Protest Skateboard Original Team Video – Never Give Up!

Apr 30,2020 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

In tribute to my Dad who passed away on this day 8 years ago (April 29th, 2012) I have released the Original Protest Skateboards Video – Never Give Up – on YouTube. My Dad always taught me to believe in myself in everything you do and that I could accomplish anything I put my mind to, as long as I was committed to never giving up. I’ve lived with this mentality for as long as I can remember and can definitely think of some awesome success stories that came from it. That’s probably why I’m over 40 years old and still skateboarding.

Filmed for between 2003 and 2005, The Original Protest Skateboards Full Length Video – “Never Give Up!” contains Street Footage, Park Footage, and YES, riding on 2×4’s. This video stars some of the original Protest Skateboards Team Riders such as Cisco Gooding, Jon Irvine, Jeff Cole, Carrie Williams, and myself Hippie Mike, as well as a full part from Brad Danyluk and the original Hippie Mike 2×4 Part. Previously unavailable online, check out the roots of Protest Skateboards, and why we will Never Give Up… Edited by Hippie Mike – 2006

Here is the full length video released on YouTube for the first time
Filmed by: Justin James & Hippie Mike
Starring: Cisco Gooding, Jon Irvine, Jeff Cole, Brad Danyluk, Carrie Williams, Hippie Mike, and more…

Lip Bank Love

May 2,2013 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

Growing up a street skater you spend your life searching for so many different types of spots, there are the ones that you are only ever going to go to once just for a trick or two for your video, and then there are the ones that you hunt out as spots you can chill out at for hours and just have a good time with your friends. Some of these spots are available all day and others might be businesses that you need to wait until they’re closed, but either way these are your spots.

We discovered this spot which I simply named “The Lip Bank” about 9 years ago now and we have had many many sessions there and perfected a lot of technical tranny tricks. It’s perfect for weekends and late nights when you just want to hang with your buddies and not be bothered. The Lip Bank isn’t the biggest, coolest obstacle in the world, but it is still dangerous and definitely challenging to skate. I personally consider this my favourite skate spot just for the fact that most people can’t figure it out. It looks easy but it’s so not.

Check out this quick session with Jaden Easton-Ellett, Justin James and me – Hippie Mike – and live the love…

It’s Official – March 24th, 2013

Mar 24,2013 / By Hippie Mike / 1 Comment

10 years ago I met Jaden Easton-Ellett as he was barely 9 years old and had just started skateboarding. He came to one of my Skateboard Camps at the Cloverdale Skate Park in Surrey. Just another tall, skinny kid covered head to toe in skate pads and a helmet, it might have even been a bike helmet. But right away in that set of lessons I recognized some things about Jaden. He had a natural ability to learn and adapt quickly, and he was somewhat fearless, or clueless to danger, whichever one it was. Jaden learned a lot in that camp and he was signed up in another one a couple weeks later. I figured I was going to see a lot of him and I thought that was cool.

Jaden started coming to almost every camp or lesson I had scheduled for Cloverdale and I was always teaching him so many tricks. Since each lesson begins the same by teaching all the basics to a bunch of newcomers, I would just send Jaden off on his own and watch what he was trying. Then later I’d go over and give him some stuff to try that related to his interests. He was learning fast and his creative side was showing. This went on for years, and Jaden would sign up for tons of lessons and camps and come out to all the Hippie Mike’s Tour de Surrey Contests and it just evolved into a really awesome relationship between us. When he turned 14 he was super sad because he wasn’t going to be able to come to the lessons anymore since the age category maxed out at 13. So I hired him as a Volunteer and he began to help out at the lessons. He was good at it too, so the next year we started paying him when we could until eventually he took over teaching the camps as the main instructor.

Jaden always showed a good sense of responsibility and had a lot of self-motivational drive inside him. Then one day he told me that he designs websites and would like to set one up for Protest. So we did – that was in a about 2010. As Jaden’s knowledge with internet and website management was growing, he was learning about how the website could actually begin to produce income. So last year we decided to take our friendship to a whole new level and work together to help make Protest Skateboards Website a place where the skateboard world can stay connected with what’s happening in the Lower Mainland and we made some changes. Jaden became a partner in the business, and invested some funds into it, but wasn’t legally old enough to sign on as a full partner, until now.

I’d like to congratulate Jaden Easton-Ellett on his 19^th birthday on all of his accomplishments and officially welcome him on as my full Business Partner to Protest Skateboards.

To many more years of great friendship and success…

A Toast

Fandangle Blunt to Seran Wrap??

Dec 11,2012 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

Jaden Easton-Ellett, my partner in crime…

This kid’s still only 18 years old and proven himself quite the man lately, but one of the things I will always recognize about Jaden is how he loves to invent new combo tricks. Back when Jaden was younger and skated a lot more he would dominate in lots of contests just because of his creativity and crazy mentality. He loves to go for it and do things that make you do a double take and ask – “What the hell was that?”

Here’s a new one from Jaden Easton-Ellett that I had never seen done before

Fandangle Blunt to Seran Wrap

A Quick Sunday Sesh with the Budds

Oct 22,2012 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

With this weather going back and forth and being completely unpredictable we had to pick and choose where we were skating on Sunday. It was a toss up between Tsawwassen Skate Park or White Rock Res, so we chose the quieter one. Still a bit puddley when we first arrived but that was not issue for these Protest boys. It was Andy Anderson, Jordan Strong, Jaden Easton-Ellett and myself Hippie Mike just chillin’ at the Res. Andy and Jordan threw down a couple lines while Jaden and I stuck to what we do best and only rode the nasty obstacles.

Enjoy

Bye Bye Guildford Bowl

Oct 11,2012 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

It was the first closed in bowl with coping in Surrey, and when it was in the planning stage for the Guildford Park I was very adamant that we got a Bowl. There was too much of the same street stuff popping up everywhere and those parks get boring after a while. So Guildford Bowl was built, along with a tiny, somewhat pointless Street Section. Of course now you have to be thankful for the street section because that’s all that will be skateable for the next year and a half until the construction is complete. Once this Lap Pool is built then New Line will come back and build something fresh for us to ride in the remaining footage between the building and street section.

This Park helped to teach a lot of the young kids in Surrey how to hit coping. I remember when it was new and at my Hippie Mike’s Tour de Surrey Contests there the young kids would all avoid the Bowl and just ride the street stuff, and now almost everyone focuses completely on the Bowl at those events. It also created a group of friends that localized that place, Allen Handley, Myke Johnson and Randy. These guys all know how to shred this spot. It’s a shame that we’re losing it, but life goes on.

Here’s the Video by Protest Skateboards of our Final Film Session at Guildford Bowl. Lots of people showed up including Andy Anderson, Brad “Fighter” Muscat, Jordan Strong, Dale Kind, “Giver” Michael James, Riley Allen Clerihue, Adam Lewis, Josh Lewis, “Hasbrown” Mike Shulze, Dustin Locke, Derek Mayer, Stephan Burke, Matt Cook, Ryan Brynelson, Bachouch Michael, Myke Johnson, Randy, myself and Allen Handley who absolutely destroyed it all day. No one will miss that Bowl as much as this guy.

I’m not completely sure when the fence will go up and the Bowl will come down but it could happen at any given moment, so take your chances and get there for one last session

R.I.P.

Hipster and the Clowns

Sep 25,2012 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

This video was one of the Teasers I put together prior to the What the “F” Video so a lot of this footage got used in there. But there’s some older Leeside Clips from before it started getting built higher in there, and also a couple street spots that were really fun and don’t exist anymore. Definitely worth a peek.

It starts of with Clint Proulx shotgunning 5 Budweiser’s in a row on the ramp and then gets into the skating. Myself, Jeff Cole, Jon Irvine, Justin James, Carrie Williams, and a couple dudes who’s name I can’t remember – I’m gonna guess this one was 2008

check it

Jaden & Mike test out the new Cam

Sep 21,2012 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

As some of you might have heard, my Canon Rebel T3i went MIA at the South Surrey Contest last Saturday, not really the way I had hoped to finish off the year of Hippie Mike’s Tour de Surrey. I’m a little pissed about it, since I work so hard to do so much for so many people and this is what I get in return. Luckily it was just the camera with the standard lens, none of my accessories. If anyone learns any info as to who’s hands it ended up in, please let me know.

Since my business revolves around photos and filming I had to replace the camera pretty quick, so I worked out a solid deal with an old friend and upgraded to the Canon Rebel T4i. Then my partner in crime Jaden Easton-Ellett and I had to give it a test drive, so we hit the ramp for an hour last night and busted out some “Protest Style” tricks for ya.

Check it

A Day on the Island with Protest Skateboards

Sep 8,2012 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

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.

Check both vids

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[youtube id=”Zh-4RoCfGD4″ width=”620″ height=”360″]

Hippie Mike’s Tour de Surrey 2012 – Stop 3 Guildford Bowl

Aug 14,2012 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

What a clear day, you could see for miles and miles, except for when that truck burnt to the ground on the corner of 105 Ave and 152 st. right beside the park.

Not the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen at Guildford Bowl but still decent enough to make it count for a contest. The Minis and Beginners were definitely shredding, and the older dudes all showed up to win it. The competition was tight in all categories, but Advanced was a battle.

In Mini, Jon Schrack kept his flow going from the previous 2 contests this year and took home another gold. He was flying over the gaps and ripping up the tranny in the bowl. Joe Maillet showed off his skills all over the park and Aiden Eastman skated the bowl fearlessly, which is amazing since you can hardly see him in there he’s so tiny. Dax Searle entered for the first time and did his best, and then little Kaelen Faux barged in a run after the Mini category was over. Kaelen walked over and requested his helmet from me, picked up his skateboard and stated that he was entering the competition. A pretty bold statement from a 2 and a half year old, so I had to let him have a run. He spent most of his time holding on to his Mom’s hands and trying big ollies, but we did get a show of his pogos too. Great job Mini’s!!

The Beginners were insane like always. Kai Searle started first and set a high standard for the rest to follow. Everyone was going for it, Matthew Major boardslid the 6 stair rail, Adam Lewis blasted over the double set with ease, Riley was going huge out of the bowl and Justin Fiorante landed almost everything he tried. A tough decision for the judges to only have 3 winners.

The Intermediates forgot to show up to this contest so I blended them together with the Girls, tough break for the guys because the Ladies were ready to destroy this place. Jacob Drescher and his buddy John were the only dudes in the heat and Jacob had to work super hard to even place Top 3. It’s a good thing he laid down a kickflip over the 6 stair and a 3 flip over the 2 block to finish his run because the ladies were fiercely killing the bowl. Brianna Palmer and Carrie Williams both shredded around the entire bowl with speed and stability, Carrie laid down a bunch of tricks in the halfpipe, on the taco and outside the bowl on flat. Heloise Wathelet just hit the halfpipe section up for both of her runs but threw down some serious skill tricks including a stomped out kickflip rock and a popshovit rock in the second run. But still no one could catch Elizabeth Nenniger blasting speed lines down and up the bowl and showing no fear with 50-50’s and smith grinds both ways. She killed it!!

The Advanced is never easy, but Brad Muscat showed up with a mission, which gave everyone else a mission of their own – don’t let Brad win. He set the bar high after his first run with a lot of tough tricks that other people don’t do, and then finished his second run off with a nasty crooked grind down the double set rail which point straight at the corner of the building. Dominic Devries tore up the entire place in both runs, and actually probably should have won. He laid down skills in the halfpipe, frontside flipped the double set, and backside 5-0’d the hubba. It was a tough call between the 2, They both killed it… Zeebs was there, Lil’ G was there, DJ Dale was there, Jaden Easton-Ellet and Jordan Strong were there, but no one was gonna take 3^rd place away from Giver. The man known now as Michael James finally showed up with a vengeance and actually Gave’r. Giver shredded the bowl hard, long grinds, stylish bodyjars and crail tricks and finished off his second run with a perfect Miller Flip in the shallow end. Who knows, maybe he should have won. It was so tough to judge between those 3 dudes, they all killed it. Solid Efforts Boys.

We finished off with a Best Trick anywhere in the park which I though Dominic was going to win for sure. Riley Allen got in there as the only Beginner competing against all the Advanced dudes and almost stuck a huge 360 Judo out of the bowl. Dale had the lead for a bit with a manual to nosebonk bigspin on the curvy ledge, and then Dominic hit a kickflip front board down the handrail, regular and to fakie. But Jordan Strong squeezed out a victory with a long manual over the curvy ledge down the drop onto the deck of the bowl, down another drop onto the middle of the 2block, around the s-turn corner and then kickflipped out. He took home a sweet Cooler Backpack and a sick funky shaped Folk Board. Sick…

Results:

Mini: 1. Jon Schrack; Joe Maillet; 3. Aiden Eastman; 4. Dax Searle & Kaelen Faux

Beginner: 1. Kai Searle; 2. Adam Lewis; 3. Matthew Major; 4. Justin Fiorante; 5. Riley Allen; 6. Patrick Jonas; 7. Austin; 8. Bachouch Michael; 9. Dylan Rossi; 10. Matthew Lalim

Intermediate/Ladies: 1. Beth Nenniger; 2. Heloise Wathelet; 3. Jacob Drescher; 4. Carrie Williams; 5. Brianna Palmer; 6. John Furquhar

Advanced: 1. Brad Muscat [Fighter]; 2. Dominic Devries; 3. Michael James [Giver]; 4. Jaden Easton-Ellett; 5. Jordan Strong; 6. Dale Kind; 7. Myke Johnson [Zeebs]; 8. Sean Cuddeford [Lil’ G]

Best Trick: Jordan Strong – Manual drop Manual drop Manual to kickflip out

See you next time at

Cloverdale – August 25^th 2012

Category : Jaden Easton-Ellett