Growing up a street skater you spend your life searching for so many different types of spots, there are the ones that you are only ever going to go to once just for a trick or two for your video, and then there are the ones that you hunt out as spots you can chill out at for hours and just have a good time with your friends. Some of these spots are available all day and others might be businesses that you need to wait until they’re closed, but either way these are your spots.
We discovered this spot which I simply named “The Lip Bank” about 9 years ago now and we have had many many sessions there and perfected a lot of technical tranny tricks. It’s perfect for weekends and late nights when you just want to hang with your buddies and not be bothered. The Lip Bank isn’t the biggest, coolest obstacle in the world, but it is still dangerous and definitely challenging to skate. I personally consider this my favourite skate spot just for the fact that most people can’t figure it out. It looks easy but it’s so not.
Check out this quick session with Jaden Easton-Ellett, Justin James and me –Hippie Mike – and live the love…
Hippie Mike and Cisco Gooding hit up the new UBC Park today to see what it’s actually like. There have been many comments leaning in both directions about whether this skate park was a waste of space, or is simply amazing. Some people love every inch of it, while others won’t even bother going there.
That’s skateboarding for ya… We had fun there.
The street obstacles are all funky and good for learning on. The stack of books obstacle is probably the main eye catcher of the park, and can be very intimidating, but we’re sure to expect some serious bangers to go down on these floating ledges. The bowl is small and mellow but that’s okay too, it works good for grinds, and people who aren’t as experienced gotta learn on it so at least this way they will. The barrier on the bank is totally sweet so I think that could be an attraction. It may not be the most amazing park ever built, but it’s something new in a secluded area that could benefit from it. I don’t think there any reason for negativity towards it, plus we have definitely seen some awesome videos come out of it already and it’s hardly been open for 2 weeks. In the world of the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, the skateboarders are overly spoiled to the point that all of us moan and wine about every park that pops up now a days – oh there’s too much tranny, oh the bowl isn’t deep enough, or oh these ledges aren’t high enough or have the wrong coping. We’re spoiled in the fact that we forget how hard it used to be to skateboard without being kicked out everywhere you go, we forget that there never used to be 8 skate parks in one city, there was hardly one per municipality, and we take for granted the fact that if we don’t like a particular park, we can choose not to go there and still go to another one right close by. Not every city has these luxuries, or gets to pick and choose what Skate Park they are going to skate that day, and what one tomorrow. And each community that is lucky enough to get a skateboard park has people that live there that are going to appreciate it for what it is no matter what, and make the best of it.
Check out this video that was just filmed in Barrie Ontario. This skate park was built in 1999 and is still the only one they have. It’s not laid out that good, the ground is weathered and rough, and the obstacles are all the old chunky style. But you don’t hear these boys complaining, you just hear them stomping every trick they try out of appreciation that they have a skate park at all….
This Saturday, May 4th, Jeff Cole will be hosting a Youth Week Skate Event at the Plaza in Vancouver. Here’s the Press Release for it:
7th Annual Vancouver Youth Week Skateboard Event
The Vancouver Skateboard Coalition (VSBC), in co-operation with the City of Vancouver and the Thunderbird and Roundhouse Community Centres, would like to invite you to the seventh annual Vancouver Youth Week Skate Event, a free, non-competitive event which will take place, rain or shine, on Saturday, May 4th from 1:00 until 4:00pm at The Skateboard Plaza (under the Georgia Viaduct at the intersection of Union St. and Quebec St.).
As one of the most popular elements of Vancouver Youth Week since 2007, the Skate Event is a family-friendly celebration of skateboarding and skateboard culture that is geared towards the younger age demographic of Vancouver’s skateboard scene. Featuring prize giveaways, skate demos by Underworld Skateshop and Supra Shoes, music by DJs AC and Randal D, a Tacofino food cart, and information booths from a number of youth-oriented organizations, this year’s event will be another fun, exciting, and interactive day for everyone involved.
The Vancouver Skateboard Coalition is a volunteer organization whose mission is to act as an entity that is accessible to all skateboarders, promoting unity throughout our city’s diverse skateboard scene and taking a proactive role in creating and maintaining a safe, fun environment that all Vancouver skateboarders can enjoy for years to come. For contact information, news, and current projects, visit our website at www.vsbc.ca.
Since 1995, BC Youth Week has grown to include close to 35 BC municipalities and continues to offer a wide range of positive activities and programs for young people across the province. For more information and a full listing of events, visit www.bcyouthweek.com.
For more information please contact Jeff Cole “getupeight@hotmail.com”
Part 3 of the Canadian Tour is now released and Ace Trucks once again proves themselves to be the Hardcore Truck built for the Hardcore Skater. I personally have never tried a set and maybe never will because I’ve been stuck on Indy’s for so long, but more and more people are testing them out and some are switching over so they must be good.
The Team is filled with diversity and multiple generations, but one thing they all have in common is the ability to shred any nasty tranny. I love it.
Team consists of:
Joey Tershay, Ron Chatman, Tom Remillard, Oscar Navarro, Ronnie Sandoval, Marc Tison, Adam Hopkins, Riley Boland, and Leon Chapdelaine
Be sure to grab the new King Shit Magazine to read the full 10 page article on Ace Trucks.
Being a skateboarder for close to 30 years, I have a different level of recognition than today’s generation and one thing that has always impressed me is a True Lifetime Skateboarder. They’re hard to find, understandably, since skateboarding basically ruins your entire body to a point that is sucks to walk around on a normal day, but some guys are just naturals, and they will ride their boards forever.
When I originally started Protest Skateboards over 10 years ago, it wasn’t about trying to create an empire, it was about creating a Family, a Team of Skaters that loved to hang out, and loved to Skateboard, and had some hidden talent that maybe needed to be displayed a little more for all to see. We’ve always had a solid Team, and the Team was already pretty big, but I decided recently that I wanted to add 2 more – 2 that I consider to be 2 of the all-time best. If you’ve never been to a Bowl Series Contest then you might not have any idea who these guys are, but if you grew up a skateboarder through the 80’s or 90’s in North Van, West Van, East Van or Burnaby, you would know for sure…
Don Wilson, known simply as “Bushman” is reaching that 45 year old mark this year, and has been shredding on a skateboard since 1976. Seylynn Bowl was built in 1978 and Don helped to create most of the lines that you see people do there today. He is the only person that I know that everyone gets out of the way of no matter what, raging up and down the snake run like a Freight Train. He is definitely a legend of skateboarding, and one of the original NV Locs, influencing many other skaters to go as hard as they do, like Dave 57, Stevie D, Alex Chalmers, and many more. And still to the day, he pushes himself to be better than he needs to be at his age, slashing coping at Squamish, and carving hard wherever he goes.
The other is someone who learned a lot from Bushman, and that’s Eve Feaver. Eve turned 40 years old last year and it definitely did not slow him down. Placing in the Top 3 at almost all of the Bowl Series Contests last summer, Eve proved himself to still be a champion that can keep up with kids like Andy Anderson and Adam Hopkins. His style is amazing, his tricks are expressive, and his landings are always as solid as it gets. I have always watched Eve in awe for many years while he skates, no matter where we go, and he never ceases to amaze me. The funny part is, he amazes himself at the same time. Probably the most humble skateboarder around, Eve Feaver is a true legend – from Seylynn to White Rock, Griffin and Whistler, Eve can demo at all the old Bowls, but don’t be afraid to put him on some coping too.
Both of these guys grew up as Skateboarders, the same as I did, and we are all still growing up as skateboarders.
They are legends, they are mentors to many, they both hold King of the Bowl Titles, and they are now a part of Protest Skateboards –
People better start to recognize that Dominic Devries is most likely one of the next biggest skaters of the world. At 16 years of age he has more ridiculous street tricks on lock then Ryan Sheckler did back in the day. I remember seeing when Ryan Decenzo was hitting this point of technicality and consistency in his skating and look at where he is now. Somebody needs to take this kid under their wing and blow him up in the scene.
Dominic shows his skills off at the New UBC Park on the first weekend it was open, while it’s trying to rain off and on all day. You can see what I’m saying when you watch this video. Understand it as half of the tricks he lays down are tricks that people would work weeks or months on perfecting at a spot and this is still one of his first times skating there.
I haven’t been to UBC park yet, but after watching this video I’m glad I’m not much of a ledge and rail skater or I might feel a little pressured to try tricks at this level – Insane.
I got 2 things to say:
Dominic – hit some more tranny and learn to kill it like you do the streets
Another year of skateboard contests is about to begin and you know that the City of Surrey hosts more events than any other city around. This will actually be the 3rd event at Chuck Bailey Skate Park in the year 2013 but it will be the first full contest of the year.
Youth Week runs nationally every year on the first week of May – May 1-7, and every year Hippie Mike hosts at least one big event in Surrey. This year it will be at Chuck Bailey Youth Park – 13458 107A ave – and there will be 2 separate competitions, one for skateboarding and one for BMX. Friday, May 3rd at 4pm the event will begin with qualifying heats for both activities in different age groups 9 & under; 10-13; 14-18; 19 & over. The qualifiers for each category will make it to the finals later in the evening where they will compete for the prizes.
Registration starts at 3pm so get there right after school or work.
And the Surrey Firefighters will also be present running a Free BBQ and participating in some Basketball Tournaments happening inside the Rec Centre.
So come out, have fun, and bring your helmet if you got one. Let’s celebrate the Youth of Life together.
Hippie Mike stretched his way to Street Dreamz Board Shop in North Delta and to Coastal Riders Skate Shop in Langley last night to check out the local scenes for the Death Wish Video premieres.
At Street Dreamz, Chris Somerville welcomed in the local youngsters with a fingerboard skate park as awesome as an X-games course and they all hung out until the video started and then gathered around the TV for the show. Lots of stoked reactions going on during the video and then there was a Draw for prizes afterwards. Little 3 1/2 year old Protest Skater Kaelen Faux won the Grand Prize of a Death Wish Cruiser Deck. He was PUMPED!!
After dropping Kaelen and Carrie off at home, Hippie Mike headed out to Coastal Riders for a second showing – on the big screen. There was about the same amount of people at that one and once Scott Fierbach got the proxima figured out the show was on. Same style as Street Dreamz, they had a draw afterwards and the lucky kids took home the prizes.
It was a good night for promoting skateboarding, and as for the video, it was pretty good. Lizard King definitely has the most creativity on the team, Neen Williams has the most pop, and all of them know how to land perfectly. Definitely worth checking out.
Last year was the first time for this event efficiently named TheWorld Round-Up. Hosted in Surrey at the Cloverdale Rodeo, it’s a Freestyle Skateboarding Championship event and the top Freestylers of the world are invited (Pros and Ams). The event is all put together by 2 long time promoters of skateboarding – Kevin Harris and Monty Little, and last year some serious faces of skateboard history showed their presence: Russ Howell (one of North America’s first skateboarders) MC’d the event with some assistance from A.J. Kohn and “Dr. Skateboard” Bill Robertson and I believe they are all coming back again. Jim Goodrich was shooting photos, and George Powell even made an appearance on the Saturday. And the biggest name in Freestyle right now Kilian Martin should be showing up again to help out, hang out and put on some unbelievable demos.
It was a killer event last year with some bigtime competition, and the tricks were mind blowing. Shaun Gladwell took 1st place in Amateur with Protest Team Riders Ryan Brynelson and Andy Anderson taking 2nd and 5th places respectively. The Pro category was insane and super tough to judge. Everyone was stomping tricks that no one else would know how to do, and flowing with untouchable style and passion. Darryl Grogan took 1st place with Gunter Mokulys and Rene Shigueto right on his tail, but everybody did amazing. About 20-30 people competed last year in total but after speaking with Kevin Harris earlier today, we can expect a whole lot more to show up this time. All the names mentioned are definitely coming back to defend their titles, but some more to watch out for are Mic Murayama, Takashi Suzuki, Stephan Albert, Stefan “Lillis” Akesson, Mike Osterman and Per Canguru just to name a few. And maybe we’ll be lucky enough to see Kai Dunkel this time.
If you don’t know much about Freestyle Skateboarding, this would be a great time to learn. It is a huge part of skateboarding’s history and there is only a small core group throughout the entire world that still dedicate their lives to it. These are definitely some of the best skateboarders of all time, young and old, and everyone of them skates completely different from the next.
Last year we showed up just for the Finals and weren’t really prepared for how much filming we ended up doing – but this year www.protestskateboards.com will be covering the entire event in full HD so be ready for some serious coverage….
Check out the video compilation of last year’s Finals and try to show up to the event this year
May 17-20, 2013
Cloverdale Rodeo & Fairgrounds
62 ave off 176 st
Learn more about the event and check out who’s already registered here
The Calgary Sun featured this article on Monday announcing that they are planning to build 50 new skate parks throughout the City of Calgary in the next decade. Calgary being a huge city and one of the fastest growing in North America has the space and need for such a project. Home of the Millennium Park, Calgary is full of park users, skaters, bikers and those “usually in the way” scooter kids, and they have helped to produce a few core names.
With an $11 Million budget, it has been proposed that they will be producing 50 new parks overall but the City itself will not be in charge of maintenance or operations so they are looking for non-profit organizations or groups to take ownership over each park and manage it. This could be easier for the skaters or harder, but what we see it as is a huge step backwards in partnership between the skateboard community and the government. But it is Alberta…
The article is a little confusing and not quite convincing that they are fully prepared for this venture, but it is on the table, and it sounds like it’s about to begin.
Guess we’ll be making some more trips to Calgary in the near future
