Hippie Mike in The Now

Jul 3,2013 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

Protest Skateboards creator “Hippie Mike” has been well known for many years in many different cities but he is most respected in the city of Surrey where he calls home. Mike came up with the idea for a series of skateboard competitions which most of you may know of called Hippie Mike’s Tour de Surrey where he hosts 5 consecutive competitions each summer at multiple skate parks in Surrey. With this summer marking his milestone 10^th year for the tour, Hippie Mike shares his thoughts of reminiscence of the event he created with the local newspaper – The Now.

Check out the article

http://www.thenownewspaper.com/sports/Hippie+Mike+marks+years+touring+Surrey/8604719/story.html

Contest Results Contests Eve Feaver Extreme Sports Skateboarding

The Best Day of the Year

Jul 2,2013 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

It’s awesome that I consider the kickoff to someone else’s series of skateboard competitions better than the kickoff to my own, but I just love Bowl Series. There is no better times. And after all, the Bowl Series is what gave me the idea to start a full series of contests in Surrey. Why do 1, when you can do 5 or more??

So today was one of the best Canada Day Seylynn Jams in a long time. The weather was amazing, the crowd was full and there was sick skating going on all day in every category. Ben Chibber brought out a group of kids that localize his indoor park – The Dry Spot – and they were shredding in Beginner. Presley was the only dude in the finals that wasn’t part of their crew, and the little 5 year old from Squamish let them know who`s boss, but still finished in 4^th, out of 8 kids in total. The Intermediates were also laying it all on the line with crazy tricks and awesome flow lines. I think the kids name that won it was Ross but I can`t remember, which is bad since I MC`d their runs. Either way they all skated good. The ladies were shredding the bowl, Protest Rider and my wife Carrie Williams finished in 2^nd place behind crazy ol` Jess who hits the most difficult speedlines, and today did them all barefoot. Jess ended the ladies jam with a face smash in the deep end carving in frontside a little to fast. 5 girls in the comp, stellar.

The advanced was where it was at, like usual. 40-50 dudes going hardcore, ranging in age from 17-45+. You know it`s a crazy scene when the guy that gets 1^st place is in his early 20’s, the guys that gets 2^nd is in his early 40`s and the guy that get`s 3^rd is the youngest dude there at 17. 9 people made the Finals in this one – Wow! We had a sick heat with Giver, myself Hippie Mike, Jaden Easton-Ellett, Brad `Fighter`Muscat & Andy Anderson and all 5 of us were ripping. Only 1 guy from each heat qualifies to finals though and Andy squeezed through. Good think he kept up with his game in the finals and ended up in 3^rd place. Bushman and Eve Feaver were also all over the bowl today, Protest Skateboards was being highly represented, and Eve came through in 2^nd place. It`s tough judging out there when there are over 40 guys in advanced and all of them are skating good. The MC role was definitely easier than the judging today. Adam Hopkins came through in the Finals and won his 6^th straight Bowl Series contest leading him in the direction to go flawless again this year – Alex Chalmers style. Adam took the King of the Bowls Trophy last year with 5 wins out of 5 comps. He was killin`it today, definitely a crowd favourite.

Big thanks go out to Mike Strato and the Vans Crew, the Gullwing Crew and many other sponsors for getting the 19^th year off to an awesome start. Strato works hard for these contests so thank him when you see him. And to Mark Halliday of Moonrider Productions who is working with me to create a documentary following this year`s Bowl Series start to finish. Him and his crew of filmers were sweating in the hot sun all day to capture the best of the best footage. And to Pete`s Meat Butcher Shop for running a fundraiser BBQ to raise funds and donate them to the late Carver Don Hartley`s family. Awesome guys.

Thanks to everyone else just for being there, nothin`but love.

Cold drinks, fast lines, hot sun and lots of fun!

Stop 2 – Griffin Bowl

July 14^th

Seylynn Advanced Winners

Adam Hopkins
Eve Feaver
Andy Anderson
Rob Rickaby
Steve Denham
Clinton
Merrick
Leif Brooke
George Faulkner

Extreme Sports Skateboarding

10 Reasons I love Canada Day

Jul 1,2013 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

Bowl Series at Seylynn
Cold Beer
Lots of awesome friends to hang with
Speed lines at Seylynn
Cold Beer
BBQ
Sweet Reggae vibes
The Beer Relay at Seylynn
Smiles and Hi Fives
Having some cold beers while skating the bowl and that was built the year I was born with all my awesome friends

– Seylynn

I think you get the point. Starts at noon…

Extreme Sports Skateboarding World Round Up

The World Round Up 2013

Jun 27,2013 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

Just over 5 weeks ago on the long weekend of May, the best of the best Freestyle Skateboarders came from all over the world to the Cloverdale Fairgrounds in Surrey BC to compete in the 2^nd Annual World Round Up Freestyle Championships. 9 countries were represented by close to 40 competitors in total and the crowd was loving it.

Bringing back the amazing style of Expo ’86, 2 legends came together once again to bring this competition to life last year in 2012. And the 2^nd year was even more successful. Kevin Harris and Monty Little put in a whole lot of effort to connect with the most experienced Freestylers around the globe and invite them out to this event. The treatment they show to these competitors is the same that the Queen of England would get if she was invited over to our country, they get picked up at the airport, deals on accommodations (some get free stays at people’s houses) & meals, etc.. But that is what family does for each other, and covering the entire event over 4 days that is what I came to recognize most of all about this group of individuals is how close they are to one another, and how much they feel like they are a family. I personally filmed and interviewed every competitor over the weekend and every time I asked the question “What will you remember most of all about this experience?”, the answer was the same – it was great to see everyone together, the way people cheer each other on and show love for one another, it is a world wide family… Beautiful and touching words, and fully believable. Zero Percent of disrespect at this event. It’s crazy when you are in a room where there are so many different languages being spoken but everyone shares the same culture – that is a rarity. Skateboarding is a culture, but Freestyle Skateboarding is a tight-knit community. There are only a few real freestyle skateboarders in the entire world and many of them make a living doing demos and shows, and they strive to be in front of an audience. What I loved the most about this competition was how the crowd was ever changing, people just coming in for the big moments and then going back outside to enjoy the fair and rodeo. But everyone that came in sat down if there was still empty seats and stayed a while. The difference between park skaters and freestyle skaters is that freestyle skaters are used to performing for crowds of people that know nothing about skateboarding, and they always leave the crowd wanting more.

The 2013 World Round Up Championships was more about the demo than the contest itself. Sure, everyone wants to win deep down inside, but I believe that the true satisfaction for these guys comes from the cheers of the crowd that drown out the music in the stadium. You need money to survive, and another trophy for your wall is never a bad thing, but it seemed like that was all in the back of everyone’s minds. They were there for the show, for the experience, and to see their friends whom they consider family.

Freestyle Skateboarding is the roots of all skateboarding we do today, don’t ever forget that…

Here is the Full Video Recap of the event:

[youtube id=”LgIvYaaKyCM” width=”620″ height=”360″]

An amazing demo from 3 generations of legends – Kevin Harris, AJ Kohn & Kilian Martin:

[youtube id=”gwxzqUqe8hc” width=”620″ height=”360″]

And a bunch of personal interviews and close up skating with the competitors:

Stefan “Lillis” Akesson – Sweden – http://youtu.be/-ArPWRjphxI

Rene Shigueto – Brazil – http://youtu.be/JqIkdXpsaUo

Russ Howell – http://youtu.be/jj938rlcMUA

Lynn Cooper – USA – http://youtu.be/lc2xeJUmAMY

Andy Anderson – Canada – http://youtu.be/rdkTkqndCV4

Stefan Albert – Germany – http://youtu.be/7Q1hQzW-p8Y

Alejandro C Finy – Costa Rica – http://youtu.be/DigSAfG3QDk

Lucio Flavio Simas de Lima – Brazil – http://youtu.be/wDNcJ8KDgAM

Seya Nakano – Japan – http://youtu.be/kVCPzkwxStY

Takashi Suzuki – Japan – http://youtu.be/l4DoJw1jwLE

Christian Heise – Germany – http://youtu.be/HqbO09cZG0A

Mike Osterman – USA – http://youtu.be/5FEh1yXW3UA

Per Canguru – Brazil – http://youtu.be/Ujvqfi5H24s

Tai Tai – Brazil – http://youtu.be/Hp3uHPVghuM

Kilian Martin – http://youtu.be/vc2BSzdTpPo

Albert Kuncz – Hungary/Slovakia – http://youtu.be/wfRugEvoTFU

Bert Mathieson – USA – http://youtu.be/UqL0Qijsu3Q

Masahiro Fujii – Japan – http://youtu.be/NLTqX0MJmPg

Ricky Rodriguez – USA – http://youtu.be/hM4VwSGq6Gw

Jesse Whalen – USA – http://youtu.be/NlseCs-dwT8

Daniel Trujillo – USA – http://youtu.be/bkQqaBhHvcY

Dan Garb – USA – http://youtu.be/e4YVy3hT6ME

Darryl Grogan – USA – http://youtu.be/khbBnmfdbKQ

AJ Kohn – USA – http://youtu.be/TDAKQAfaYJI

Ryan Brynelson – Canada – http://youtu.be/t9Z3Qd0eKw8

Guenter Mokulys – Germany – http://youtu.be/lZMjlXTlcIE

Yuta Miyatake – Japan/Canada – Interview to come…

Jacob Whitt – USA – Interview still to come…

Adam Flood – Canada – Interview still to come…

Kaue Araujo – Brazil – Interview still to come…

Toshiaki Fujii – Japan – Interview still to come…

Mic Murayama – Japan – Interview still to come…

Thomas Nascimento – Brazil – Interview still to come…

Tomo Koyano – Japan – Interview still to come…

Sam McKinlay – Canada – no interview…

World Round Up 2013 Results

Amateur

Ryan Brynelson – Canada
Kaue Arouja – Brazil
Andy Anderson – Canada
Jacob Whitt – USA
Thomas Nascimento – Brazil
Felix “Fleppo” Jonsson – Sweden
Daniel Trujillo – USA
Mic Murayama – Japan
Alejandro C Finy – Costa Rica
Adam Flood – Canada

Professional

Guenter Mokulys – Germany
Seya Nakano – Japan
Mike Osterman – USA
Masahiro Fujii – Japan
Per Canguru – Brazil
Stefan “Lillis” Akesson –Sweden
Lucio Lima – Brazil
Rene Shigueto – Brazil
Jesse Whalen – USA
Albert Kuncz – Hungary/Slovakia

Extreme Sports Skateboarding Video Reviews

DIY Will Never Die

Jun 27,2013 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

Do it yourself has always been common terminology in the world of skateboarding, we have always built stuff to skate. Back in the day before skate parks you just found a spot that was abandoned and put up some wood ramps until they either got taken away, broken, or some asshole would burn them for no reason. Now a days, the craze of DIY Concrete spots is going hard, people are building obstacles all over the place wherever they live, and all you can do when you make something good is hope that it doesn’t get destroyed. It’s always sweet when you find a barrier that would work perfectly if it had some concrete at the bottom or something like that, but that stuff is minor compared to what is going on out there right now. Look at Burnside as an example from the past. That place was all man-made by the locals and it’s humungous. Leeside is another great spot that was wood for many years and now, thanks to all the gravel the city of Vancouver donated unintentionally, it is one of the sickest DIY concrete skate spots around. The White Rock Res, which is actually in Surrey, is also constantly growing with more and more additions of street obstacles and barrier type quarters. There are a few other DIY spots around the lower mainland that are more secretive, and now there is another that has just popped up in a “secret location” on this side of the river. It’s awesome how in a world of so many skate parks, we still feel the need to build our own – something that is not going to be busy with little dudes in the way, something that is free to go to and just hang with your budds, something that is nasty, rough and sweet all at the same time.

Here’s a video from Dallas Lang at the newest DIY spot

Contests Extreme Sports Skateboarding

Hippie Mike’s Tour de Surrey #10

Jun 26,2013 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

It is almost time people – the 10^th Annual Hippie Mike’s Tour de Surrey starts on July 6^th at Cloverdale Skate Park on 64^th ave. This series of events is a huge part of my life, and the lives of many kids in Surrey, Delta, Langley and wherever else they travel from for the comps. It melts my heart to recognize the joy that I have brought to so many individuals over these last 10 years by running this series. It all began in 2004 with me asking the question to someone in Parks and Rec “What do I need to do insurance wise to be approved to run a series of skateboard competitions in Surrey?” This began a conversation throughout the Youth Functional Table and came back to me with an answer of “Why don’t we partner with you and make it a City run Event…” I said sure, and look where we’re at – 10 years later…

This year we’re hittin’ all the original parks on the map and finishing at Bear Creek just like we did the first 7 years. The reason I started Hippie Mike’s Tour de Surrey in the first place was because at that time we had 5 skate parks, which was more than any other municipality, yet we had no big competitions happening. Coastal Riders and Substance Sk8 Shop were having the occasional event, and Kevin Kelly had tossed a couple contests at Bear Creek Park. Other than that it was Board Kennel utilizing the South Surrey/White Rock Park for contests but not necessarily advertising them to everyone. We needed something consistent, not just for the kids to have, but for the skateboard community to recognize and a series that hit every park we had in one city was how to do it. So I made it happen.

With the help of so many others sponsoring the contests, kids were showing up in flocks. There are a ton of local skateboarders that I can think of right now who I may never have met if it weren’t for these competitions, but instead built a family style relationship with. I still remember JR Barron and his cousin Nick Logan coming out to Cloverdale contest 7 years ago. It was JR’s 5^th birthday that day and him and Nick were so tiny and they were just bouncing around on there skateboards together trying whatever they could even though neither of them knew what they were doing at all, and I can still remember the noise from the crowd being a roar of mixture of laughs and cheers. It made the day so awesome, and it made me realize how young some kids were that were coming to my events – I had to create a special Mini Category just for kids 10 & under. And now JR is turning 12 years old and kick flipping big gaps and hitting rails and stuff, and me and him are still great friends, he’s a Hippie Mike’s Tour de Surrey die hard who comes to every event. And there’s all the Langley crew that I watched grow up into the amazing skaters they are today – Dustin Locke, Hashbrown, Jordan Repin, Zaz & all that crew. And Magnus, the Decenzo’s, John Hanlon the Man Child, all these guys used to hang at these contests too back in the day, and Drew and Stu and Jay Mykyte – Cisco Goding, Jeff Cole and Jon Irvine, Andy Anderson, Jaden Easton-Ellett, Brad Muscat, so many friends… They were a great place to learn how to compete and to have a great time with friends, and that feel is still there. The generations change each year a little bit, but the majority of regulars still come to every single stop on the tour. It brings tears to my eyes every time I think about the milestone we are reaching this year. 10 years!! If anyone had tried to tell me 10 years ago that the world of skateboarding would be accepted in the way it is today by now, I wouldn’t have believed them. And in fairness, I think that this series has had a lot to do with that acceptance that has become reality in and around the Lower Mainland with competitions and skate parks in general. I work hard every year to make this happen and I thank everyone who has been and will be a part of Hippie Mike’s Tour de Surrey. We have taught safety, we have taught freedom, we have taught style of competition, but most of all we have built a family of skateboarders who love to have fun together…

See you at Cloverdale Skate Park

July 6^th, 2013

Noon

For a recap of last year’s Tour de Surrey 2012 check out the link below

http://www.protestskateboards.com/sponsored/andy-anderson/hippie-mikes-tour-de-surrey-2012-comes-to-a-close/

Eve Feaver Extreme Sports Skateboarding

Protest Skateboards knows how to Party

Jun 24,2013 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

With Summer finally arriving I wanted to show my appreciation to the dudes that rep Protest Skateboards for me so we had a big ol’ BBQ and Ramp Jam at the ranch. It was a combination of generations of people who have been in my life and helped out with everything I do behind the scenes and on the front lines. I was most stoked to see my old pal Homer walk into the yard. Me and him went through a lot together over the years and it meant a lot to me for him to show up. He took over the Carnivore Barbeque for me which helped also since I don’t really know how to cook meat. But of course having Homer there pretty much confirmed that his son Randy was showing up, 8 beers in and with plenty more to go. Majority of the deck team showed up – Andy Anderson, Carrie Williams, Cisco Gooding, Bushman, Jeff Cole, Fighter, Jordan Strong, Kaelen Faux, Jaden Easton-Ellett and of course myself Hippie Mike. We were missing Ryan Brynelson, Eve Feaver and Surrey Stu but we made it through without them. Jay Mykyte and Allen Handley were shredding the ramp the whole time with Dylan Dombroski, and everyone was having a great time together. Carrie learned Fakie Crooks, Brad learned Rocket Blunts and Randy kept leaping off the cliff from the ramp like a maniac. He’s lucky he didn’t get hurt. Drew Boyle made an appearance and Justin James rolled his ankle on the ramp like 5 times. Bushman was checking out my yard and spotted a car jammed vertically in the ravine that I’ve never noticed in the 7 1/2 years we’ve owned this house. So then of course everyone was climbing down to check it out. Turns out to be a Simca which was one of the most popular car manufacturers in France until it was bought out by Chrysler in the 1970’s. Gotta love Google, but even better, gotta love the fact of how many people have pissed off the cliff right beside this thing and no one’s ever noticed it there. Bocce, Burgers, Hot Dogs, Pool, Skateboarding, Loud Music, Drunk idiots and great friends.

It was an awesome time. Thanks to everyone who came out, and of course I bought waaaaaaaay to much food so I guess we’ll be meeting up again real soon.

Protest Forever!

Extreme Sports Skateboarding

Sponsor Calvin Dignard

Jun 22,2013 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

Calvin Dignard – one of the roughest and toughest Surrey Loc, and also one of the most solid skaters you will meet. He always has a stern look on his face, and he’s always determined to land his tricks. Fakie, Switch Stance, Regular & Nollie tricks, Ledges, Flat Bars, Hubbas & Down Rails, Big Gaps, Small Gaps, Pole Jams & Launchers – this guy is fearless in the streets. I’ve been watching Calvin skate for years and he is always impressive. He wins a lot of free gear at all the local events and contests and you can depend on him to throw down on camera anytime if you wanna film. He’s got skills, tech tricks, determination & consistency. The only thing Calvin doesn’t have is someone with a camera to take him out and get shit done. He is sponsorless right now and that needs to change. I just gave him a set of Protest Wheels on Go Sk8 Day for him to test out. If he likes them, maybe he will be reppin’ ’em on the team. Who else is ready to help this dude blow up?

Check out Calvin Dignard’s Raw Street Footage video and remember that he barely ever has a filmer around.

Extreme Sports Skateboarding

Go Sk8 Day 2013

Jun 22,2013 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

This year was large and in charge in Vancouver. There were hundreds of people at the plaza for the Vans Waffle Breakfast and then they went venturing through the streets together in a huge mob. It was craziness! Cyrus led everyone around downtown from street spot to street spot with handfuls of cash that he diligently handed out when worthy tricks went down. Andy Anderson walked away with a handful, Fighter 50-50’d the kink rail at Victory Square and Cory Lakeman back lipped it, Mikey Ray switch heelflipped over the rail at New Spot while Paul Trepp laid down a couple lines down the sets there, Trevor Greig stripped down to his boxers and jumped in a fountain, and a mob of kids took over the downtown streets between spots. This part of the day was crazy.

The group made it’s way across the Georgia Viaduct like always and headed over the Strathcona Park for a BBQ and a mini ramp jam on a mini-mini ramp that Kevin Kelly provided. That was fun too.

Then off to Hastings bowl we went. This was way more mellow with The Vans BBQ and a bunch of bowl shredders of all ages drinkin’ beer and chillin’ out. Andy displayed some fresh lines that he’s got going on, and Frontside Kid James Clarke showed how fast he could go and how big he could stalefish in the deep end of the bowl. Chris Macallum, Chris Timmers, Surrey Stu, Sheldon Barr, Baxter, Adam Richter, Jeff Muirhead & Jonny B along with many others were going hard in the bowl, but the highlight of the night came when Chris Steggles pulled his skateboard out of his trunk to shred. Steggles said he hadn’t skated yet this year, but it didn’t show once he rolled in – long grinds, vertical handplants and he even aired over the fence out of the 4 foot a few times. Steggles is the man, and he made the day awesome…

Happy Go Sk8 Day 2013! Hope you enjoyed it.

Eve Feaver Extreme Sports Skateboarding

Canada Day at Seylynn

Jun 18,2013 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

I moved to BC in 1998 with my wife Carrie and was welcomed into the skateboard community here right away with open arms. I met a lot of amazing people right away just through skateboarding in Burnaby, and some of those people are still some of my closest friends, what I consider to be family. But the day that changed my life forever was the first year I went to a Seylynn Bowl Series Contest. I had heard about them for a few years but never made it out, and then when I started riding for Substance Sk8 Shop, Mike McManus took us the Bowl Series contests in White Rock and New West and I saw all these guys that I knew from the Burnaby Park and they were shredding the bowls super hard. I learned the lines quickly and had a great time, I’m pretty sure I even placed 2^nd at New West that year. I now knew what The Bowl Series was and understood that I needed to be part of it just for the fun factor. The next year we made it out to Seylynn for the kickoff which is always on Canada Day and there were hundreds of people there. I was stoked!!

Since then, we have never missed a year at Seylynn, and have hardly missed any of the Bowl Series contests at all. Seylynn, Griffin, White Rock, Squamish & Whistler (and New West used to be in there, even Bonsor had it’s times a couple years), these are the original parks that made people like Colin McKay, Alex Chalmers, Dave and Rob Boyce who they are today. And Eve Feaver and Bushman have been repping at these parks forever as well, that’s how I met them, and now they are on the Protest Team. It became a lot more than a series of skateboard contests every year, it became a family reunion, especially Seylynn. Canada Day is the day I think about most of the year, just for that reason. You know the people you’re going to see there, you know the positive vibe that will fill the air, and you know that there’s gonna be some serious talent to watch skate too.

To all the legends of Seylynn Bowl Series – Seb, Cuz, Carver Don, Dave Priest, Stevie D, Johnny B, Hippo, Langer, Jamie Sherrat, Jay Balmer, Mike Strato, Surrey Clint, Clinkhammer, Mitchy, Big Jay, The Faulkner Twins, Bushman, Eve, Stu & Drew, Andy Anderson, Giver, Adam Tagg, Dave Boyce, Alex Chalmers, Rosie and Trevor, McCallum, Pidgeon, Adam Hopkins and so many more. Legends from every era all coming together every year to kick off this event and make it what it is.

This is where I belong, and these are the memories that we make as a family to remember forever. Bowl Series – Year #19 starts July 1^st, 2013 at Seylynn Bowl. Who will show up? Who will win? Who will end up this year’s King of the Bowls at the end of the series? Only one way to find out…..

Here’s some footage from last year’s kickoff put together by Dennis Regan from Rollingbonespodcast

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Author Archives: Hippie Mike