i highly like that quote 
Wow, this thread started off really simple and then got really interesting!
Of course one needs a metric for such things. In unicycling I would say there are dozens of right answers to that one; as many answers as there are riding styles. Plus more, for other factors. The best Freestyle unicyclist might be terrible at uni-basketball. Kris Holm might not even know what a Standard Skill routine is. Adrienne Delacroix might not be able to ride fast. But they are all more than “good” unicyclists.
By arguing about it. Even tricks(/skills) that have specific definitions, such as the ones on the Standard Skills List, have lots of variations, only some of which are also listed. Where does one trick end, and the next begin? Different people watching can come out with very different counts at the end of a Freestyle performance (where judges seem to think they must count).
I think some become more permanent than others. The ones you always had trouble with, they seem to always be hard. Others, that you learned easily, are more easily retrieved. But for any trick/skill, the more you’ve ingrained it into yourself, the more likely you are to retain it for a long time. Also be able to perform it under adverse conditions, such as bad riding surfaces, while sick, with bent cranks, etc.
This is my experience from the years of performing I did. During most of that time, I performed a set 3-minute Freestyle routine (among other things). I can still do most of those tricks on demand, usually on the first try. However I can’t string together the whole 3 minutes without some practice and conditioning! 
Yes, the variations that make it hard to define individual tricks. The upside of variations is that most are easy to learn, once you know the core skill.
It can be hard if you don’t have real live examples to watch. You may be missing something. Post a video if you can. Sorry to say it, but 1-foot idle actually is a pretty easy skill to learn. It’s a good, early example of a variation. Since in a 2-foot idle your bottom foot is doing most of the work anyway, removing the top foot is not much of a stretch.
I can’t do a 360 or a crankflip, but I refuse to be dismissed. For the 360, I really should have learned it by the mid 1980s. But once I started performing in front of audiences, I realized there was no difference (to them) between a 180 and a 360. So why risk beating up my shins on a trick the audience wasn’t going to detect? I concentrated more on stuff they could see. For the crankflip, that didn’t come along until well after I was doing tricks so much. And ditto about the shins (and calves)! 
In Freestyle, we call this Mastery. Yes, you maybe did the trick, but it was visibly sketchy. Your competitor did the same trick as smooth as silk, and held it for a longer duration. Both of those are Mastery.
Another aspect of this is being interesting. While in Street or Flatland you don’t have to be interesting (it’s mostly about the tricks), in Freestyle it’s essential. I see some jugglers who do long strings of super-hard tricks, and yet they’re boring to watch. Others will hold an audience (even of jugglers) spellbound while only doing intermediate-level tricks.
The Skill Levels are a very specific set of tricks that must be done a specific way. But the end result is pass/fail. If you pass, all it proves is that you can do those tricks in those specific ways. It says nothing about mastery, or what other stuff you can do.
We used a similar rule for unicycle performing (note the key word ‘performing’); if you couldn’t do a trick at least 5 times in a row, regularly, it had no business being in your show. Unless it’s that “big trick” that you might want to miss once or twice on purpose. But even with those things, you had damn well better get it on the third try!
I understand what Jason is saying about planted feet. In juggling, this shows you’ve got control enough that you don’t have to chase props around. Being able to move around at will is probably an extension of that.
Flatland is only one event. And it’s one of the newest ones. The other competitive events, like Track and Freestyle, have been around much, much longer. At the big competitions, the people who have practiced their butts off for these events are extremely serious about them. Others may compete more casually, while other may like to watch, but not go to all that effort. Or not be judged.
um i just wanted to see what tricks people could do tricks or at least
some tricks and then see who’s the best so far you could lie though hmmmm oh well
Well my best trick is the zero degree unispin but I don’t know any others. 
Dare I list every trick I have ever landed?
Go Go Go!!! I really want to see that:p I did list the tricks I’ve landed, but my list isn’t as long as yours Eli!
I cant do much on a unicycle except for going forward. bunny hops, kick mount and recently after taking the unicycle out which it hasnt ben for ages i was able to idle which I have only tried back before Christmas I was suprised I was able to do it. Does anyone know of any trick I could try from here?
Steve
Crankflip; and switch and switchhand and late + 180
Doubleflip; and switchhand +180
Tripleflip; and switchhand +180
Quadflip
Backflip; and switchhand and late +180
Doublebackflip; and switchhand and late +180
Hickflip; and blind and late
Hickdoubleflip; and blind and late
Hicktripleflip; and blind
Hickbackflip; and blind and late
Hickdoublebackflip; and blind and late
Fakieflip; and switchhand +180
Doublefakieflip; and switchhand +180
Treyflip; and blind and side
Treydoubleflip; and blind and side
Treytripleflip; and side
Fulloutflip; and blind (and fullvarialflip) and side
Fifthflip; and blind and side and blindside 
Outfifthflip; and fifthvarialflip
Fifthdoubleflip
180 unispin; and blind
270 unispin; up, down, and blind
360 unispin; and blind
450 unispin; up, down, and blind
540 unispin; and blind
630 unispin; up, and down
720 unispin; and blind
810 unispin; up and down
900 unispin; and blind
1080 unispin
360 sidespin; and blind
450 sidespin; down
630 sidespin; down
720 sidespin; and blind
900 sidespin
Sejflip
Outsejflip
Outsejsideflip
Ninthflip
Hickfakieflip; and blind
Hickdoublefakieflip; and blind
Overflip
Underflip
Overhickflip
Underhickflip
Kickflip; and blind
Outkickflip; and blind (and varialkickflip)
Fulloutkickflip
Hickflip-Kickflip
Flip-underflip
Ok, I’m done… That’s not everything, I didn’t list any hoptwists or anything hahaha.
Lol
They sound really complicated ha ha.
Steve
Welllll, it all follows a pattern haha. But that is hard to learn in itself.
I don’t even want to begin going into crankrolls
Maybe I’ll have a go at this…
Rolling wrap
Backroll
Outside roll
Outside backroll
Varial roll
Seat wrap
Fakie/Reverse rolling wrap
Super roll
Crankflip; and switchhand and late + 180
Hickflip
Doubleflip
Sidejump
Outspin; and blind
Fulloutspin
180 unispin; and blind, switch, late, and on wheel
90 unispin; up, down, and blind
270 unispin; up, down, and blind
360 unispin; and blind
540 unispin
Footjam
Varial
Smallspin; and inward and blind
That’s just the big tricks, it would take forever if I added my triple seat bounce and stuff like that :p.
I invented the Pedalwalk, and the side-jump mount to the giraffe. I also “popularized” the Cyclone Spin.
Popularized is in quotes because none of you have probably ever heard of it. I’m old. 
Hey John, could you explain these tricks you invented and the cyclone spin? I have no ideal what are those tricks!
Was wondering is there any basic tricks i can start and would there be videos to explain?
Steve
Sure, as soon as Eli explains all of his. 
Both are kind of hard to explain in text. Basically a Cyclone Spin is a way of stringing together a bunch of consecutive backspins/frontspins. The Pedal Walk is not technically a unicycle trick (under Freestyle rules) because it’s done while standing on the unicycle while it’s on it’s side. You need the kind of pedals that have two separate sides, or a concave end on them. Basically you balance the prone unicycle between the seat and one pedal, and “walk” that pedal between its two points of contact with the floor. It’s a great way to break your frame.
Thanks aarons