Kilian – Killin’ it!

May 31,2012 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

K – I – L – I – A – N…

Kilian Martin is a maniac. This guy just might be the next Rodney Mullen. A freestyle wizard, with some serious street skills, and combining the 2 together to create tricks out of some other dimension.

This video has been anticipated for quite a while, and after watching it you will understand why. Kilian has passed Tony Hawk’s record for the most hits on Youtube with over 5 million, and just to prove how, this video was released yesterday on May 29^th, and at this moment has been viewed 42,824 times. That’s insane!!

Filmed, edited and directed by Brett Novak, in association with Mercedes, there is some serious production value behind it. It looks like they were at an old abandoned amusement park somewhere in California. Kilian makes good use of any obstacles that are still existing, and straight up kills it.

Watch the video, screw your head back on, and go learn this stuff…

A quick Sunday Session with Andy and Stu

May 29,2012 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

I went and met up with Team Riders, Andy Anderson and Stu Benoit on Sunday to do a little filming. Andy got tied up on the skytrain for a while and it took him an hour and a half longer than us to get to the first stop – Kensington Skate Park. Stu and I had already played a little game of “Skate” and were both pretty much done with that park by the time Andy showed up, so it was all him. He started to annihilate the pool right away with grinds and airs over the deathbox in the deep end. So I started filming. Andy killed the pool, the mini ramp and the launcher in about half an hour but he blew out a bearing and we had to go get another one. Stu finished off his game of Bocce with the boys and we took off, grabbed a bearing at Stu’s and went to Hastings Park.

Both of them start shredding the bowl instantly. Man I wish I could skate a bowl like these guys, effortless tricks on every section, but nothing easy. Stu threw down his usual blunts, tailslides and lipslides wherever he felt like it, and Andy ripped through the bowl super fast hitting every obstacle possible. I told him to clear this gap from the 6 foot hip over the landing to the other quarterpipe coming back the other direction – it’s about 10 feet. Andy told me there was no way.

He landed it within 4 tries.

Then he did it about 5 times in a row – solid.

We filmed for about half an hour at each park, check out the footage.

Not bad for a quick Session on a Sunday…

Red Bull Manny Mania @ The Vancouver Skate Plaza

May 29,2012 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

Looks like another opportunity for all you skater kids to get your names out there, and win an awesome trip to New York. The qualifiers are happening all across Canada which is great. Check out the schedule and see if your local community is gettin’ hit up.

For all the Lower Mainlanders, Plaza – June 2^nd. Go represent the BC scene and show the rest of the country why The West is the Best…

Wanna skate in the Red Bull Manny Mania in your area? Grab your deck, ’cause here is your chance!

Just show up at the location near you and be ready to throw down your best combo of tricks on two wheels!

Must be 16 years old

If you are under the age of 18, be sure to bring a parent or guardian.

Scroll down for cities and dates but check back for exact locations and times!

YOU CAN TRY TO WIN A TRIP TO NYC IF:

You are a Canadian resident
You are not a professional skateboarder nor have entered a contest at the professional level before.
You haven’t had a signature product sold in stores and/or haven’t received royalties from a product.

HALIFAX, NS:
Saturday May 19
Registration: TBD
Competition: TBD
Location: Pro Skates, 6451 Quinpool Road

LONDON, ON:
Thursday May 31
Registration: 5pm
Competition: 6pm
Location: Kiwanis Park

TORONTO, ON:
Friday June 1
Registration: 5pm
Competition: 6pm
Location: Ashbridge’s Bay Park

OTTAWA, ON:
Saturday June 2
Registration: 3pm
Competition: 4pm
Location: Legacy Skatepark

VANCOUVER, BC:
Saturday June 2
Registration: 12 Noon
Competition: 1pm
Location: Vancouver Skate Plaza

WINNIPEG, MB:
Thursday June 7
Registration: 5:30pm
Competition: 6:30pm
Location: Edge Skate Park – 333 King St

MONTREAL, QC:
Saturday June 9
Registration: TBD
Competition: TBD
Location: Le Taz Skate Park

TROIS-RIVIERES, QC:
Saturday June 16
Registration: TBD
Competition: TBD
Location: Perigny, Quebec Pace Ste-Foy 2450 Boul. Laurier

EDMONTON, AB:
Friday June 22
Registration: 5:30pm
Competition: 6:30pm
Location: West 49 Skate Park – West Edmonton Mall

QUEBEC, QC:
Saturday June 23
Registration: TBD
Competition: TBD
Location: DLX, 2480, Chemin Sainte-Foy

CALGARY, AB:
Saturday June 23
Registration: 7pm
Competition: 8pm
Location: Red Bull Warehouse – 701 30th St NE

NATIONAL FINAL: OTTAWA, ON:
CANADA DAY – Sunday July 1
Registration: TBD
Competition: TBD
Location: Top of the World, 158 Rideau

Fundraising for BC Children’s Hospital

May 29,2012 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

Come out to Tsawwassen Skate Park on June 2^nd – 11am-1pm to be a part of this fundraiser. In support of a young boy recently diagnosed withLeukemia, there will be crowd of people hanging out at the park, some of whom will be cutting their hair for charitable donations. And in hope of giving young Nolan McLeod a funfilled day, there will be some serious skateboarding going on, along with some fresh tunes. Proud supporters – Paul Machnau-RDS, Red Star, Coastal Riders, Mike Hastie-RDS, Kitsch, Hippie Mike-Protest, Dustin Columbo, Mosaic Skatecrew and more

Come show your support…

Pledge some money, get a buzz cut, or just show up for a skate.

All proceeds raised will go directly to the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation and you can download the pledge form by clicking here.

Extreme Sports Skateboarding

New! – Cloverdale Skate Park

May 29,2012 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

The decision was made last year and finalized in March that the City of Surrey was going to rebuild The Cloverdale Skate Park – 17800 block of 64^th ave. The original park will be torn down and removed and the new park will be built on the Cloverdale Fairgrounds, closer to the Cloverdale Recreation Centre on 176 st. The contracts with New Line Skate Parks has been signed and 1.6 million dollars has been set as the budget to work under. This park will resemble Chuck Bailey Skate Park in size and creativity will also continue the newest trend by having a portion of it covered by a roof.

The City of Surrey is out there bettering the skateboard community by providing these amazing facilities for us to use, and hopefully the other cities are learning from their lead.

If you would like to put in your input towards the design plan for this new Cloverdale Skate Park, please come to the planning meeting held May 31^st, 6-8pm at the Cloverdale Recreation Centre – 6188 176st. Surrey.

The World Round-Up Freestyle Championships

May 26,2012 / By Hippie Mike / 1 Comment

What an awesome event. Presented to you by 2 of the most memorable names in the skateboard industry, Kevin Harris and Monty Little, with assistance from Kai Dunkel, a freestyle skateboarder out of Germany. Unfortunately, Kai could not be there for the event but his presence was strong. For those who don’t know, Kevin Harris was and is the Number 1 freestyle skateboarder of Canada, and still rips up the surface. He’s the owner of Ultimate Distribution, Concrete Magazine, and has supported the generations of skateboarding over the years with such indoor parks as The Skateboard Ranch, and the RDS Park. Monty is the man behind the scenes of skateboarding who helped to create the entire Contest/Demo acceptance in Western Canada. He was the reason for skateboarding back at Expo ’86 and has promoted the sport ever since.

He recently received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his hard work and dedication to the advancement of skateboarding in Canada.

We all thank you Monty.

With a lot of work from these 3 individuals and a ton of collaboration across the world, The World Round-Up was on the way to happening. The top Freestyle Skateboarders from around the world were invited to come and compete in Surrey, BC, at the annual Cloverdale Rodeo. With a beautiful indoor surface inside the Cloverdale Curling Rink, the competition was set. Shawn from Ollie North Skateboard Shop in Cloverdale helped to promote the event and then created a Live Streaming of the Finals world-wide over the internet.

Add one more amazing name to the list of Generals running the contest – Russ Howell, one of North Americas first skateboarders starting at age 9 back in 1958, and still to the day, the world record holder for Most Consecutive Spins on a skateboard with 163 rotations. Crazy! At 62 years old, Russ was wowing the crowd by putting down the microphone at any given moment and hopping on his board to do some tricks. This man has an incredible sense of balance on his skateboard, but also an amazing library of quotes that he squeaks into his MCing. I was loving the quotes all day, especially the way Russ says them, like he’s standing alone on the top of a mountain for the entire world to hear and understand him. He was awesome. With Russ, Kevin and AJ Kohn on the mics, it was a great show.

The crowds were happening, and the skaters were all performing at the top of their games. 2 of my Protest Team Riders were in the finals for the Amateur division – Ryan Brynelson and Andy Anderson. Ryan is super amazing at Freestyle, with tricks like Primo Handstand Kickflips, and a style that represents his mentor Kevin Harris, I knew Ryan would do well. And he did, with a 2^nd place finish. Andy on the other hand, is not a freestyle skater, but is a very quick learner and has always practised some freestyle tricks growing up. He was the “Wonder Boy” of the event, showing up on the Saturday and asking if he could enter. They let him, and within moments he had begun to impress everyone. My favorite part of the day was when Jim Goodrich, world respected photographer, came over to Andy and his parents and told him how awesome he was. His exact words were, “You`re an amazing kid and You’re stoking up the other skaters to try harder…” I loved it because it was true. But to have someone of Jim’s stature come over and tell you this is very impressive, especially for a 16 year old. I’m sure lots of people from the event will be googling Andy Anderson’s name to see what he skates like in his actual realm. The Amateurs were all great to watch, and Shaun Gladwell ripped it up with sick style. This guy has a serious sense of balance on his board and demonstrated that all weekend. No one was going to beat him at this event. The other amateur I was really impressed with was Takashi Suzuki. Such a creative and innovative skater, like a feather swirling around on a skateboard. You really need to watch some of his skating to understand how unique it is

[youtube id=”EEG4uA1_srk” width=”620″ height=”360″]

All of the Amateurs put on a great show Shaun, Ryan, Takashi, Andy, Felix Jonsson, Daniel Trujillo, Michael Sterling and the lonesome female, Mic Murayama. They all had unique style, and they all ripped the floor to shreds. Thanks for travelling all the way here for the event.

The Pros stepped it up about 3 levels though. You could smell the experience in the room. Most of these guys are in their late 30`s and early 40`s and have been performing Freestyle Skateboarding for most of their lives. They were all unstoppable.

From Gunter Mokulys, Rene Shigueto and Per Caguru, to Stephan Akesson, Darryl Grogan and Greyson Ashton, these guys all blew us away and hovered over the rest of the competition. Mike Osterman was one of my favorites to watch throughout the day because he was super technical and loved to please the crowd. He would toss out some amazing pogo flip ridiculousness and give the crowd a look-back in the middle of it. He was definitely a showman, and with age will gain more experience. Stephan Albert, Jesse Whalen and Sean Burke also all ripped it up the whole day. Everyone`s techniques were very different from one another`s, and it must make for some painful judging decisions, but all in all, they were amazing.

Kilian Martin put on a demo for us prior to the Pro Division that was absolutely mind blowing. This kid is the next biggest name of Freestyle Skateboarding. He has already surpassed Tony Hawk for the most hits on Youtube and is not slowing down. Stay tuned for his newest video release coming up on May 29^th…

Results:

Pro:

Am:

I loved this event. I still can`t get over the support that was present behind the scenes. Kevin Harris, Monty Little, Russ Howell, Jim Goodrich, Bill Robertson, even George Powell was there.

This is what skateboarding is about – building and maintaining a community in which we all support each other and work together to promote the one passion that we all share – Skateboarding…

To me, that`s what this event was all about. Family, and what it means to these older guys to help their “kids“ to continue on with the love of skateboarding. Skateboarding isn`t about who is the best at what tricks, and who landed the most that day, it`s about who you meet on your journeys, the experiences you have with those people, and why you love to surf around on a piece of wood on 4 wheels. Anyone who understands this statement knows that your life can be changed by this skateboard, your dreams can turn into reality, and your individual passions can fulfil your soul, all from just hopping on your board and riding down the road…

Here is the Compilation Video of the Finals.

[youtube id=”HMnRXf4VSWk” width=”620″ height=”360″]

Read more about some of the special guests that helped to support this event.

Jim Goodrich

I got into skate photography by accident…literally. After breaking my arm while skateboarding, I started shooting photos of my skateboard buddies. That eventually led to a job as a staff photojournalist for SkateBoarder Magazine. I made a lot of great friends, traveled the world, and experienced things that few people get the chance to do. I’ve since moved on to other things in life but the skater lifestyle will always be a part of me. – Jim Goodrich

http://jimgoodrich.net/skateboardportfolio.htm

You have to check this site to see how many historic Father Figures of skateboarding Jim has shot photos of, pretty unbelievable – from Stacy Peralta, Shogo Kubo, Tony Alva, to Lance Mountain, Mike McGill, the Gator, even Duane Peters – one of my favorites. Check out his Studio Site to learn more about what this man has done for the world of skateboarding.

Bill Robertson

Dr. Skateboard is Bill Robertson, Ph.D., currently an associate professor in science & technology education at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). Dr. Bill Robertson is no ordinary guy and his identity as Dr. Skateboard comes from his expertise in the fields of education and skateboarding.

A skateboarder for over 35 years, Bill has entertained 1000’s of spectators at schools, special events and festivals throughout the United States.

http://www.drskateboard.com/

Russ Howell

Just an all around amazing person, and obviously a born genius. At 62 years old with 54 years of experience on the board, this man has been through a lot in his life, and has so much to share.

http://www.skatewhat.com/russhowell/index.html

World Round-Up… The Footage Begins

May 24,2012 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

Man, I got so much footage at the Finals on Monday. I’m still uploading it into my editing program. The final article along with a compilation video will be posted by Friday or Saturday. I know you’re all waiting to see some wicked performances, so here’s a little bit to get you going.

These were the demos that some of the Pros put on during their introductions prior to the actual Finals, along with Shaun Gladwell’s final run in the Amateur Division – 1^st place finish – and a solid example from the master, Kilian Martin showing off why he is considered to be the next biggest name of Freestyle Skateboarding. Mind Blowing.

Just to give you a dose of what you’re going to see in the upcoming video,

Enjoy.

Kilian Martin – Demo

Stephan Albert – Demo

Guenter Mokulys – Demo

Mike Osterman – Demo

Per Canguru – Demo

Rene Shigueto – Demo

Shaun Gladwell – Final Run in Amateur – 1^st Place finish

Stefan “Lillis” Akesson – Demo

Ryan Brynelson Has Joined The Protest!!

May 24,2012 / By Hippie Mike / 3 Comments

The Protest Team just keeps getting bigger, but also more and more diverse.

We got bowl rippers, flip trick masters, old-schoolers, new-schoolers and of course myself – who will skate anything and everything. But there was one thing missing, a Freestyle Skateboarder.

Over the evolution of the skateboard era, board shapes have changed dramatically, and the style of obstacles and the scenes of which we skate have changed with it. But there’s one thing that still exists, and that is the freedom of expression. Freestyle Skateboarding is a way of life. It’s you and your board making magic happen together. You don’t need a skate park, you don’t need an audience, you just need passion. I’ve been watching this kid grow for about 4 or 5 years now, and the one thing I always recognized in his skating was passion. He loves to learn and loves to try new things. And with a lot of mentorship from the legendary Kevin Harris, I knew he was only going to get better.

I talked to Ryan on the phone the night before the World Round-Up Freestyle Championships and laid down an offer of having him join the team. I was not surprised at how stoked he was about it. This kid is an amazing person, who loves to skateboard and be good at it, but is also one of the most humble people you’ll ever meet. Reminds me a lot of Rodney Mullen.

In this lifetime, and with the right support behind him, I believe that he will make a memorable mark on the skateboard community world-wide. And I am stoked to help him with that.

Ryan Brynelson… Welcome to PROTEST!

The World Round-Up Finals (Just a Taste)

May 22,2012 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

I went to the Finals on Monday, May 21^st, 2012 of the first ever “World Round-Up Freestyle Skateboard Championships” held at the Cloverdale Rodeo in Surrey, British Columbia. I’ve been watching Freestyle skateboarding for many years so I knew what to expect, but I don’t really follow the names that much, so I wasn’t exactly sure WHO to expect… I knew Kevin Harris would be there since he was involved with making the event happen, but I also knew he wasn’t going to be competing. I knew Ryan Brynelson was going to be there since I just added him to the Protest Team, but I knew he was going to be in the Amateur division. I did not know that Andy Anderson, another one of my riders on the Protest Team was going to show up as a late entry and compete in the Amateur. He did really well too. But it was the big names people came to see, Per Canguru, Rene Shigueto, Darryl Grogan, Stephan Albert, Stephan Lillis Akesson, Guenter Mokulys and the man of the freetstyle board – Kilian Martin, who unfortunately was not competing. There were lots of people to watch, all putting on amazing displays for the crowd. No matter how they placed, they were definitely all seen as champions. The coolest thing about going to a Freestyle Contest as a spectator, is it’s almost like you transferred into another dimension. Freestyle Skateboarding is very rare, and these guys live it so they’re used to it, but any other skater now a days, gets their mind blown away when they’re watching it. It can almost knock you down a couple notches in your confidence level of how good you are on a skateboard, because these guys are frickin’ amazing. I’ve been skateboarding for over 26 years and I am still baffled by half the tricks people do in freestyle. They are definitely one with their boards.

It was an awesome event, with a great purpose.

Both my Team Riders qualified to the finals in the Amateur division with Ryan Brynelson landing in 2^nd place, so close to winning behind Shaun Gladwell, and then the unknown wonder who showed up out of the blue, Andy Anderson finishing 5^th. Yeah Andy!

Here are the results for the Top 5 in the Professional division:

1st Place – Darryl Grogan (USA)
2nd Place – Guenter Mokulys (Germany)
3rd Place – Stefan Lillis Akesson (Sweden)
4th Place – Rene Shigueto (Brazil)
5th Place – Per Canguru (Brazil)

For the guys who didn’t make top 5, no worries. The scores were all decimal points apart through all 10 riders. Tight competition…

This is just a taste about the World Round-Up Freestyle Championships. Stay tuned in a couple of days and I will have a full story about the event, along with some seriously mind blowing footage…

Until then, click the link below

Kevin Harris – PNE Story

http://youtu.be/NAGMKe2JlVU

Contests Extreme Sports Skateboarding

Street League 2012

May 22,2012 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

[youtube id=”c6R_9PWaLOo” width=”620″ height=”360″]

Man, it’s finally started. Last year, 2011, the world changed with the drop of the Street League Skateboarding Championships. All you could do as a skateboarder was sit in your chair and scream at the top of your lungs for every trick that went down. The competitors are insane, Ryan Sheckler, Chaz Ortiz, Sean Malto, Chris Cole, Nyjah Huston and so many more. Nyjah dominated the entire series last year and I’m sure is planning on doing that again. But the momentum of all the others is going to be driving 800 miles per hour to try to stop him. I just realized today that the 2012 Street League has begun. Hopefully I can catch a repeat of the first event since I missed it on Saturday. But here’s the schedule so now we all know when it’s happening.

Tickets for the Street League DC Pro Tour Fueled by Monster Energy will go on sale April 2 at streetleague.com.

Stop one: May 18-19
Sprint Center, Kansas City, Mo.
Live on ESPN2, May 19, 9:00 p.m. ET

Stop two: June 15-16
Citizens Business Bank Arena, Ontario, Calif.
Live on ESPN2, June 16, 9:30 p.m.ET

Stop three: July 14-15
Jobing.com Arena, Glendale, Ariz.
Live on ESPN2, July 15, 7:00 p.m. ET

Championship: August 26
Prudential Center, Newark, N.J.
Live on ESPN2, August 26, 5:00 p.m. ET

Category : Extreme Sports