With the Westshore Skate Park at risk of being removed sometime this summer, Hippie Mike figured it was a good time to head over to Langford and do something special at the park. Join him this Sunday on Go Sk8 Day as he works alongside Heritage Boardshop and DC Shoes to host a Best Trick Contest and Free BBQ for all the islanders in Langford, BC.
June 21st, 3-6pm
Sponsored by DC Shoes, Heritage Boardshop, Protest Skateboards, Vulcan Bolts, Burn Bros, and Fury Trucks
Hippie Mike’s Super Tour is back for the second year and the dates are set along with the 4 locations being locked down. This year is going to be amazing as Mike is preparing to hold contests at 4 of the best made skate parks in the Lower Mainland / Fraser Valley.
Starting off near the skytrain route at Chuck Bailey Skate Park in Surrey you know the hype is going to be big and the tricks are gonna get wild; heading over to Queensboro Park in New Westminster the creative lines are going to flowing in every direction; joining into The Tsawwassen Sun Festival next to get busy at one of the most sunniest and funnest places Tsawwassen Skate Park in South Delta you know the lines will be awesome as it is one of the best contest parks of all time; and then finishing it off back on the skytrain route downtown Vancouver at the Vancouver Skate Plaza. This place hasn’t seen a contest like the one Mike is going to bring in a long long time.
With the help of all the sponsors, and of course Mike’s trusty sidekick DJ Cuz-O this year is going to be a great one for Hippie Mike’s Super Tour, it’s going to help grow the skate community by bringing more kids together and once again branch out to different cities to help build a stronger bond between the skate community and regular old society.
Get your food donations ready, learn some fresh lines, and show with a smile at all 4 of these amazing events
June 20th – Chuck Bailey Skate Park in Surrey
July 18th – Queensboro All Wheels Park in New Westminster
August 2nd (Sunday) – Tsawwassen Skate Park in South Delta
August 29th – Vancouver Skate Plaza in Vancouver
The latest run of boards has arrived at the Protest Warehouse, from the Bob Marley and Malcolm X decks to the crazy coloured Lion Head and of course a memorable look at the unforgettable Vancouver Riots, the 2015 Summer Series is about finding your freedom, making a statement, and doing what you believe is right in every situation of life while shredding the parks and streets on your board. And stay tuned for the latest edition of our Protest Cruiser Decks coming soon with an awesome new graphic designed by the one and only Andy Anderson.
These decks are distributed exclusively in Canada by Platform Distribution http://platformdist.com/ so ask your local stores to order you one in if they don’t already have stock. For all other sales enquiries contact Hippie Mike by email through the Contact section on the website…
Protest Skateboards – We do what we do because we know what needs to be done and refuse to sit around waiting for someone else to do it for us
Another awesome year for The World Round Up Freestyle Skateboard Championships, this year definitely had its highlights – from local boy Andy Anderson winning the Amateur division, 12 year old Isamu Yamamoto placing 4th in his first ever Pro contest, Guenter Mokulys taking the trophy home in his 100th contest, and all the way to the new guy from the United States Derek Elliott busting out an insane, never been landed before, Jawbreaker in the Best Trick contest…
All the regulars were there like Rene Shigueto, Takashi Suzuki, Stephan Albert, Stefan Lillis Akesson, Mike Osterman, Per Canguru, Kaue Arouja, Christian Heise, Guenter Mokulys, and many more, and all the usual behind the scenes guys that help make the contest a success like Monty Little, Kevin Harris, Kolby Harris, AJ Kohn, Russ Howell, Jim Goodrich, Ryan Ellan, DJ Cuz-O, Lyle Chippaway and Tony Lum, and of course myself Hippie Mike doing the filming. It’s an amazing and unique event and as Kilian Martin states in an interview in the video “Freestyle was never meant to be judged” so this makes it extra tough to be the guys with the pens in hand. It’s amazing to watch these guys do the best that they can do in their own styles and hope that that will be better than the next guy and the best that he could do.
In the Amateur division Andy Anderson came out strong proving that he had been actually practicing Freestyle this year, his runs were solid, unique, and fully choreographed to the songs he had chosen. But he was facing 2 Brazilian machines – Kaue Arouja and Diego Pires Afonso. The top 3 of this category was uncatchable and it was definitely a battle to the finish. Somehow Andy took the gold medal by 1 point in the Finals. The crowd was stoked!!
In Pro it was just plain insane. Everybody was having killer runs and landing harder tricks than last year. Mike Osterman and Guenter Mokulys were bouncing back and forth on who was in 1st over the weekend and both of them wanted the gold. But little 12 year old Isamu Yamamoto from Japan was sitting in 3rd place after the Semi-Finals and you know he could taste it too…
Boards were breaking, trucks and kingpins were crumbling, and no one was ready to give up. This year felt the most intense for people actually wanting to win it. At his 100th Professional Contest, the 51 year old German machine Guenter Mokulys squeezed back in to 1st place during the Finals to take his 11th World Title. 2nd, 3rd & 4th place were all 1 point apart with Mike Osterman, Rene Shigueto and the little man Isamu Yamamoto. What a contest!!
Guenter added to his victory the next day by winning the 360 spin-off while Diego came out of nowhere in the Longest Coconut Wheelie competition hitting 80 feet long! Derek Elliott made history at the Round Up in the Best Trick Contest by stomping out a JawBreaker which is doing a handstand on top of your nose and top truck while your board is standing vertically on the floor. You need to watch the video to see it…
With true emotions in the air, the entire weekend was a hit. All participants had a blast, all spectators were super stoked, and the Freestyle Family tightened up once again.
Thanks to George Powell for coming out to watch the Finals and support this event, thanks to all the people that dedicate so much time to making it happen, and congratulations to Stefan Albert for winning the Henry Candiotti Award for being the smoothest skater of 2015…
Until next year, check out the vid
AMATEUR DIVISION
PRO DIVISION
NOTE: Ties were broken by using the 2nd
highest scoring runs and in some cases
the 3rd highest scoring runs.
LEGENDS FREESTYLE CLASSIC
BEST TRICK
Jesse Whalen
BEST HANDSTAND TRICK
Derek Elliott – Jaw Breaker
HENRY CANDIOTI SKATE-4-FUN AWARD
Stefan Albert
360 SPIN-OFF
Guenter Mokulys – 25 Spins
LONGEST COCONUT WHEELIE
Diego Pires Afonso – 80 Feet
CHAMPIONS OF HOPE AWARD
Stefan “Lillis” Akesson
Well, I’m back in Japan and off to a good start. The main reason being, the video that myself, Marc Whitelaw as well as the other people at BYC Collective, is finally finished and online. This video took us a long time mostly because we decided to incorporate some CG effects into it to make it really stand out. Not many skate-videos go this route, but we figured it would help us stand out and really build our own niche with skateboard videos.
I met Marc through a friend I once worked with back when I was at West 49. This guy was a huge fan of Kilian Martin and Brett Novak’s work, and he was really interested in making a major skate-video to help build a name for himself in his industry. When we first met up two and a half years ago, we hit it off right away and have been good friends since then.
This project took us quite awhile to complete mostly because of our animated robot friend, Ollie, who we plan to use in other projects in the years to come. For now, we hope you enjoy our first project in what we expect to be a long and incredible adventure. Ladies and Gentlemen, I’d like to present you with: Ampersand.
Youth Week on the Island is happening this year inside the Langford Heritage Skate Shop with the 2nd Annual Langford Slamma Contest hosted by Hippie Mike. The ramps are all built and ready for serious action. Come out Saturday night May 2nd, 6pm and join in the fun while you try and win yourself some cash and prizes!!!
Open to all ages and all skill levels. Plus we are raising some money towards a new skate park project in the area. Show your support!
See you there
It’s Youth Week again and you know we are stoked to get the kids skating. Kick it off with Hippie Mike and Andy Anderson as they MC the annual Surrey Youth Week Jam at Chuck Bailey Skate Park this Friday night starting at 4pm.
If you’re a youth 18 or under come out and join in, or just come hang out and show your support!
We headed over to Vancouver Island at the beginning of March to compete in a Skate Comp at the Sooke Skate Park and then help out with the final premiere of the Conspiracy Video at One Six Boards and Bikes. It was a little bit of the Protest team and the Vulcan Bolts team. Merrick Orr represented hard for Protest at the contest, of course Sooke is his local park but he definitely put on a Demo. Andy Anderson got 2nd and Giver Mike placed 3rd. All the kids had a blst at the comp and amazingly enough it was just like a summer day out there, and it was only March 7th.
After leaving our presence at the park we headed back towards Victoria stopping off at a couple little spots we saw to let Andy loose for a few minutes. Off to One Six where Ty Williamson’s Conspiracy Video was showing for the 3rd time. Tons of people showed up and all were loving the vid, but it was that Best Trick Comp in the ramp that people were itching for. Merrick Orr, Cam Blaney, Todd Tessier, Andy Anderson and more walked away with tons of prizes and tons of bruises.
It was a great day, check out the recap video from www.rollingbonespodcast.com to feel like you were there, and stay tuned for more recap action from this trip coming soon…
It was a quick decision when Rob from The Boardr sent Andy Anderson an invite to compete in the first ever Boardr Am contest series that qualifies 1 person automatically into an upcoming X-Games Am comp. The question wasn’t whether or not Andy wanted to go and compete but more about which ones of the 6 stops would be best to go to. Well, stop 1 happened to be in LA, in January, that made the decision easy. We flew down on the 21st giving us a couple days to hang out and see the town before the event. Day 1 we hit up Venice Beach, starting off with the Skate Park of course. What a great place, 3 bowls, some fun shaped clam shell quarters and a little bit of street obstacles. Andy and I (Hippie Mike) both shredded the snake bowl mostly, just having fun going fast and catching waves. After filming a couple quick Instagram videos I pulled out the real camera and caught a sick line of Andy in the deep bowl. He was wowing the audience both inside and outside of the park.
After a solid session we strolled down the strip a bit and saw the sights that reminded us of good old Hastings Street in East Van except with actual tourists around. It was a gorgeous day to hang out in Venice and then we headed off to some street spots and finished off the day with an evening LA Clippers game at Staples Centre. Blake Griffin demo!
The next morning we went over to Sheldon Skate Park where we thought the contest was to check in and warm up, but the contest location had been changed to Stoner Plaza because of them not getting the right permits for Sheldon. Oh well, we had to stay and shred this Sheldon Park, it was sick – Triple set, ledges, rails, quarter pipes everywhere, Andy put on a show at this park for sure. After getting heated up and filming a few lines we ventured off to Stoner. Stoner Plaza is a lot more streety and all the kids were bangin’ out the tech tricks. The most popular obstacles were definitely the bank to bank gap, the quarter pipe hip, the hubba and the rail. This location change definitely changed the style of the contest, but that didn’t change our attitudes. We were here to skate, and Andy was there to be seen. He definitely did some tricks that turned heads while we were there. After a solid warm up session and some quick filming we headed down the street to skate the ledges at Santa Monica Courtyard. The sun was going down so we didn’t stay long, but we made sure to get some footage. After that we jumped in the car and blasted off to Anaheim to check out the infamous Wouldshop Skateboards backyard pool and DIY park. Ben Butler was a great host letting us shred away until we felt like it was time to quit. Andy shredded hard in that pool and learned some fresh lines that had some danger factor in there for sure. What a sick time!!
Day 3, contest day, and it was hot. We headed back to Stoner and got right into it. The gate was still locked when we arrived so Andy started warming up in the little picnic area by putting on a Freestyle Demo for the other competitors. Once the gate opened up it was every man for himself and the park was flooded with talent of all ages. There ended up being about 115 competitors altogether that day so warm up time was pretty crazy with people skating fast in every direction. The contest got underway and Andy was in Jam 4 (out of 41 jams), 3 people, 3 minutes. He skated good and did lots of funky tricks that some people couldn’t comprehend and most people would never attempt. It wasn’t one of his best runs ever, but he made a mark with his creativity. Only 18 people were going to advance to the semi-finals so all he could do was hope he made it. The skill level was high at this comp and there were some dominators for sure, Dashawn Jordan, Sebo Walker, Micky Papa, Nate Greenwood, Paul Hart and Jon Cosentino were definitely the guys to watch out for in this one. Jon Cos represented hard all day with consistent style and perfect landings all over the park. He led the entire day, and stepped up his game in the finals to keep his lead and take the first all-expenses paid ticket to X-Games Am!! Way to go Jon, and way to represent Canada. Andy finished in 33rd place which was really good considering the talent he was up against and the fact that Stoner Plaza was not fully his style park. We got some grub and headed back to the hotel to chill for the night. We had all day the next day to go hit the streets before our flight home.
Woke up, got breakfast and started hunting out spots on www.laskatespots.com – first stop was Hollywood High. No warm up and a sneaky move through the gate, Andy started the day with commitment and style dropping 4 solid tricks down the 12 stair rail in about 10 minutes. We headed out from there and found a couple of the popular high schools from all the videos but there wasn’t much luck getting through the gates. We moved over to Santa Monica and ended up back at Stoner Plaza where we got directions to University High School for a little 8 stair action. Andy stuck a couple tricks down the rail and then signed his name with his patented Half Flip (or Anti-Flip) down the set and we called it a day.
It was a great trip and we got to see a lot in 4 days, the contest was sick and it was sweet to see everyone rip it up. It’s too bad the location was changed but it was still a great event. Thanks for travelling with us, now Click the link below for the recap video of Andy Anderson and Hippie Mike in LA
As most of you know I have been featured in the newspaper many times for many different reasons, all positive of course. This past summer I chose to make a change and take what was known as The Best Skateboard Contest Series in Surrey and expand it across the Lower Mainland bringing the same positive experiences and enjoyment to people of all ages in other cities than just Surrey. It was called Hippie Mike’s Super Tour and year 1 was a great success. So many of the regulars from Hippie Mike’s Tour de Surrey made themselves present at each event, and we definitely attracted new competitors from each city. The cities included this year were Surrey, Burnaby and Port Coquitlam. I chose these 3 for specific reasons:
#1 – it had to start in Surrey because that’s where the last series grew to be what it was, plus the new Cloverdale Skate Park was going to be brand new and ready for initiation
#2 – Railside Skate Park in Poco is a great park which has been the host to many amazing contests and demos over the years so it just made sense to go there for the finale of the first year. It was guaranteed that lots of people would show up, and that lots of people would skate good there
#3 – I chose Bonsor Skate Park in Burnaby for a few reasons, first and foremost it is the most centralized park in the Lower Mainland, anyone can get there and it’s always busy. It’s a big size park with lots of variety and a ton of locals, and just like Poco you are guaranteed to see a good show there. But there were more reasons, Bonsor was home to a tiny Skate Shop right across the road since the park had been built, it started as Push with Eve Feaver and Tony, was continued as Push by John, and then bought out and run by Sebastien “Fez” Tellez and his family for the last 2 years, but unfortunately the doors had closed over the winter of 2013 and this left a huge void at the park. They needed someone to come in and run something special to remind them that they were loved, and I was the guy.
All of these contests were great but the Bonsor one definitely showed how necessary it was to be there. So many great kids with nothing but smiles on their faces. The appreciation was huge and I have no regrets. As the year recently changed to 2015 there was a recap article in the Burnaby Now praising a handful of people who have helped to be an inspiration in their community in 2014 and somehow they featured Hippie Mike in there. It was an honour when I found out that I had been nominated for their “If everyone were like them, the world would be a better place” award and reminded me of how powerful a small event can be to a huge community. I don’t do things like this to win awards or to be praised for it, I do them because I feel that people deserve to have positive experiences in their lives where everyone can feel included. If you do something in life that makes you feel special, why not share that feeling with the next generation and help them to grow up happier, and just maybe some of them will do the same thing for the future generations to come.
That is what makes the world a better place…..
Protest Skateboards – Skate For Life
Here’s the actual article
http://www.burnabynow.com/news/burnaby-full-of-inspiring-men-women-and-kids-1.1724975