is, RCT Ultimate. What's it like being a club leader? Do you get a lot of people kissing your ass to join and how do you look for members?

Gymkid: I love my club. I used to take it to be competitive and honestly I had some bad feelings about some of the other clubs (I started it 90% because I didn't get into RCTM, and I felt that there were parkmakers better than RCTM's current parkmakers that weren't getting in. So, instead of waiting to get in, I took matters into my own hands and started a club). Looking back, that's extremely silly, but it worked out okay. I've made extremely good friends, extremely good parks, and its been extremely enjoyable. Plus, RCTM and RCTU are very different. For example, CBass and Scarface or Twisted and Mortician are all good, but in totally different ways. It worked out okay. As for the members, its hard getting members nowadays. There aren't too many new up and coming RCTLL parkmakers unfortunately, and of the established LL crowd, nobody is gonna join that hasn't already joined. RCT2 we are continuing to do well though, with improvements coming from everyone, and the addition of NemesisChris (deano joined, then quit RCT 2 days later).

Kumba: Back in the days of RCT Station, you were a popular member and a moderator there. How did you feel when it was closed down and how do you think it would fit in the community now, if it was still open?

Gymkid: I was crushed when it closed, but honestly, RCT2 is here now (I don't visit there much). Fact is, what is there that NE doesn't have. They have THE best parks (spotlight ownz VP), runner ups, h2h3 (incredible game), QFTB, ParkWars, Contests, interesting people. Great site. I wouldn't have a need to visit anymore, so I probably wouldn't. It opened the door for a lot of places and got me at least into the community, so I of course look back fondly of it (my first joining of the community was getting 2nd place in the January '02 Bobsled contest, losing to Mantis).

Kumba: As far as I know, you don't have any solo parks advertised. Are there any or are there plans for any? If so, what can you tell us about it or them?

Gymkid: Ya, I do. It's taken a backseat to ProTour, but I have an area 3/4 done. It's a biggun. I'm so excited about my ProTour I haven't touched it in a while. I'll put a picture here later. The theme is "Heaven", and the park is themed to mythical/fantastical locations.

Kumba: You are one of six leaders for the upcoming season of H2H3. I think your team is definitely very good and definitely got some of the best parkmakers out there. Have you been thinking of any pairings and please tell us who you would like to see work together on your team?

Gymkid: I was more enthusiastic about my team like 2 months ago than I am now (a lot of people on the other teams have improved insanely, while a lot of my guys (TPM and Stargazer) have been fairly inactive). I think it'll workout, and I have arguably the best LLer (Mantis) and the best RCT2er (Toon), plus Scarface and TPM are excellent. We'll see some good things. We have some terrible members bringing us down of course, like that Kumba fellow. Oh, right, wait! Haha, thanks for the interview!

Very good interview Gymkid.