Another amazing Canada Day as the 21^st annual Bowl Series kicked off at the legendary Seylynn Bowl. As hundreds of people flock to the park and set up tents, blankets and BBQ’s the sun was shining down to give everyone a good day. The skaters warmed up with speed lines and creative fly outs as we waited for the sound to be set up and Renee Renee to take his position holding the microphone.

Getting started right on time with the Beginners these kids reminded everyone what July 1^st is all about as they dipped in and out of the old snake bowl in every spot they could. Killa B Brayden Nerpio came out fierce in Run #1 and held true in the finals to take 1^st place and get the day rolling.

Moving in to Intermediate, it was great to see a bunch of the old beginners that had moved up a category proving the importance of the Bowl Series. Using the entire bowl these kids really knew how to shred and it was sweet to watch them. The girls category was also solid as this was the first year in a long long time where there were multiple heats and the girls owned the bowl for a good 15-20 minutes. Way to go Ladies!

After a little relaxing dip in the creek it was time to watch the Advanced battle it out. All eyes were on certain people of course like Adam Hopkins, Andy Anderson, Jamie Sherratt, Eve Feaver, Stevie Denham, Rob Rickaby, and the young buck from island Merrick Orr. Merrick came out with full aggression blasting up and down the bowl and over all the hips. He kept popping huge ollies from outside the bowl into the deep end and then somehow maintaining enough control to boneless across the wall in the deep. Eve and Andy touched every part of the snake with unique tricks that fire up the large size audience. And Rob and Stevie just plain laid it down like only they could while Adam Hopkins picked out all the big gaps and blew out his pants while flying through the air at mega speeds, Can’t Stop the Hop. In the finals it was Merrick Orr who pulled through on top of the others and sealed the deal with a first try massive crail grab over MFP – Insane!!

Could this be the beginning of the story of 2015’s King of the Bowls?

1^st – Merrick Orr

2^nd – Rob Rickaby

3^rd – Andy Anderson

4^th – Adam Hopkins

5^th – Stevie D

After the contest was done and the crowd began to disperse it was time to see who had the fastest time as the best of the best at the Seylynn Speed Line put their bearings to the test. Amazingly between about 8-10 people they were all within 1 second of each other to go down and back, it was like an alpine ski race. Steve Denham prevailed at the last moment with a 10.20 second run beating out Adam Hopkins 10.28. So awesome.

That’s it for this year people – another awesome Canada Day thanks to Mike Strato, Renee Renee, Cuz, Seb and everyone who showed up.

Bowl Series 21

See you at Griffin – July 12th

What a gorgeous day on June 21^st 2015 – International Go Skateboard Day, combined with Father’s Day!! It was beautiful outside and Protest Skateboards was part of something very special this year as Hippie Mike joined forces with Kristen O’Keefe of DC Shoes and Ryan McGlashan of Heritage BoardShop to bring a long overdue event to The Westshore Skate Park in Langford BC. This park has been around since the early 2000’s and has produced some awesome skateboarders in it’s time, but it is all coming to an end soon as the land was recently sold to Sobey’s so they can put another Thrifty’s Grocery Store in the area and the park is supposed to be removed in September. Skate Park deconstruction is always a sad thing and no one likes it, but what’s worse in this situation is there is still no plan for a replacement park anywhere. There are issues with the surrounding areas not showing the support they should be in today’s world to keep the kids off the streets and in a positive place. So the idea was to get out there to Langford and give these people something to talk about. As you will see in the video tons of kids and skateboarders of all ages came out to have a fun time together, and lots of parents were present as well showing their support. Everyone had a great time, they skated, they ate free hot dogs, they jammed out to awesome tunes, and they proved that there is a large skateboard community in there town that needs a place to go. This is the second event we have hosted in Langford in the last 2 months and there has been over 100 people present at both. It is very important that everyone around sees the how much this type of facility is needed. There is a big meeting this Saturday night June 27^th at The Juan de Fuca Recreation Centre around 6pm. Please show up, show them photos, show them videos, make them aware of what you need and why…

Big thanks to Ty Williamson for coming out to Langford on Go Skate Day and filming this video of the event we put on in collaboration with DC Shoes, Heritage Boardshop, Vulcan Bolts, Burn Bros and Fury Trucks. The Westshore skate park is on the cutting block to be removed after summer and there is no replacement plan so this video really helps to show how many people in the community utilize this facility, how many of them are young kids and are supported by their parents, and how a little support can go a long long way. Please share this video far and wide to get lots of recognition that can be used to promote the fact that this community needs to step up and help these skaters and their peers to have a place to spend their time positively expanding their minds in the future.

What a beautiful way to kick off the summer, on the first day of summer, but with an awesome style skateboard competition. This is only the 2^nd year for this annual series, but you can already tell Hippie Mike’s Super Tour is here to stay for a long long time. Tons of shredders showed up at Chuck Bailey Skate Park in Surrey for the first stop on the tour and each category was great to watch.

In the Mini division there was only 6 kids but that’s okay since it’s all about kids 10 years old or younger, and 2 of them travelled long distance to be part of it. Little Presley from Squamish tore it up with style, and Ryder from Saltspring Island put it all on the line as both of the attacked the biggest obstacles in the park. And those obstacles seem even bigger when you’re a Mini.

The Beginners were going off, and watching them made everybody realize what was to come in the higher categories because these kids had serious talent, and they were the “Beginners”. Jericho, Alex and Ryan were the ones to overcome above the rest by utilizing the ledges, quarterpipes and gaps the best they knew how and really use their determination to not give up and git ‘r done.

Intermediates set a whole new level for the contest, getting down on the rails and ledges. There was a serious mixture of talent and age in the finals from Emmanneul who is only 11 but rips it up to Stefan and Nathan who are much older and still rip it up. JR got the crowd going, but somehow Nathan came through in the end with some serious business to take what might have been his first ever contest win. Frontside crooks over the fireplace channel to fakie and to regular? Yeah this guy was lighting the place up….

The ladies category was pretty mellow but all the girls did their best and it’s always great to see the whole park sitting back and cheering for the girls. Monique overcame the other 3 to take home 1^st place.

When Advanced started everybody knew it was not going to be easy to judge since there was 25 guys that were all going to go off, and that’s exactly what happened. Every single person in Advanced threw down but only 10 moved up to the finals, and only 5 of them were taking home prizes. It got pretty heated and chaotic out there with 10 guys skating at once but that’s how you separate the mice from the men. East Van Caleb blew away the crowd and the judges and went home with the victory.

Thank to everyone for coming out. It was great to see so many people at the first stop of the tour. Eve Feaver destroyed in the advanced category at 43 years old. Joe Buffalo hung out all day giving continuous props over the mic and even tried to skate in Advanced. Ryan Barron got out there and landed some awesome tricks that no one else could do. DJ Cuz-O kept the vibe hot all day long with sweet tunes that never stopped. The City of Surrey threw down a Free BBQ. And Hippie Mike lit up the mic steady and solid all day as usual.

Stop #2 is July 18^th at Queenborough All Wheel Park in New Westminster

Don’t miss it!

Results

Mini – 1. Ryder; 2. Presley Huska; 3. Kaelen Faux

Beginner – 1. Jericho; 2. Ryan; 3. Alex Pasqua

Intermediate – 1. Nathan Gladue; 2. Tate Roulette; 3. Emmanneul; 4. Stefan Bakker; 5. JR Barron

Girls – 1. Monique; 2. Stephanie; 3. Alysha; 4. CiCi

Advanced – 1. East Van Caleb; 2. Calvin Dignard; 3. Travis Emerson; 4. Giet Rolan; 5. Eve Feaver