Protest Team Rider Stu Benoit had to head to Scotland recently for work and of course he hit up some Skate Parks while he was there. Here’s a quick clip of Stu showin’ off for 2 of his favourite types of kids – a Rollerblader and Scooter Kid
Nice!!
Alright, last but not least, The Protest Skateboards version of the Battle at Hastings 3 is finally released. Filmed by Jordan Strong and Hippie Mike, it has the same dudes in it as everyone else’s video – Chris Steggles, Adam Hopkins, Mason Merlino, James Clarke, Stu Benoit, and many more. It was an amazing day of skating, and there were so many people filming it was awesome. But there’s actually some tricks that weren’t in the other vids so you should give it a watch.
And here’s a sequence of Chris Steggle’s 360 over the fence – Tiiiiight!
It’s a long boring story, but it ends well. Years and years ago I was sponsored by Substance Skate Shop and I was the Team Manager. In ignorance I brought Jay Mykyte, Stu Benoit and Drew Boyle on to the Team from the other Surrey Sk8 Shop – Coastal Riders. I say ignorance not because it was a bad move to bring them on, I love all those guys and am stoked for the relationships we built, but in hindsight it should have gone the other way and instead of taking 3 riders from Coastal’s Team, I should have moved on to theirs. Eventually the atmosphere at Substance was getting a little weird, and people were not as happy, and I ended up leaving the Team and going into Coastal Riders and asking if they’d hook me up. I didn’t need my name published, and I don’t really need any product because I already get everything I need for free or for cost. It was just for the sake of having a shop to promote. Then last year Jay Mykyte started his underground shop, Royalty Skate Shop in New West and so I started reppin’ for him to help promote his shop, but unfortunately things fell apart and the shop closed during the winter. Hopefully Jay will get it reopened one day, somewhere in Surrey.
So through all this battle of life, and a decade of chaos, I watched all these skate shops close in my part of town, West49 closed both their Surrey locations, Fluid disappeared of the planet, Board Kennel went under, Paul’s Boutique lives in the mall and doesn’t count in my eye as a Skate Shop, and Coastal Riders stood there alone, eventually moving out to Langley where majority of the clientele had been coming from for the past 10 years. I have always been strong friends with all the guys from Coastal and never had any bad blood, and I was looking at their team on the website one day and it just astonished me. I helped create that team in a sense. Most of the guys on the team grew up under my wings, learning through the contests and events I provided for them, and even just from being around me in their younger years. And I love all of them like my children. I remember little Magnus when he was like 12 years old and I called him “Mr. Varial Heelflip” because he demoed them everywhere. I knew way back then that we were gonna see his skills go off the chart someday. I remember watching John Hanlon learning back lips on the Bear Creek rail, and teaching Scotty Tyson Blunt Airwalks, and putting Andrew Classon on the Protest Team when he was barely 11 and filming him kickflipping huge sets of stairs and hittin’ rails. Almost every single one of these guys grew up competing in my contests and have fully impressed me at some point their young lives and I’m proud to be a part of their future. Dustin, Zaz, Hashbrown, Machnau, Stu, Derek Mayer and more. It’s a true team of real skateboarders who are out there to have fun while they skate, it’s a solid skate shop that is committed to promoting and supporting skateboarding to the fullest, and it’s where I belong.
Thanks to Billy McElhinney, Scott Fierbach and Adam Field for always supporting me without question.
Coastal Riders for life…
Now get ready for some nasty Hippie Mike footage again
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.
The big question is – who will beat Hopkins??
Saturday, September 1st, 2012
Hasting Park
It was a beautiful day outside, especially first thing in the morning. Super sunny and just the perfect day to go out for a skate. A lucky coincidence that it was Go Skateboard Day on this day since the weather has not been the friendliest lately in the Vancouver Region. To prove how lucky it was, we got pissed on hard the very next day.
I got down to the Skate Plaza at about 10am to be greeted by hundreds of people of all ages skating their hearts out already. There was a huge line up for “Waffles on a Stick” formed on the side road and the crew was in full effect. Hosted by Vans and Underworld, along with DC, RDS and many others, MC Cyrus was ready to take control of the mob any time he felt like it. I skated around a bit and threw down some tricks on the Wally Ledges around the pillar and then started shooting photos. The best trick contest down the 7 stair was tight. Cody (GhettoBird) from Bonsor hardflipped over the rail, Ryan Prasad and Graham Bohn threw down multiple flip tricks to perfection, Dominic Devries showed up with a backside flip, and then kickflip front boarded the rail – the list went on and on. Cyrus was just handing out boards like Trick or Treat on Halloween. The kids skated the stairs, the hubba, the ledge over the grate, and the hip, and all 4 got demoed…
The mob moved out around 1:30pm to Cambie Bridge, followed by a couple street spots and then made their traffic disrupting way over the Georgia Viaduct towards Strathcona Park. I think there were more people at Strathcona at that one moment than there normally would be in an entire year. The place got destroyed, in a good way. I left early to head to Hastings Park for a BBQ, but not until after Ryan Prasad laid down a Heelflip Nose Manual Nollie Bigspin on the long ledge – solid buddy!!
Watch out for this kid, he is sick.
We headed out to Hastings and were met by the Local Crew, Surrey Stu Benoit, Timmers, McCallum, Adam Hopkins, and so on. Rob Boyce was there too, one of my favorites to watch. The beers definitely came out at Hastings, like usual. And everyone who knew how to rip bowl, did just that. The tricks were insane, huge airs all over the place, and Frontside Kid was going so fast on his grinds I think he may have melted the coping. Out of all, I think Adam Hopkins was the man to watch. Big airs left, right and centre, tailslides, smith grinds, handplants and more. He even blew the crowd away at one point by tossing out a drunken 540 McTwist in the deep end first try – no pads. I thought that was pretty much gonna shut it down, but then Andy Anderson rolled in just as the sun was dimming – Protest Represent!!
Andy had the crowd wowed in the matter of 30 seconds in his first run to warm up. 2 runs to get the legs going and then straight to the Indy Transfer over the gap from the hip to the other quater pipe that I made him learn last time we were there. Andy kills it, and proved it once again. Jeff Cole called him out on a trick he’d never tried before – Frontside 5-0 transfer fakie over the spine, and Andy laid ‘er down 2 tries. The night slowly came to an end and people finally disbursed. It was a great day for skateboarding, and just plain hanging out. It’s a great vibe in this City where all skaters come together in harmony, and it makes me glad to be a part of it.
Happy Go Sk8 Day!
June 21st – every damn year…
Here’s all the photos:
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…
After many years of ripping together, I finally asked Stu if he wanted to represent for Protest. Straight outtaSurrey, Stu’s always been hardcore, and was always one of my favorite people to skate with. Stu has some serious Big Tranny skills and rips up any bowl, ramp or barricade you put in his path. Stoked to have him on the Team and looking forward to all the footage we’re gonna see. We stopped in to skate with Stu at Leeside the other night and had a blast. Check it out.
Andy Anderson Carrie Williams Cisco Gooding Contest Results Contests Eve Feaver Hippie Mike Hippie Mike's Tour De Surrey Hippie Mike's Tour De Surrey 2011 Jaden Easton-Ellett Jay Mykyte Jeff Cole Jon Irvine Jordan Strong Kaelen Faux Merrick Orr Nathan Lintunen Protest Skateboards Ryan Brynelson Shawn Rowbottom Skateboarding Stu Benoit
Hippie Mike’s Tour De Surrey: Chuck Bailey 2011 Contest Results
So it’s finally over, but what a great summer for Hippie Mike’s Tour de Surrey, hard to believe that this was the 8th year and there are still some of the same people showing up to all the events. Awesome.
This day was long anticipated by so many people, the first ever full lenght contest at Chuck Bailey. Since I work there, and part of my job is to be outside in the park, I skate it quite a bit. And every day there are multiple people of all ages there skating hard, and constantly learning. So many of them wanted to be the first to win at Chuck Bailey Park, I knew we were in for a wicked show…
The day was sweet, one of the nicest days of this so called summer of 2011. There was between 100 and 150 people at the park and they were all having fun. The Mini’s started off the competition in style by shredding everything in sight.
JR went off in his first run pumping up the crowd, so awesome to have him back. I missed JR soooo much last summer when he had moved away. He spent all summer at Chuck Bailey skating with Adam and Josh Lewis and they all ripped it up at the comp. The big surprise in this category was Justin Fiorante who came out flying over the 3 block and ended by almost kickflipping it. I love seeing that point where a kid all of a sudden gets real good. Justin always had a bit of talent, but I could tell at the last few contests that he has made it to a new level in his skating. Sick runs buddy, and I believe his first ever win!!
The Beginner category was owned by Luke Thodus, undoubtably. 180’s over the 3 block, gap lipslide on the ledge to ledge, and some mighty big boardslides for a tiny dude. Killed it. The rest of the 27 Beginners also had amazing runs. There were so many tricks landed in Beginner, we could’ve gone home right then – show over.
The Intermediates got to skate one at a time, lucky for them.Sky and Brandon both showed that they’ve been hanging at Chuck Bailey every day for the past couple months, Cole Thodus impressed all with his super skills and big ledge and rail skating and Tanner and Jackson Hawthorne both came out with solid practically flawless runs both times. Sick category, tough to win. The ladies all skated together – Brianna, Cali and Erin trying there hardest to show there skills, and Gen and Sam carving the place up. Not many tricks, but still a good competition. Too bad Carrie was sick and coudn’t skate.
Then finally came Advanced – 20 people all wanting to be the first ever “Champion of Chuck.” Fighter and Calvin got to start it off together, and start it off they did. Both of them tore the park up completely different from the other. Calvin demo’d on the rails and 3 block while Fighter went fast and huge everywhere. It was already ineveitable that being judge in this category was going to seriously suck. Baba, Coddi, Ryan Barron, Nick, Cisco, Jaden, Brendan, Dominic, Damon, The Jigga, Giver, Jordan Repin, the list goes on telling you all the people that skated amazingly and still didn’t place. It came straight down to the king of switch stance – Adam Fontaine, and the outright King – Andy Anderson. Adam hits hard switch tricks on the rails and even I have to double take to confirm that it wasn’t regular – because of how flawless he skates. Switch back tails, back lips, back smiths, whatever. But Andy was untouchable. He camped out the night before at China Creek for the Jacks Contest, but skytrained to Chuck to compete in Advanced. Both of his runs were amazing and if the Original Bones Brigade was looking for a sixth, Andy woud’ve been the one. Untouchable!
The standings were announced at the end, the plaques were all given out, the food and money was donated to the Surrey Food Bank (385 lbs of food and $425.75), the Most Improved Award was given to Dominic Devries (The Dominator), and the King of Surrey was named for 2011 – Andy Anderson – placed top 3 in all 5 contests, and also won King of the Bowls this year, a Historic Moment. The bad part for all the others is that, unlike Bowl Series, at Hippie Mike’s Tour de Surrey, you’re allowed to win the King Trophy more than once. Can Andy be the first to do that one, we gotta wait a whole year to find out…
See you then.
Results
Mini 1. Justin Fiorante; 2. Josh Lewis; 3. JR Barron; 4. Aiden Eastman; 5. Jon Schrack; 6. Sam Stephans; 7. Isiah Stroud; 8. Jack Stroud; 9. Ethan Clark; 10. Alex Mager; 11. Dylan Rossi
Beginner 1. Luke Thodus; 2. Matthew Major; 3. Morgan Skinner; 4. Matthew Forcier; 5.Adam Lewis; 6. Rob Schrack ; 7. Billy Shouting; 8. Max Stephans, Noah Eastwood & Riley Allen; 9. Matthew McCauley; 10. David Martin, Bailey Flecks, Jacob Drescher & Mitch Hudson; 11. Scott Cresine; 12. Kevin Tran, Riki Mockizuki & Evan Way; 13. Sage Van Hatten & Trystan Briggs; 14. Colton Routtenbourg; 15. Mark Melyukov, Andrew Goodlet & Austin; 16. Hayden Gordon; 17. Nikki Thomas
Girls 1. Genevieve Lawrie; 2. Sam Maiers; 3. Cali Martin; 4. Brianna Brownrigg; 5. Erin Beynon
Intermediate 1. Jackson Hawthorne; 2. Tanner Hawthorne; 3. Cole Thodus; 4. Brandon Poland; 5. Sky Clow; 6. Peter Kelly; 7. Austin Shelton & Mick Bey; 8. Alex Savage; 9. Aaron Marshall; 10. Robert Wylie
Advanced 1. Andy Anderson; 2. Adam Fontaine; 3. Calvin Dignard; 4. Dominic Devries; 5. Cisco Gooding; 6. Brendan Nielsen; 7. Jay Mykyte & Fighter (Brad Muscat); 8. Brandon Baba; 9. Jaden Easton-Ellett; 10. Jordan Repin; 11. Matt Cook & Allen Handley; 12. Ryan Barron; 13. Damon Kerr; 14. Giver, Ryan Soug & Coddi Ryane
Most stickers on their helmets – Tie between Aiden Eastman & Jason the Scooter Kid
5′ tall or shorter Best Trick on the Quarter – Luke Thodus – Heelflip Rock and Roll
Best Trick on the 3 Block Set Up – Calvin Dignard – Double Heelflip over the 3 block
Highest Wallride – Brad Muscat
Most Improved – Dominc Devries
King of Surrey – Andy Anderson
Andy Anderson Carrie Williams Cisco Gooding Contest Results Contests Hippie Mike Hippie Mike's Tour De Surrey Hippie Mike's Tour De Surrey 2011 Jaden Easton-Ellett Jay Mykyte Jeff Cole Jon Irvine Jordan Strong Kaelen Faux Merrick Orr Nathan Lintunen Protest Skateboards Ryan Brynelson Skateboarding Stu Benoit
Hippie Mike’s Tour De Surrey: Cloverdale 2011 Contest Results
Wow, I can hardly believe it. I’ve worked in Cloverdale for over 8 years, and I used to complain so much when I used to teach Sk8 Lessons at their Park because of how hot it always is there compared to everywhere else in Surrey. But for the past 3 Hippie Mike’s Tour de Surrey contests in Cloverdale, it’s been cold and rainy. When it rained at Fleetwood this year, the first thing I thought was wow, this must mean that it’s not going to rain in Cloverdale this year. And I was right…
The ironic part was that because of another contest that evryone needs to go and try to qualify for Wild in the Parks was also scheduled the day of the Fleetwood contest. And they postponed it till August 26th, so therefore 75% of the kids that would normally be at the Cloverdale comp were not there. Too funny. But you know who was there?
Andy Anderson, Dale Kind, Fighter, Cisco, Mitchy, Jigga Jay, Allen, Andre, William, Max, Kai, Riley, and lots of others, including Quinton Salter dressed up in a Chicken Suit. Nice! Also The TV show Gen Y was there filming and interviewing people for their show, and I believe there was also a lady from The Cloverdale Reporter snapping some pictures for a good part of the day. Lots of publicity, and all the kids striving to get some were at Railside in Poco…
It was an amazing day to watch skateboarding. I think everyone skated really awesome.
Every category was a struggle to judge because all competitors had good runs and landed so many wicked tricks.Kai definitely dominated the Mini category with his technical style and smooth flow, followed close by Jon, but the big surprise had to be Aiden Eastman – 6 1/2 years old and has been trying so hard this year to get tricks down so he could place in a contest. He did it!! 3rd place buddy. We are all stoked for you, and I was very impressed. The Beginner category had 15 kids in it. They all skated great, but Best Run of the day in Beginner had to go to Dante. Hi s1st run he only landed a couple things, but then came out flying in his second run landing every trick he tried with authority. Awesome run man, too bad for the first one or you might have placed. Still took home some fresh new Knee Pads and a sweet hat though. Max took the beginner Category anyway, but then spread the icing all over the cake with a huge backside 180 into the deep end of the bowl. Uphill landing = not easy. Nice one man.
Not too many Intermediates, I can take a guess where they all were. William LeTourneau took the big win, but I still liked watching the Chicken tear up every obstacle in the park. I think some of his 1st run might make the TV.
The Advanced was insane, like always. But even more so this time Every single person in Advanced dominated. We all knew who took 1st and 2nd, but not necessarily which one took which place yet. So it was all about 3rd place. Andy Anderson stole the 3rd place prize, barely. Brad Muscat (Fighter) had 2 amazing runs, Judo blunts and blunt 180’s in the mini ramp, Crooks, Tailslides and BAck LIps on the Loading Dock Rail, and all with his left arm in a full arm cast. He won it for sure… But then Dale had his sencond run, Dude! Smith Grind over the top part of the step ledge, 50-50 up the Loading Dock Rail to manual, Nosestall Body Varial Tail stall Revert on the ledge at the top of the bank, and finishes it off with a Smith Grind to 50-50 180 on the flat bar. Stole it from the Fighter. DJ Dale!!
Best Trick in the halfpipe to finish the day – Allen Handley wins with Back Footed Heelflip Backside Boneless. Alrighty then…
Results
Mini 1. Kai Searle; 2. Jon Schrack; 3. Aiden Eastman; 4. Justin Fiorante; 5. Sam Stephans; 6. Isiah Stroud; 7. Anna Bartnik (got hurt in 2nd run)
Beginner 1. Max Stephans; 2. Konnor Cadeau; 3. Andrew Harden; 4. Riley Allen; 5. Rob Schrack; 6. Dante; 7. Joey Sinclair; 8. Colton Routtenberg; 9. Bishop Posie & Andrew Goodlet; 10. Colby Banyard; 11. Jacob Antony; 12. Ayden S.; 13. Connor; 14. Sage
Intermediate 1. William LeTourneau; 2. The Chicken; 3. Coddi Liang & Andre Bissonnette; 4. Brandon Poland; 5. Robert Wylie
Advanced 1. Dale Kind; 2. Brad Muscat; 3. Andy Anderson; 4. Cisco Gooding; 5. Jay Mykyte; 6. Mitch Salter; 7. Allen Handley; 8. Jordan Strong (got hurt in 7 seconds in 1st run)
See you all at this year’s Grand Finale at Chuck Bailey Park – the first ever competition there.
- Who will take the title of being the first champion of Chuck Bailey?
- Who will be this year’s King of Surrey?
- Who will be announced as Most Improved since last year?
- Who will win the Most Stickers on your Helmet Contest?
- So many questions and only one way to answer them – BE THERE!!
Andy Anderson Carrie Williams Cisco Gooding Contest Results Contests Hippie Mike Hippie Mike's Tour De Surrey Hippie Mike's Tour De Surrey 2011 Jaden Easton-Ellett Jay Mykyte Jeff Cole Jon Irvine Jordan Strong Kaelen Faux Merrick Orr Nathan Lintunen Protest Skateboards Ryan Brynelson Skateboarding Stu Benoit
Hippie Mike’s Tour De Surrey: Fraser Heights 2011 Contest Results
A gorgeous day to be outside, glad I got to be. Sunny, clear, warm, not too hot, beautiful. We deserved a day like this for the day it was going to be. Hippie Mike’s Tour de Surrey at Fraser Heights and then straight over to Chuck Bailey for the Element Demo. This meant one thing, that the contest was going to have to be quick, not much time between categories.
It went well. The kids in Mini and Beginner demolished the whole park. It was solid skating from everyone.Shayle Dahl finished off his 2nd run in Mini by blasting a perfect ollie down the 9 stair first try ever. All the kids were stoked, especially him. Max Stephans in Beginner did the same thing except with a Backside 180 – it was out of nowhere and perfect. Matthew McCauley almost kickflipped down it too. It’s just crazy to even be talking about a 9 stair in the same sentence as “Beginner and Mini Categories”. The City of Surrey is just creating a whole mess of amazing up and coming skaters with all these parks. Seriously.
We had a quick break and then got straight into Intermediate and Advanced.
Coddi Ryane has some wild tricks, and let them all out of the cage at once with 2 solid, and innovative runs in Intermediate. But it was Advanced that was hardcore this time, very tight competition. Dominic Devries (The Dominator) is unstoppable in competition right now. I remember when the Decenzos started to get real good and they were at the level that he is at right now, and look at those 2 now, both getting tons of recognition. I love seeing Ryan Decenzo on TV competing against Sheckler and Nyjah and all these amazing skaters. I will not be surprised if I’m watching Dominic competing against those guys on the TV within the next couple years – that’s the potential I see in him. He is definitely worthy of the name “The Dominator”…
The contest went smoothly and quickly enough to get over to Chuck before the Element Team arrived. The Demo was very successful, everybody killed it. The kids were all stoked and the skaters that came really put on a show. Unfortunately Nyjah was injured and didn’t make it out. Maybe next year. Thanks to MARK APPLEYARD, LEVI BROWN, NICK GARCIA, JULIAN DAVIDSON, EVAN SMITH, BOO JOHNSON, BRANDON DEL BIANCO for coming out and to Chad Albert, team manager, for doing such an awesome job organizing and managing the Tour. Well Done!
Results
Mini 1.Shayle Dahl; 2.Cody Laing; 3. Jon Schrack; 4. JR Barron & Aiden Eastman; 5. Josh Lewis; 6. Mitchel Young
Beginner 1. Jaden Dahl; 2. Max Stephans; 3. Josh Almeda; 4. Riley Allen & Matthew McCauley; 5. Rob Schrack; 6. Bryan Benanides; 7. Matthew Major & Jacob Drescher; 8. Adam Lewis; 9. Anthony Harris; 10. Andrew Goodlet; 11. Joey Sinclair
Intermediate 1. Coddi Ryane; 2. Mick Bey; 3. Andre Bissonnette; 4. Zuri Vankevich; 5. Alex Savage; 6. William Savage; 7. Malek Salem
Advanced 1. Dominic Devries; 2. Jay Mykyte; 3. Ryan Barron & Andy Anderson; 4. Weston Granger; 5. Calvin Dignard; 6. Jaden Easton-Ellett; 7. Trevor Greig & Brad Muscat; 8. Dale Kind &Allen Handley; 9. Brendan Nielsen & Barnadon Baba
Best Trick on Bump to Rail – Brendan Nielsen (Feeble Grind Frontside Bigspin)
See you at Cloverdale – August 27th