Getting Authentic at Chuck Bailey

Jan 23,2014 / By Protest Skateboards / No Comment

Authentic Board Supply has been open for almost 3 months now and it was time for the boys to put on a show at Chuck Bailey. It was more about having fun then showing off since everyone around there knows the crew already. The team consists of 7 skaters which 2 couldn’t be there for the demo, Shawn Beaupre was working and Surrey Stu was helping with the clean up at Leeside after last nights fire. So that left Dominic Devries, Andy Anderson, Jay Mykyte, Hippie Mike and Calvin Dignard, but Calvin is down with a bad sprained ankle so he took over the MC roll and let Hippie Mike do some skating. Between Dom and Andy there was plenty to watch as they both missioned around the entire park landing everything they tried. Dominic did a lot of different flip tricks into rail tricks and Andy just made up tricks everywhere he went until Mike called him out to start airing the whole volcano. The crowd was blessed with 2 massive melons over the top by Andy and that shut it down a bit.

Some Best Trick comps started up, one for the young bucks and one for the older. The first one was for the kids on the gap over the quarter pipe. Weston Hutchinson got it started with a nollie pop shovit and Josh Lewis followed him up with a couple mean 180’s. A few other tricks went down but these 2 won the beanies.

The second Best Trick was for the older dudes on the flat ledges. Trevor Greig was trying 5-0 to switch crook shovits but couldn’t quite hold on. The two to watch on this contest were Andrew Classon and Ryan Barron. Ryan struggles sometime in competition, mainly because he only tries really hard tricks, but he usually does well in Best Tricks. Tonight was no exception as he stuck down a long manual reverted into a switch crook and bigspin out into the bank, and Andrew Classon showed everyone how easy it is to nollie crook nollie heelflip out. They took home a Hoodie and Deck respectively.

After the best tricks there was a video played on the wall of the building. It was all the original Authentic Welcome to the Team videos, but due to technical difficulties it got cut off just before the end. The crowd had a good time and the team skated solid. It was a good show…

Extreme Sports Skateboarding

Authentic to the Core

Jan 21,2014 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

au·then·tic

[aw-then-tik] Show IPA

adjective

not false or copied; genuine; real: an authentic antique.

It’s funny, when I chose to open up a Skate Shop we were throwing names around back and forth trying to come up with something that was unique, but still meant something really cool that related to skateboarding, to the City of Surrey, and of course to myself – Hippie Mike. The shitty part was, every single name I thought of myself had been over used before. At first when this name Authentic was thought up I honestly questioned it, not really feeling it. I didn’t like Authentic Skate Shop, or Authentic Board Shop, but Authentic Board Supply had an interesting ring to it, and as I said it to myself a few times, I started listening to it, and I wanted to know more about that title – Authentic…

I hit up the old dictionary and read the first line of the definition: Not false or copied; Genuine; Real: and Authentic Antique – all of a sudden I was attached to this name. I’m as far from being false as it gets, I’m straight to the core, plus I don’t copy people in anything; The word Genuine made me think of all the changes I helped make in the community over the past decade and how Surrey has such an awesome skate scene now; Real, it couldn’t be more real, I was ready to quit a job with the government after 11 years which I got to help make a lot of decisions in many different ways to run a skateboard shop; and this skateboard shop will be a piece of Surrey’s History Book forever no matter how long it lasts definitely making it an Authentic Antique. Then I started thinking Wow, this is getting serious, this is “As Real as it Gets” and the slogan stuck in my brain. All of a sudden, everything just clicked.

I love having the new Skate Shop and so many people are stoked to see it in Surrey, especially right in old Whalley. We’ve been super blessed with having lots of customers and everybody smiles in our store, it feels great. And the awesome part is now I get to continue to create all these sweet events for people to enjoy but have it promote something that is mine. Thank you all for your support and positive vibes. We’ve already made quite a few things happen in the community and there is plenty more to come.

Here’s what’s going on right now:

Authentic Team Demo and Video showing at Chuck Bailey Skate Park:

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

6-8pm

Surrey What! Saturdays:

New team rider video on the site every Saturday

Fast Times Fridays (Indoor Skate Spot):

Every Friday 3-6pm

Alice McKay building on the Cloverdale Fairgrounds

Skate School Lessons:

February 12-March 5 Ages 6-12

Alice McKay building on the Cloverdale Fairgrounds

And there’s a contest coming up February 8^th, stay tuned to the website for details.

If you haven’t been to the shop, come on in for a visit any day of the week 10am-6pm

Unit#1-10604 King George Blvd

or visit us online

www.authenticboardsupply.com

@authenticboardsupply

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Authentic-Board-Supply-CO/247256658759258?ref=hl

Is Merrick Orr the next David Gonzales?

Jan 9,2014 / By Hippie Mike / 1 Comment

I got my first impression of young Merrick Orr on July 1^st of 2013 at the annual Canada Day skateboard competition kickoff to Bowl Series at Seylynn Bowl. This was the 19^th year for Bowl Series and I’ve been at this event for about the past 12 years which is ironic since this kid was only 13 years old at that time. I had noticed him come into the park with his Mom and a true Seylynn legend Carlos Longo, and he even looked a lot like Carlos with scraggly hair and that rocker style. He had already caught my eye before he stepped on his board, but then he dropped in and started annihilating the place. Poppin’ crail grabs and kickflips over the hips and just cruising hard with full speed ahead mentality, everyone was checking out Merrick, and a lot of people were saying the line “Is this the next David Gonzales or what?” It was right around the time when David’s insane part had just dropped so he was fresh on the brain, but man did this kid skate like him, and look like him too…

Merrick was killing the park all day and was ready to join in the Advanced category which is super awesome for any 13 year old, especially at the oldest skate park around. His run began and he tried to ollie every hip on the way down the snake run making the common mistake of smashing his head going over the last hip into the deep end which is actually referred to as “Head Bang” because of how many people who have hit their head on it. He was dazed and confused but still wanted to skate and it took me, his Mom and Carlos to drag him over to his chair and sit him down. Merrick was hurt physically, but even more scarred mentally that he wouldn’t be able to compete that day. We told him it was for the best and kept him sitting down. Of course once the Advanced Finals started there he suddenly appeared back in full motion. I knew right then that this kid was determined to skateboard.

Merrick came out to all the comp that summer travelling over from Vancouver Island every time. He lives in Sooke and wanted to get down in the Vancouver scene. I think he did a great job impressing people because we all know him simply as Merrick and love to watch him skate. This kid is gonna be around a long time, and he actually may just be the next David Gonzales, or maybe he’s the next Carlos Longo just in a different era. Either way, he stokes me up big time.

Check out his latest edit filmed and edited by Shawn Rowbottom and give this kid some props. He picks out the nastiest, gnarliest and most unskateable spots and lays it down

Fabric Skate Shop’s Year End Party

Jan 7,2014 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

Happy New Year I hope you are all had a great time with your family and friends. This was my first Christmas and New Year’s abroad, and it was a lot of fun. Over the winter break I went to a year-end party hosted by Fabric Skate Shop. Kojima and Saori are truly amazing people for hosting this kind event and have always been incredibly welcoming since I first arrived here. I got to meet tons of people who I kind of already knew from Shin-Yokohama Park but didn’t really talk to as I was too focused on my skating and they weren’t sure if I spoke Japanese. In Canada, I almost always practice by-myself and completely zone into my own skating completely ignoring my surroundings, but now that I’m here, I think I’m going to try and change that a little this year and try to reach out to some of the other skaters here a bit more.

At the party we ate freshly cut sushi off a skateboard with skate videos of the shop-team playing when I noticed “holy crap that’s White-Rock“. Apparently the Lower Mainland’s reputation extends all the way over here too as some people were talking about their skateboard experiences in Vancouver and their favourite spots. I felt right at home talking with these guys who know what skating in the lower mainland is all about. It was a great time and I was stoked to be invited.

I hope everyone has a fantastic New Year and lets all try to actually stick to those new year’s resolutions. Take care

Spirit of the Season #3

Dec 28,2013 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

It takes a lot to hold ol’ Hippie Santa back from showing up to Chuck Bailey for his annual Spirit of the Season Jam each year which usually falls on the Friday before Christmas, but last week Father Winter decided to bury the bowl with snow so the event was held off until December 27^th. Now after Christmas is always a tough time for Santa because he’s super warn out and tired from being overworked, but he came through for the kids, even with being half down with the flu.

Authentic Board Supply partnered with The City of Surrey to bring you year #3 of this awesome event which is supposed to remind people the meaning of the Christmas Season and how it is all about giving and sharing. So all the prizes that are donated by distributors and companies get gift wrapped before the event and are just given away throughout the night. If it doesn’t relate to the person that gets it, they can just give it away to someone that will appreciate it.

The usual Chuck Bailey crew was in full effect and everyone was shredding the bowl. Allen Handley was killing the deep end all night long with inverts, miller flips and crazy grabbing grind maneouvers, while Mathew McCauley, Weston Hutchinson and Cory Gibson were blasting all the big gaps. Fighter was all over the map landing tons of tricks and Calvin Dignard impressed Hippie Santa by learning some sick Madonna Tailblock transfers from deep to shallow. The young kids were having fun in the shallow end all night and everyone had a great time together which is truly what was important, but the show was all Andy Anderson. He got called out to frontside lipslide the whole capsule of the deep end and did it, he got called out to kickflip the biggest section from top to flat and stuck it 2^nd try, and the rest of the time he just did what Andy does best, DEMOOOOOOO!!

Everyone had a great time, it was super fun to see so many people together under the cover at Chuck Bailey again. Pretty much every person there received at least one gift and DJ Cuz-O kept us rocking all evening long. Thanks to all the sponsors, thanks to the City, thanks to the peeps that came out, thanks to Dennis Regan for filming, and Matt Roszmann for shooting pics, and thanks for the good Christmas Spirit.

Until next year…

(Keep an eye on our Facebook page for photos in the next few days)

Extreme Sports Skateboarding

Shred, Share, STOKED!!

Dec 16,2013 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

Last night was the 5^th year that Maple Ridge local Jesse Holland put on the Shred, Share, STOKED contest at the Greg Moore Youth Centre’s indoor skate park. It’s a youth event so the competitors are all 13-18 years old. This competition is a Christmas fundraiser for the local community charities and the kids enter the comp with either $5, 5 food items or 5 articles of clothing.

The Beginners were hardcore and lots of them ripped it up. Kids were kickflipping the 5 stair and launching huge of the ramps. Surrey local Damon Morgan dominated with style and confidence and took 1^st Place. The Intermediate category was gigantic and only 3 kids were taking prizes. It came down to Jonathan, John and Jayden M. These kids all shredded hard and fast with super sick tricks all over the park. Noah Eastwood and Weston Hutchinson definitely just missed the rankings on this com but all 5 of these guys really showed their skills, style and creativity. Jayden took it home 1^st place. Then we finally got to Advanced where the level of skating went way up. Protest and Authentic rider Andy Anderson got things started by blowing the minds of everyone in the building as he hit trick after trick on every obstacle. Flip tricks, tranny tricks, wallrides and ledges but the kicker was when he effortlessly anti-flipped the 3 block as good as it gets. He set the bar super high in the first heat, but next up was Chance and Authentic rider Dominic DeVries and he let Andy know that he wasn’t scared of him tossing a whole bunch of tough ledge and rail tricks, nollie in, flip in and so on. He also showed some of his transition skills. It was gonna tight between these 2 right from the start. Jacob Drescher reminded the crowd that he was there with some solid ledge and rail skating and his patented Double Flips down the set, and Calum Wood repped hard for his hometown with some super tech. He even impossibled off the big drop. It was tight between all Advanced but these guys were the ones to watch. The judging was based on “Best Run” and it ended like this – 1^st Dominic; 2^nd Andy; 3^rd Calum

Great contest and good fundraiser

Extreme Sports Skateboarding

You Spin me Right Round Baby Right Round

Dec 13,2013 / By Protest Skateboards / No Comment

Last night marked the beginning of Authentic Board Supply’s Grand Opening Sale. They opened their doors to the public on November 2^nd and have continuously been adding more and more to the shop since then. Now it is official, it’s open!

If you haven’t had a chance to hit up this Surrey Skate Shop yet it should be on your list of to do’s, even if it’s just to stand in front of their massive Board Wall for a few moments. Hippie Mike has worked very hard to make this place special and we are stoked about the response he has been receiving. Last night he had DJ Cuz-O show up and lay down some tracks from 6-9pm to keep the vibe sweet and mellow in the shop and the sale began. Tons of people showed up right at 6 and it was chaotic in there but the solid staff managed to keep it running smooth and ensure that everyone was treated equally. This is already the 2^nd unique event that has gone down inside Authentic, there was already a video premiere and game of skate a couple weeks ago and we’re sure there will be many more to come. If you haven’t done so already tune in to www.authenticboardsupply.com and start following so you don’t miss out on stuff like this.

The Grand Opening Sale continues all weekend long, guest vendors will be on site at times, and each day will be full of fun surprises until they close on Sunday, come on down and check it out.

Unit #1 – 10604 King George Blvd

Surrey

604-589-5880

Skater for Life

Dec 9,2013 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

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

I just watched this new Nyjah Huston – Fade to Black part and I’m sitting here in awe. Even if you’re one of those people who doesn’t like Nyjah for whatever ignorant reason you may have, you would definitely have to respect this video part. It’s Ridiculous. Growing up through the different eras of skateboarding over the past quarter century+ I was there for the invention of the nose, boards getting skinnier and wheels becoming the size of your bearrings. And the decks and other hardgood parts kept changing and evolving, along with the tricks that we tried and created as a group getting more and more technical and dangerous. But when the shape of a skateboard stopped changing, the world of skateboarding actually changed more, and evolved into what we see today as standard professional insanity. The last time I think I saw a video part this mind blowing and revolutionary it was either Rodney Mullen in Virtual Reality or Jamie Thomas in Welcome to Hell. It’s not just the tricks that go down, it’s how they go down and the obstacles that they go down on. It’s the way these guys land these tricks you never thought were possible and make it look perfect, and it’s how they step up the level of skateboarding as a whole with only 4 1/2 minutes of footage. David Gonzales did it too recently with Possessed to Skate. These kids are stepping the game up to a level that is super scary to think about the next generation. Every trick that Nyjah did was not only flawless but each one of them would have been the final trick in the biggest video in 1996, even in 2006 for some of them. Nyjah is not just a skateboarder, he is a trained professional that puts his life on the line multiple times every year. And when you see him bounce off the ground when he sticks on that 20 stair glass railing you recognize the seriousness of every obstacle he rides in this part. It’s insanity…

Seeing skateboarding like this gets me pumped up big time because skateboards are no longer everchangingm, so super hard tricks have become the norm for all solid skaters and now they take them to the gnarliest obstacles you could imagine. I remember when the first ever switch back lip went down on a handrail, and now that’s just warm up. It just makes you realize that us older guys will never be able to compete with the generation of street skaters that now exist but we get to be proud of the fact that it was the life we lived and the tricks we did which helped this generation evolve into what it did. It’s an amazing life we live being a part of this society that we have built and I am super proud to be a part of this culture.

We rule our own lives, we make our own decisions of how hardcore to get, and we tackle fear by challenging ourselves every day.

We live our own way and don’t take shit from anybody.

Be Proud – Be a Skater for Life

Super Mario

Dec 5,2013 / By Ryan Brynelson / No Comment

Alright! I keep meeting more and more freestylers here. A couple of weeks ago Mario Steinemann and his friend came to Japan to hang out. Mario is an insane truck trick skater riding his board in ways you didn’t think were possible. We’re talking going from Railstand (Primo), late flip to truckstand madness! It was good to catch up with him in Japan since I haven’t seen him since the 2010 world-championships.

He’s such an amazing skater and still lands everything he tries. He’s an incredibly hilarious guy (so funny I can’t post even a hint of his humour on this website), always up for partying and having a good time. With all the diverse characters in the freestyle community he is definitely the comedian and the guy to ease the tension in any heated situation.

Good to see you Mario and were glad you had a great time in Japan.

Now who will I run into tomorrow? 😉

Do you know Dominic Devries yet?

Dec 2,2013 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

I still remember the first time I met him a few years ago when Dominic Devries showed up to one of my Hippie Mike’s Tour de Surrey comps at the Fleetwood Park and I was super amazed instantly. Not only could he stomp tricks anywhere in the park, but he did it with style and authority. He was only like 14 at the time and could frontside flip the big 3block as clean as Tom Penny or Andrew Reynolds would. I knew right from that moment that this kid was gonna good….

As the years went by Dominic kept coming out to my events and others that I was at and he was just around more and more. Lots of people got to know him at all the main parks, and luckily people started filming him all the time. I gave him the nickname of The Dominator when he was 16 because that’s what he did. He went for big tricks on big obstacles and landed everything, and in competition he would rule it hard and was almost impossible to beat. He reminded me of Magnus Hanson and the Decenzo brothers as I watched them grow through their teen years. They all just have this extra natural talent inside them that makes them that much better than the rest of the crowd. But being really good at skateboarding means taking some bad crashes and Dominic is no exception in the broken bones category. This kid has taken himself out many times but always come back just as strong as before if not stronger. Dominic’s one of the main team riders for Chance Skateboards and just got put on Authentic Board Supply’s elite Surrey team as the secret and final rider. He’s got some other flow sponsors to help keep him skating and tons of support from everyone who knows him from Abbotsford to Vancouver and everywhere in between.

I’ve seen a lot of footage of Dom over the past couple years and every new edit blows my mind, but this new edit he just dropped recapping the Summer of 2013 is by far the best footage he has released to date – and Pure Street at it’s best. It really shows off his talent, his style and his commitment to skateboarding. At 17 years old, this kid could be the next big Pro one day. Watch the video and show him your love…

Category : Extreme Sports