Another classic Youth Fest Bowl demo, but unfortunately, the last one. That’s right, I mentioned it before, the Guildford Bowl has to be removed to accommodate the construction of the new pool attached to the Rec Centre. So that made this Bowl Demo that much more special.
It was the Skate vs. BMX Demo with Andy Anderson and James Van de Kamp leading, and me Hippie Mike on the mic. Ryan Brynelson was also there doing Freestyle demos throughout the building. Everybody just rode together in the Bowl having a good time and then at 6pm we started the battle demo. Each Captain chose some Team members from the people that were present and they rode in 10 minute heats getting cheers from the crowd to see who was most loved. The skaters by far were getting more cheers but the Bikers had the most excited females. Lots of good tricks and smooth flow from both teams, and Andy and James were great leaders.
Thanks to everyone for coming out, and glad the skaters prevailed. I had a great time hosting the event, and throwing bananas… You had to be there.
Every year the City of Surrey celebrates the next generation of young adults with Youth Fest at the Guildford Recreation Centre. Lots of exiting stuff will be happening from 4-10pm this Saturday, September 22nd, including Band performances, indoor and outdoor games, the Teen Dance, Breakdance Competitions, Ryan Brynelson Freestyle Demos, and of course the Skateboard vs. BMX Demo in the Bowl – hosted by myself Hippie Mike and featuring Andy Anderson and James Van de Kamp. This will be the final event at Guildford Bowl as it will be shut down and demolished in October due to the beginning of the construction for the new Lap Pool being built on to the Rec Centre. The street section will remain open and untouched but the bowl has to be removed and eventually will be replaced with some new features in the future…
ell it was another successful year for Hippie Mike’s Tour de Surrey and it’s finally over. 9 years strong for this Series and sometimes it wears me out a bit, but I enjoy every minute while I’m there.
We mixed things up a bit and ended the year off at South Surrey Park which basically meant we would be ending the year off with an Andy Anderson Demo, since he was born and raised there and hasn’t placed less than 1st place at that park in one of my contests in years. We started off with the Mini’s and they were all giving it there all. Jon Schrack was on a mission to win, but so were Parker Sherwin and Marc Melyukov. All 3 of these kids were stretching the limits of what could be done by kids 10 years old and younger, and they went even crazier in the Finals.
There were 17 Beginners waiting patiently to go for gold and 6 of them made it into the Finals. Top names of the day would be Kai Searle, Adam Lewis, Rob Schrack, Riley Allen, Cody Laing & Connor, followed closely by Zacc Lester and Justin Fiorante. All 8 of these guys dominated the Beginner Category with flip tricks, huge airs and big gaps, but only 1 could be King.
The Intermediates were kind of disappointing this time around. There were only 6 guys and not much got landed except by Mike Groves and little Luke Thodus. Mike tore up the quarter pipes and flat banks with some serious White Rock Loc styles and Lukey threw down some wicked ledge grinds and rail slides. Luke is only 10 and about 4 feet tall, so when he grinds the big hubba ledges no problem , it looks amazing. He also gapped out to 50-50 to the flat section of the triple kink ledge in his run and stuck it. He won.
The Ladies Category consisted of Carrie Williams and 2 girls I requested to participate, Sasha Clerihue and Deena Z. They both know how to skate around, just not really trick masters. Either way, we had a Ladies Category and no one got hurt. Better than nothing.
Then we got to Advanced. It was Dominic Devries‘s mission to beat Andy Anderson at his home park, but it’s always Andy’s mission to never lose, so it was definitely gonna be a battle. They both destroyed everything that no one else skates, the big rail, the kinked rail, the channel gap, spine and barricades. Both were unstoppable, but it was Andy’s game the whole time. Weston Granger also killed it and ended in 3rd after the Finals. This guy blows me away every time I see him skate, so unique. He nosegrinded down the long hubba, did some airwalk late hand hardflip, and finished the Finals with an ollie up to gap tailslide ledge to ledge in the flat section. 4th and 5th were Giver and Jigga Jay, both skated awesome, both couldn’t keep up with the Top 3 during the Finals Jam.
Marilyn Herrmann showed up from the Surrey Food Bank to accept the donations and give a little appreciation speech. It was a slower year than most, but with all the kids going away on vacations and having to decide between 3 competitions to go to every Saturday we still did pretty good. In total for this year, we raised $280 and 300lbs of food. Great job guys!!
I announced all the winners and gave out plaques to the Top 3 in each Category. I announced the Most Improved Skater of the Year which was Aiden Eastman from the Mini’s, and handed over the King of Surrey Trophy to the Dominator himself Dominic Devries. He won 3 out of 5, placing 2nd in both the others. Dominic is one of my favourite kids to skate with and to watch progress. He kills it wherever he goes and can skate everything, which is awesome for someone who’s only 15 years old, plus he’s super humble and appreciative. Can’t wait to see you in X Games some day buddy….
Results:
Mini: 1. Jon Schrack; 2. Parker Sherwin; 3. Mark Melyukov; 4. Aiden Eastman; 5. Lukas; 6. Bryce
Beginner: 1. Kai Searle; 2. Adam Lewis; 3. Connor; 4. Cody Laing; 5. Rob Schrack; 6. Riley Allen; 7. Zacc Lester; 8. Justin Fiorante; 9. JR Barron; 10. Khalid; 11. Josh Lewis; 12. Desmond Fisher; 13. Chandler; 14. Jake; 15. Bachouch Michael; 16. Alex & Matthew Lalim
Intermediate: 1. Luke Thodus; 2. Mike Groves; 3. David; 4. Mathew McCauley; 5. Yubo; 6. Jackson Hawthorne
Girls: 1. Carrie Williams; 2. Sasha Clerihue; 3. Deena Z
Advanced: 1. Andy Anderson; 2. Dominic Devries; 3. Weston Granger; 4. Michael James (Giver); 5. Jay Mykyte; 6. Allen Handley & Travis; 7. Brad (Fighter) Muscat & Cole Thodus
Most Improved – Aiden Eastman
King of Surrey – Dominc (The Dominator) Devries
So that’s it for the 9th Annual Hippie Mike’s Tour de Surrey. Thanks for everyone who showed up at any or all of the events, and thanks to all the sponsors that make these fun times possible:
For those that notice there are no photos in this story, my camera went missing after the contest. If anyone has information please contact me through the site.
It was just like old times, the way we used to party in our yard, except there was a full on Ramp Contest happening. The weather was a little shafty so all the people that said they were coming who had never been to my house before must have thought it would be cancelled, when in reality, the whole point of the contest was to raise money for new masonite and another new tarp to keep us dry all winter. The beauty of my ramp is we float the tarps like a false roof and skate hard when it rains out here. So as soon as the drizzle started the tarp went up for the rest of the day.
There was only about 50-60 people that showed up to party, some of the usuals, and some that even I hadn’t seen in a long time – Russia, LegenBarry, Homer and the Pimpin’ Kings to name a few, so I already knew it was gonna rock. We started warm up around noon, and threw the best trick early because that obstacle wasn’t covered from the potential rain. It was a normal Hippie Mike obstacle, just a straight up nasty tombstone built out of a fridge and a monster truck tire, no big deal…
This thing was tough to skate, maybe the toughest obstacle built in the yard so far. I tried filming on it on Friday and only hit 2 tricks, and they would be considered basic on anything else. Eve struggled for rock & rolls the whole time, Jigga Jay stuck down a couple for him. Cisco did a frontside rock but had to grab it in and Andy landed the most but still couldn’t get on top with trucks. Russia went hard at it the first attempt and actually shot himself over the whole fridge into the tree roots, but he came right back and kept givin’er. He was the only one who was getting’ trucks on this thing. Russia battled it out hard and finally won with a feeble stall. That’s how god damn hard this thing was to skate. Good efforts form everyone there, Russia took home a complete new outfit donated by legendary Moses Itkonen – DVS Shirt, Fallen Pants, Shoes and RDS Hat. Not bad for a guy that hadn’t stepped on a skateboard for about a year and a half.
We let the dudes warm it back up on the fresh masonite mini while the Pimpin’ Kings rocked out hard for almost an hour on my roof. I’ve had these guys play at so many of my contests and I always say the same thing afterward – “Best Small-Man Band I’ve heard”. And I’m not saying their midgets, they just only have 2 band members, Chris Burnstad on Drums and Chad Whittingham on Guitar, but they threw in a sick Bass player named Mike Currie to bring extra power and sounded awesome. Every time someone drove down my street they would stop and stick their head out of the window to get a good taste of the tunes. Sick set boys, glad I could reunite you for a banger show, everyone loved it.
The keg was getting emptier and the burgers were getting scarce so it was time to start the Ramp Contest. Only 9 entries, but they were all destroyers. I split it into 2 heats and each heat got 3 minute rounds for the guys to throw down as much as possible and try to make it into the finals. It made good cause for lots of snaking and barging from everybody to try and get more time in the ramp, especially in Round 3. There were a few times where I saw 3 people on one piece of coping at once, no mercy. 49 year old Barry Blatter was the Barge Master for sure never losing a battle that he dropped in for and even smashing his face fully off the flatbottom at one point and just getting up, licking off the blood dripping from his nose and dropping right in again for more. Andy Anderson was crowd favorite of course completely annihilating the entire ramp like he knows how with a zillion tricks. Jeff Cole was another one who throws down the tricks you’ve heard of before but never seen, and he was showing them to ya, Fighter did every Judo Blunt combination imaginable, Eve Feaver put his 40 year old bones on line with handplants, nosepicks and huge airs over the hip, and Giver even Gaver, hitting up the whole ramp fast and frontside and even bonelessing in off the side rails. It was insanity.
The judges, Jay White and Brad Milburn did not want to be judges anymore, but I fed them more 311 Lager and we went over by the wood shed to discuss who was making finals.
Cisco Gooding did a lot of switch and techy tricks but didn’t pull through to Finals. Allen Handley threw down a bunch of dirty manoeuvres that others do not understand, but didn’t make the Finals. And Fighter did not make the Finals…
That left the infamous 5 – Andy Anderson, Jay Mykyte, Eve Feaver, Jeff Cole and Giver (Michael James), plus Barry who got the buy in for being the most hardcore without a doubt. It was a 20 minute, straight up, Battle – for $200. Shit went down, chaos everywhere. Jeff, Giver and Eve were all missionning hard throwing every trick they knew how with pure old school styles and skills, and Andy was in his usual “I can land anything I try” mode, but the eyes were on the Jigga, Jay Mykyte. Big Flip tricks, fast grinds and solid tech tricks left right and centre. Every one of them was touch every square inch of the ramp, the hip, the inner kink the decks, the rails, everything. And the more time that ran down the more snaking that went on. Finally right near the end of time, Jay climbed up onto the top railing behind the platform and tried to Tail Ollie over the deck into the ramp. Like true skaters, everyone kept skating but giving him the opportunity to try again and he stuck it down 4th try. Contest over. Jigga wins the cash!!
It was an insane event, and it wasn’t over yet. Nothing ends retardedness like a Barefoot Best Trick Contest. Only Cisco, Fighter, Allen and Ryan Barron wanted in. Cisco had it right from the start with a frontside 50-50 around the inner kink to nollie 270 in, only to have it stolen from him by Allen at during the final minute with a tailstall fingerflip disaster. Took home a pair of Fallen Shoes, some funky Shorts, and a Protest Deck. If we had known Cisco had already drank 12 beers at that point we might have let him have that win, damn.
Thanks to all that came out, we raised lots of funds and had a great time. Thanks to my Chef Bogdan, my Bartender Deena Z, to everyone that came out and supported, and of course DJ Cuzo. Until next year, that’s the Jam…
Back in August we a few of us from the Team packed into the truck and headed over to the Island to skate the Victoria Parks with the Posse from Tsawwassen. Jaden Easton-Ellett, Cisco Gooding, Andy Anderson, myself and Fighter (Brad Muscat) loaded up early and got to the Ferry just in time to miss it. A little skating went down at the Terminal while we waited and of course, Brad rolled his ankle 180ing some gap. Good start to the day, right? We got across an hour later than the other boys and drove right past them as they were shredding the Sydney Skate Park, hooking up at Gordon Head Skate Park. This park is lots of fun, especially if you were around during the era that it was considered to be amazing. Lots of sick tricks went down there, tons of kids were stoked, and of course some random lady from the local paper showed up and was bugging Mike for photos, I don’t mind, it’s always a Hippie Mike Show. We hooked up every kid there with a free Protest T-shirt, held a Best Trick Contest for a Protest Deck, and then headed over to Esquimalt – Vic West Skate Park.
Andy just started annihilating the place, while the rest of us just basically skated the one hip. The place was packed and all people there were having fun, lots of dudes commenting on Andy’s styles. We got shut down early because of this insane thunderstorm that swept over us and poured so hard that the raindrops were bouncing knee high off the ground. Posse out, we went back to the place where the Tsawwassen Crew were staying, had a quick BBQ and headed back to the Ferry for the 9:00 Boat. A good day. Shadd Trepp, Graeme Betts, Michael Ray, Andrew Classon, Tyler Burke and some other rippers all hung out for the rest of the week hitting up some sweet Island Skate Parks. Wish we could’ve stayed, next time, we’ll try to stay longer.
Welcome to Episode 3 of GLORY DAZE with Hippie Mike. We’re hangin’ out all day today with one of the most consistent skaters in the Fraser Region. He was named “King of the Bowls” and “King of Surrey” last year in 2011 at the raw age of 15. His sponsors include Protest Skateboards, Vans Shoes, Kilian Clothing, Monke Hardware and Pd’s Hot Shop. Give it up for Andy Anderson!!
Andy Anderson: How you doin’ Mike?
Hippie Mike: Good, Andy, we’re gonna get right into this, your only 16 years old but how long have you been skateboarding?
Andy Anderson: I’ve been skateboarding for 12 years, so since I was 4
HM: Wow. Can you explain how you first met me and what influence I had on you at that time
Andy: Well, I met you at a Cloverdale Hippie Mike’s Competition. I came in 3rd in Beginner or something, back when you didn’t have Mini. And all I remember is this way too big yellow Substance T-Shirt that I won. I wore it around my house for like 2 weeks, man
HM: So we’re here at the White Rock Bowl/South Surrey Skate Park where you have been training at for the majority of your lifetime, do you think this park has made you the skateboarder that you are today?
Andy: Definitely, because of the various obstacles here. Nothing is actually made for skateboarding, at least that’s how it feels, but I don’t know, White Rock teaches you how to be a Well-rounded Skateboarder – tranny; difficult street
HM: What do you think would be different if you had grown up somewhere else?
Andy: I’d be more based upon one style of skateboarding I think. Also, you’re pretty excluded out here, like it’s the other side of the world for North Van, you know, so I don’t really get to watch that many people unless they’re locals
HM: In the past few years you have consistently placed Top 3 in the majority of competitions that you entered. Is there added pressure in your mind to always win because of that?
Andy: Well that has started recently, but not really, I try to keep that all out. I always fall; I always get extremely hurt whenever I feel slight stress and my mind gets all scrambled. But as long as I’m not worried about winning, I always do good
HM: What was the best contest you ever won?
Andy: King of the Bowls (Big Smiles), Whistler… Ah man, that was awesome. That bowl just like, the park makes the competition because the park is so great, and then they host such a great competition at such a classic bowl. I don’t know…
HM: Well Whistler’s a great bowl though, and Whistler has 3 different parks in reality you can skate so there’s all different kinds of styles
Andy: Yeah!
HM: I referred to you as one of the most consistent skaters in the Lower Mainland/Fraser Region, and it’s true, especially in contest runs. How does it make you feel when you know that everyone else at the contest is sitting there hoping you screw up during your runs so they have a chance to win?
Andy: (Laughs) Uhhh, I’ve never thought of it like that. I just always try to block out everything else
HM: Do you think that they have that thought in their brain or are they actually routing for you to win, again?
Andy: That has legitimately never crossed my mind (Laughs)
HM: Okay, tell the world about the support that your parents have given you and are still giving you in your ventures as a skateboarder
Andy: Oh Man my parents are great. They help me out with everything. They bought me stuff when I needed stuff, you know, that was a big thing, and like I don’t know what to say about them…. Dad drives me out to Victoria every year for like a week and we just go skateboarding. He would take time off, like a fuckin’ week, to go skateboarding. And he doesn’t even skateboard. It was awesome
HM: Name your 3 favorite Skate Parks
Andy: White Rock, Leeside… Oh man, this 3rd one’s gonna be hard to hit…. I’m gonna say Hastings
HM: Name your 3 favorite Skate Spots
Andy: Oh man, Cooper’s Park for sure (under the Cambie Street Bridge), uhhhhh, can you count Bear Creek as a Skate Spot?
HM: Sure
Andy: Okay Bear Creek Park! And, ummm, Georgia Banks
HM: Name your 3 favorite Skate Companies
Andy: Oh like legitimately? Vans, Skull Skates, Protest
HM: Name your 3 favorite people to skate with
Andy: (Deep Breath) I do a lot of skating by myself, but….
HM: Are you one of your favorites to skate with?
Andy: (Laughs) Okay yeah, myself. You (Hippie Mike) always push me to do shit, because like nobody pushes me, there all just like kind of sittin’ back yellin’ “Do it! Do it!” getting me really hurt all the time. So you’re definitely not in the Top 3 (laughs), no you’re up there. I don’t know.. Who else do I skate with, Joe Buffalo
HM: Joe Buffalooooo!! Tell us about your favorite Skateboard Experience ever
Andy: King of Bowls, King of Bowls
HM: Last year in 2011, you won 2 huge titles in this region: “King of Surrey” – for placing in the Top 3 the most times in Hippie Mike’s Tour de Surrey & “King of the Bowls” – for the same status in the Bowl Series. Right around the same time, you got put on Team Protest, and had a video part in the latest edition of The Protest Profile on the Ear Goggles DVD. What was it like to be 15 years old and have all of this happening at that time?
Andy: Phew, dude. Skateboarding is like my complete life right? So when skateboarding works out it’s just my whole life is working out. It was great. It was the peak so far
HM: In May of this year, 2012, you showed up to the World Round-Up Freestyle Skateboarding Contest hosted by Kevin Harris and asked if you could enter. How come?
Andy: Well, my girlfriend wanted me to go to the Rodeo, and I wasn’t super stoked on it, but I heard there was this skateboarding thing going on so I thought I’d show up and I thought it would be a bunch of guys doing Tre Flips on flat or something, but it ended up being a full-fledged Freestyle Competition
HM: During the Finals, legendary photographer Jim Goodrich came over to where we were sitting and complimented you in front of your parents saying how nice you were, how talented you were, and how you were the one pushing the rest of the group to try harder. How did that make you feel?
Andy: I didn’t know Jim, but really like, how popular is a photographer?? But afterwards I looked at some of his photos and they’re just some of the most classic stuff, like Jay Adams, and like, oh my gosh… so that felt amazing. Jim’s a really nice guy
HM: You ended up placing 5th in the Amateur Category out of about 16 people from around the globe. Did that change your life in any way?
Andy: (Laughing) I didn’t realize that I was that good at Freestyle
HM: (Laughs) So you’ve always practised Freestyle? Are you some sort of “hide in your room” guy at night just doing primo tricks?
Andy: Well I was for like 1 winter. I just got super into like Truck Stands and Primos and stuff, but I always do Manuals and Shovits when I’m skating and that’s a big part of Freestyle, I didn’t realize that
HM: Are you stoked to have a legend like Kevin Harris invite you to perform Freestyle Demos with him?
Andy: Yes, that is amazing. Kevin Harris is an amazing guy, and he’s got me doing some amazing stuff
HM: So far, you have mastered all types of transitional skating like old bowls, new bowls, mini-ramps, barricades and pools, you can lay down tons of ledge and rail tricks wherever and whenever you want to, and you made a name for yourself in the Freestyle World, what the hell can we expect next from Andy Anderson?
Andy: Hopefully some flip tricks
HM: (Laughs) Alright, I want to thank you for being on GLORY DAZE with Hippie Mike. I have known you and taught you skateboarding skills since you were 7 years old.
I saw your potential right away to be an amazing skateboarder and an amazing person, and I’m glad I got to be there to help encourage you all these years. You are one of the nicest kids out there on the skate scene, you keep it humble, not cocky, and you truly are living in your Glory Daze right now, and I think it’s still gonna get better though…
Andy: Glory Daze…
HM: You make me very proud buddy – Andy Anderson everybody…..
Just saw the Whistler Bowl Series Video posted up on www.bcskateparks.com and had to put the link up.
My favorite place to be each August.
It’s a great video, really showcases how the day went, but it makes me jealous that I wasn’t able to skate in the contest this year, stupid pulled back… At least I got to be on the mic, another place I love.
Don’t forget that this Saturday is Battle at Hastings #3. Presented by Vans, Bones, Thunder, Thrasher Mag, Alien Workshop, 187, Real, Fourstar, Brixton, BLVD and Kevin Kelly, lots of cash to be won. It’ll be a sick event with some of the gnarliest Bowl Skaters Vancouver area has to offer. We’ll be entering Andy Anderson and Stu Benoit to represent for Protest Skateboards, they both know that bowl very well.
There’s gonna be a ton of rippers there. Pro or Am doesn’t matter, it’s a battle.
A fresh video for “Beef Under the Chief”, the Squamish stop on the Bowl Series is now up on Push.ca
Have a look and see Adam Hopkins, Eve Feaver, Andy Anderson, Steve Denham, Bushman and more slay the bowl. I guess I should have tried to skate better that day, I could’ve been in it…
Another amazing season of Old Bowl Skateboarding comes to a close with historic style. Every year, I itch for Canada Day just for the Seylynn Bowl Contest. To me it’s not at all about going out and competing to win, but just the chance to go skate with a huge crew of people that are all related in one way – Bowl Series. Seylynn, Griffin, White Rock, Squamish and Whistler, 5 great places to hang out and skate. These 4 “copingless” parks were all constructed in the 70’s and 80’s and are still the best parks for anyone who likes to go fast. If there’s one thing that skate parks are missing now a days, it’s Gravitron Speed Lines. If you don’t know what a Gravitron is, then I find it difficult to refer to you as a skateboarder. All the old bowls were created in a snake format and built on a downhill slope from top to bottom, but skateboarders being crazy figured out that if they fast enough down the outside of the bowl and shoot into the deepend in a u-turn could actually make it back up to the top through the bowl – Gravitron. The weightless feeling of transferring from vertical to horizontal as you tear into the bowl at dangerous speeds – Gravitron. A whole different world…
Skateboarding has changed so much over the last 3 decades, the kids now a days are just obsessed with tricks on obstacles, and a lot of them don’t know how to actually skate. They don’t know how to run onto their boards as fast as they can and push as hard as possible down the street into a downhill. They don’t know how to forget about tricks and just cruz. And that’s why I love the Bowl Series, because people of all ages that just love to skate are the ones that come out. I was astonished at Squamish by the amount of super young kids in the Beginner Category all skating tranny. There must have been over a dozen little dudes ranging in age from 4 years old to 13. They were all having the time of their lives just skating. And even in the Advanced Sections you have super young guys like Andy Anderson and Giet Rolan in their mid-teens coming out and competing against bowl legends in their 30’s and 40’s like Stevie D, Eve Feaver, Don Bushman, and myself, and beating us. It’s amazing.
Year # 18 was a very special year. Adam Hopkins is on what some would call a Glory Path this year winning pretty much any and every contest he enters, and he enters a lot of contests. He took Seylynn no problem, won it in White Rock on his first time ever there, wowed the crowd at Griffin for the gold, annihilated the competition at Squamish, and finished it all off with style, and huge airs, at Whistler. Adam Hopkins won all 5 stops, and is actually only the second King of the Bowls to win all 5, tying with Alex Chalmers who actually did it 2 years in a row back in 1997, ’98. But back then the 5th park was New West, not Squamish. Maybe Hopkins can follow in Alex’s footsteps and go for the undefeated repeat next year. Either way, you can tell that Adam is on his way to stardom and he has a huge posse of friends backing him up. Way to go dude!
Squamish was tight, Don Bushman was definitely present and showing off that this was his home park. Bushman is the only person that will always barge me out of the bowl, he’s big, goes super fast and charges lines that are impossible to read. He had these mega airs in the corner pocket of the vert wall over the loveseat that were just plain crazy and would stomp every one. Steve Denham showed off the fact that he also lives in Squamish now with smooth transfers all over the bowl and sick disasters on the vert wall. Eve Feaver was killin’ the loveseat and even Giver was skating good again. But no one was stopping Adam Hopkins with his inverts, judo airs and even a stomped 540 McTwist in the vert. He even melon transferred over the island in his run. A windy, but awesome day in Squamish, it even got topped off by Fighter doing the gap out to the parking lot. Protest represent buddy!
After the rowdy night everyone staggered into the old Whistler Park for the Finals. Same Beginners showed up from Squamish, but surprisingly had a tougher time skating a bowl without coping. I was on the mic giving them a hard time and they all represented. The Ladies were seriously picking out the speed lines and showing their fearless styles by going fast. There was a Best Trick out of the Slayer Hit for a Protest Cruiser Deck and dudes were going huge. Andy Anderson hit some sick tricks Sal Flips, Mute to Melon Hand Varial, and Bigspin Melon, Adam Hopkins was doing methods about 8 feet high and 10 feet long into the steep landing, but Danny Hagge took the win for going bigger. I’m not sure how fair that is though since Danny is about a foot and half taller than everyone else. Still sick though.
The Advanced was insane of course. My favs to watch were Eve Feaver, Turbo, Benny Stoddard, Stevie D and Hopkins. There were a lot of competitors in this category as always and it was tough to only choose a few for the Finals. I got hurt early in the day, throwing out my lower back and ended up MCing the entire event which was an honour for me. I was super hyped for the Finals and wouldn’t let them end. I think we played 4 long songs for them to skate to and everyone looked ready to pass out by the end. From Andy Anderson at age 16 to Eve Feaver shredding at 40 it was tight. Benny had the speed lines and tech tricks, Stevie and Danny had the huge transfers both ways in the bowl and sick barrier tricks, Andy demoed on the barricade and Eve skated like he skates at every event – fast, furious and styley. But obviously no one was catching Adam Hopkins, tossing 360’s, kickflip grabs and anything else he felt like puttin’ down. Huge props go out to Mike Strato for organizing and running all the events this year with the help of Giver. I know how much work behind the scenes goes into setting up a Series like this and it is definitely appreciated. 18 years of love.
