100% SKATEBOARDING
I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times. —Bruce Lee
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Fall 2008 Vol.7 No.2
BREAKING NEW GROUND Meet The Innovators
concretewavemagazine.com VOL. 7 No 2• FALL 2008
BRUTIQUE Australian Skate Memories
CONTENTS
FALL 2008
Buttons Kaluhiokalani Photo courtesy of Gary MS Creations
EDITORIAL ..............................................................................................20 NOTEWORTHY..........................................................................................28 THE ‘FISH REPORT....................................................................................42 PRODUCT PROFILES ................................................................................47 GROMFEST ..............................................................................................48 CW TRIP TO EUROPE ................................................................................50 BRUTIQUE: AUSTRALIAN SKATE MEMORIES ................................................52 STALEFISH — BOOK EXCERPT....................................................................58 PORTFOLIO: JON HUEY..............................................................................60
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SUMMER ROADTRIPPIN’ IN EUROPE ..........................................................68 VIVA LOS BARRIOS ..................................................................................70 FREEDOM OF CHOICE................................................................................72 THE MAPLE LEAF INVASION ......................................................................76 THE INNOVATORS ....................................................................................80 HOW TO GET SPONSORED ........................................................................86 NEXT WAVE ............................................................................................92 ART DEPARTMENT ..................................................................................94 CARTOON ................................................................................................97
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Vol. 7 No. 2 FALL 2008
PUBLISHER/EDITOR SENIOR EDITOR ART DIRECTOR ASSOCIATE EDITORS DOWNHILL EDITOR
Michael Brooke • mbrooke@interlog.com Blair Watson Mark Tzerelshtein • MarkintoshDesign.com Mike Moore | Buddy Carr Jon Caften
DOWNHILL PHOTO EDITOR Jon Huey QUIVERS EDITOR CORRESPONDENTS NORTHERN EUROPE LATIN AMERICA, SPAIN AND PORTUGAL AUSTRALIA
Dave Hackett Jim Kuiack | Mark Kessenich | Kilwag Markus Suchanek Diana Gracida | Pablo Castro David Pang | William Fonseca | Nick Sable
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Owen Gottschalk
COPY EDITOR
Jonathan Harms
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Indaba Group PO Box 1895, Carlsbad, CA 92018 tailtapinfo@yahoo.com Robert Stack 786.229.7336
CONTRIBUTORS (In order of appearance): Dave Swift, Ralph Damman, Bryan Bedder, Taylor Barrett, Molly Palacios, Joe Johnson, Aaron Hamilton, Jenny Bradshaw, Mario Casano, Brian Bullis, Scott Shipman, Jeff Donovan, Jason Atencio, Jeff Nass, Michael Early, Sandy Huffaker, Ryan Theobald, Spencer Smith, Eric Ware, Keith Butterfield, Heather Rieland, Jay Mandarino, Ryan Simpson, Jonathan Brooke, Casper Rathbone, Bill Schaffer, John Harle, Craig Roach, Mark Scott, Sean Mortimer, Grant Brittain, Jon Huey, Chuy Gonzalez, Diego Barba, Andrea Siedsma, Marcus Rietema, Sven von Schlacta, Yorck Dertinger, Fordphotography.com, Max Erwin, Tate K. Nations, Heidi Lemmon, Sam Muller, Micah Stancil, Travis Hall, Jeff Cymbalski, Mark Kessenich, Dave Tannaci, Randall Leese, Stephen Gilman, Ryan Onorato, Eric Devericks.
concretewavemagazine.com Concrete Wave is published by North of La Jolla Inc.
Subscriptions (5 issues) are US$26 FIRST CLASS or CAN$26 (US$38 outside North America). Address change? Mag not arriving? Email us... don’t go postal. We can sort it out. mbrooke@interlog.com. We will notify you when your subscription expires. Publisher’s permission is required before reproducing any part of this magazine. The views and opinions expressed in Concrete Wave are not necessarily those of the publisher. We happily accept articles and photos. Please contact the publisher directly at mbrooke@interlog.com before you submit anything. We are looking for a variety of stories and images as long as they are skate related. COVER: Bruno Pasos, Pivot To Fakie, Grind House Pool, San Bernardino, California. Photo: Dave Swift. OPENING SPREAD: Cory Gibson. Photo: Ralph Damman. Distributed by ph: 416.754.3900 f: 416.754.4900 Printed in Canada ISSN 1708-3338 Canada Post Publication. Agreement number 40671108
WELCOME TO THE FINE PRINT: On my forum over at silverfishlongboarding.com, I posted that I was looking for contributors to the Fine Print. I thought it might be interesting to see what would happen if we integrated the Web with a traditional magazine. We’ll let you judge the result. The first two submissions I chose were both poems. In truth, we don’t do poetry here at CW. I am not against poetry, but I can’t say I am for it, either. I guess I have mixed feelings. Like opera and Turkish coffee, it’s an acquired taste. Anyway, here goes: Earth vibrates in pulses and ripples, Spinning alive with motion We be but the few brave, skating, surfing, silently, sync, searching in the solitude of the cement and asphalt for ourselves. no rebels, we only embrace emptiness
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running black obscure road rivers we ride earth waves Rythmridingco Ready for more poetry? Here goes. Skateboarding is a drug You can lose your mind to it, easily. It’s so simple, yet, it can take your life over in less than a second The first time you step on a board it’s either you’re addicted, or it’s not your thing There is no in between. Trygve Here’s a pretty harsh assessment of the state of the union: Skateboarding is still alive and well despite the many attempts on its life, by the likes of (but not limited to) Rocco trying to sell it to corporate America, the X Games and Tony
Hawk’s name on everything. Mullen ruining deck designs for twenty years and wheels being of plastic bolted to trucks that don’t turn and balsa wood, disposable Chinese logo deck manufacturers owned by Nike and similar unscrupulous business types. I don’t mind. I skate hills on antique goodies and I have enough decks to survive the next 20 years as well. Not Me. Moving on we have Alpha 06, who quotes a famous British eccentric: Quentin Crisp once said that in life “you fall out of your mother’s womb, you crawl across open country under fire, and drop into your grave.” I beg to differ. We all know that longboarders slide out of the womb, bomb the open country, and crash, not fall, into graves. Thought we were done with poetry? Guess again, there’s more! Tired! Tired of the whining.
Tired of the “my board is better than your board.” Tired of “he’s a sell out, but he’s not a sell out.” Tired of who’s core and who’s not. Tired of Internet skateboarding. Tired of walking up my favorite hill - the only good tired. Warren On a final note, proving that you can be both young and wise, we have this entry from a 12-year-old: Whether you’re a longboarder or a shortboarder, we are both skateboarders. You should not yell or cuss at someone that does not ride what you ride. We are all skaters, and as long as you enjoy what you do, why does it matter what they do? Spread the stoke. Chandler So there you have it, a snapshot of what’s on people’s minds over at Silverfish.
FALL 2008 CONCRETE WAVE 17
EDITORIAL
TO NEW HEIGHTS he photo on the left is Luis Tolentino breaking the record for the world’s highest ollie. Luis accomplished this feat in June when he cleared 45”. Also pictured is “Barefoot Ted” McDonald who in June skated for 24 hours straight and covered 242 miles, which also broke a world record. Talk about taking things to new heights (and lengths)! Congrats to both Luis and Ted on their amazing accomplishments. Speaking of new heights, I am writing this editorial in late summer, and the cost for a gallon of gas is now averaging well over $4 per gallon in the USA and $5.25 in Canada. Still, it’s all relative. In the Netherlands and Norway, gas is more than $10 a gallon. But then again, just be glad you don’t drive in Sierra Leone, because there gas is $18.43 a gallon! Yep, if you had a 12-gallon tank, it would cost more than $220 to fill up! With gas prices soaring to new heights, alternative transportation methods are suddenly even more attractive. The question for many readers is not will you commute by skateboard, but how far do you want to go? For more info on long-distance skateboarding, visit pavedwave.org. Keeping with the theme of expansion, in July, Billabong made the announcement that they had purchased Sector 9. This is a significant milestone, and it will be interesting to see where things go from here. As they say, “a high tide lifts all boats.” I sense this move by Billabong will indeed take skateboarding to even greater heights. Enjoy this issue,
T
20 CONCRETE WAVE FALL 2008
Barefoot Ted. Photo: Taylor Barrett
Luis Tolentino. Photo: Bryan Bedder
Michael Brooke, Publisher/Editor
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24 CONCRETE WAVE FALL 2008
26 CONCRETE WAVE FALL 2008
NOTEWORTHY PRODUCTS, PEOPLE, EVENTS
KHARMA
Kharma Board Company was created by artist, longboarder and snowboarder Thom Jackson. Kharma Boards are inspired by the feeling of big mountain powder runs and glassy morning sessions. They are individually hand built using continuous maple1/16” plies (that are in the order they existed in the tree) and fiberglass, which together create an incredibly responsive powder-on-pavement ride. Stable at speed and a joy to cruise; Kharma Board Company – Guiding the Ride. kharmaboards.com HAWG WHEELS This is the wheel that dominated the Vernon DH; three of the top four riders were riding them. These wheels eat pavement for breakfast! They’re 76 mm tall, ideal for acceleration and speed, and a huge 60mm wide, making them grip like hell on almost any pavement. They’re ideal for cruising the seawall, carving a mountain road or winning a World Cup speedboarding race. Available in 80A orange and 82A red. landyachtz.com TOY MACHINE
The Fiberprime Nick Trapasso board is constructed of six hard rock maple plies topped with one highdensity thermal poly ply. That special top ply allows for longer lasting crispy-ness without limiting the normal flex of wood and increases overall board strength. Keeping the bottom ply regular hard rock maple gives you the feel you are accustomed to – the pop and slide of real wood. So basically, you get a longer-lasting board, with the feeling of natural wood. toymachine.com EARTHWING Earthwing has recently introduced a smaller, rounded-profile version of the popular Superball “Slide A” wheel. With a contact patch of just 20mm, these little fellas spin quick, break and hook smoothly, and rebound off vibrations to propel you farther, faster. 58 mm x 35 mm, 20 mm contact patch, 74D centerset 10 mm nylon core, 58D tire (Slide A formula). earthwingskateboards.com
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VENOM Venom was started by Colorado skater Zak Maytum. He was pouring bushings out of his garage and selling them to friends in order to pay his way into contests. Zak decided to step up a few notches and make Venom a full-time job. Venom Bushings are now the real deal, coming at you with multiple upgrade offerings. The upgrade line will include the Standard Pack, the Super Carve and the Downhill Super pack. Available through your local skateboard retailer or online store. BUSTIN BOARDS & CRAIL TRUCKS Bustin Boards has reached an agreement to soon equip completes with freshly styled Crail speed trucks. Crail trucks, a 15-year old company independently owned and operated out of Brazil, have become a favorite for speed junkies internationally but have continued to elude the US market due to importing complications. As Bustin founder Ryan Daughtridge explains, “Like lots of people here in the US, we have wanted these trucks pretty badly for some time.” The trucks will be available in several color schemes on the Bustin website starting in fall 2008. bustinboards.com POOL KING SKATES American Underdog model by Pool King Skates is owner Michael Early’s personal lovechild – 9.25” x 37.5” with 18.75” wheelbase. Also available is a limitedrun “stretched” version of their 9.5” Stinger model – Jeff Tatum artwork on green polymer composite. Great set up as a long pool deck or, with a softer
wheel, an awesome ditch setup. Also released is the Travel/Skate bag. Measuring 44” in length, 14” in width and 12” in height, the bag handles two completes, gear and clothing. One-handed rolling operation makes airport and transfers a snap. Bottom skid protectors, end handles and center strap handle. Meets airline baggage requirements (up to 50 lbs.). poolkingskateboards.com ORANGATANG The “In Heat” wheel is 75 mm/80A with a 56 mm contact patch. The wheel is designed for hard carving, pumping and downhill racing They will also slide when broken in. The wheel features a slalominfluenced offset design, with hard sharp edges for
grip, thick lips for maintaining speed and rippled inner walls for progressive energy return. Poured with the specially formulated, high rebound “Happy” urethane. orangatangwheels.com BUDDY CARR SKATEBOARDS Indaba Distribution is pleased to now offer production versions of the new Buddy Carr Grip Stik deck. Inspiration for the Grip Stik came via the early Sims model decks that featured handrouted rails and channels. These not only held an aesthetically pleasing quality but also lightened the somewhat heavy boards of the day. Carr’s patented modern versions of these stylish decks feature up-to-date concaves and shapes with state-of-the-art construction, and the unique routed rails are now produced using modern CNC equipment. Grip Stiks are made of 100 percent Canadian maple and are produced in Southern California. Dealer inquires welcomed. Call (760) 722-4111 or visit tailtap.com. ZORLAC Zorlac is proud to announce its new Texas Artist series of boards. They are kicking things off with two decks from renowned Texas artist and Thrasher columnist Michael Sieben. Michael has done an excellent job of preserving Zorlac’s underground heritage and blending it perfectly with his unique artistic vision. Coming soon are boards from noted Texas tattoo artist, Oliver Peck. zorlacskates.com LOST SOUL In May 2008, Dan Scott parted ways with Lost Soul Skateboards and sold the company to Lost Soul pro Ray Gurz. “With a determination to not let this ship sink, I jumped into the mix a bit more,” Ray says. The team has had some changes, and the current roster is Ray Gurz, Andy Vasquez, Jimmy Larsen and Bubba Smith. lostsoulskateboards.com ORIGINAL The Apex Hybrid V-Lam deck is constructed of sustainable harvested lumber. A vertically laminated aspen-mahogany core is sandwiched between two layers of Canadian maple, which is then sandwiched between two layers of biaxial fiberglass to form a strong, light, all-around performance longboard. Designed to rival the lowest drop-throughs, the bottom of the Apex is also CNC routed to allow Original’s patented carving trucks to drop into the deck, making the Apex one of the lowest carving longboards on the market. originalskateboards.com
NOTEWORTHY PRODUCTS, PEOPLE, EVENTS
HONEY
Honey Skateboards introduces the Velocity dropthrough speed board. Its 9-ply construction and 42” x 10” size make for a solid and stable ride. Whether you’re ready to race or looking for a solid carver for those parking garage sessions, the Velocity will not disappoint. Made of a maple core and top and bottom sheets of sapele with maple stringers, and the fine attention to detail that the crew at Honey is known for, the Velocity is a work of art. honeyskateboards.com HACKBRETT With the Essentials, Hackbrett puts together the experience of skating different terrain and working with various materials. “Balance” is an all-around cruiser coming with two different flex types. This board offers confidence and fun, from city cruising to the steepest hill. The elements “Water” and “Earth” cover the more specialized segments of surf-style longboarding and downhill racing. All boards use the same lightweight core technology developed for Hackbrett´s highly specialized custom board production. Combined with maple, fiberglass or carbon, each deck has its own distinct character. customlongskates.com STREET SWELL
The Daisy Cutter is a cross between our Cruise and a Hamboard. We wanted something different that would be fun from bike paths to boardwalks while keeping our esthetic. The Original 250mm trucks and 97mm Flywheels make this 6’4” beauty turn on a dime. We use 16-layer ply with a hardwood veneer and hardwood stringers. The grip is incorporated into a clear poly finish. Releasing late fall 2008. streetswell.com RAYNE Accelerating the rate of a chemical reaction, the Catalyst is 32.5” in length and 9.75” wide. This board can rip most anything – and do it quickly. The smaller wheelbase at 15.5”, tub concave and tight kicks allow the Catalyst to mow down all popsicle shapes in its path. Bowls, slide and street are what this board wakes up for, and its shape is reflective of our team preferences. The Catalyst has crisp edging, big kicks and an aggressive concave. raynelongboards.com
HÜGELHERZBLUT
The newest release from Hügelherzblut is named “Kurvenbrett,” a race-bred carving board with three different flex patterns, triax fiberglass and a lightweight wood core. Hügelherzblut boards are designed and developed by girls for girls, made in Germany with dedication and love. huegelherzblut.de
completes come with custom-built Randal DH trucks and RocknRon’s Stage II Missiles in their 77 mm Inferno downhill wheel. The DH Smoke is loaded with carbon fiber, bi-directional layered glass, beech hardwood spine and tip and our unique P-Tex bumper at the tail. neversummer.com
AMERICAN NOMAD Pat Bronowicki, one of the main artists over at American Nomad Skateboards, came up with the idea of stenciling the image of Bill Danforth (CW vol. 2 no. 4) onto a series of decks. americannomadskates.com
BEAR TRUCKS Grizzly trucks have undergone some major upgrades going into their second year. There has been an improvement in the overall look and finish, making the 852’s available in black or polished metal. Bear also faced the hangers to provide a perfectly perpendicular axle-to-hanger edge, ensuring that washers or bearings will have a clean, even surface to run against. The company added a pressed kingpin to eliminate any play or rattling and finished them off with a bigger, more practical bushing. The “pumpkin bushings” provide a smoother turn and better rebound, making for a more desirable overall feel and performance. beartrucks.com and landyatchz.com
GARVER Garver Boardsports deal exclusively with ceramic bearings, which they test and improve constantly. They test every single bearing to make sure it’s up to the standard they stake their name on. garverboardsports.com BAMBOO SK8 Bamboo Sk8 is an OEM bamboo provider to the skateboard industry. They are breaking new ground (without hurting the environment) with a patent-protected process involving a truly sustainable eco/green source: bamboo. Bamboo Sk8 is a superior choice for skaters who want to be at the forefront of a true revolution. Contact geoff@bamboosk8.com. AIRFLOW Swiss-based Airflow has come out with their longest board to date – the Speed Wing. This pintail board is constructed without camber and has a light concave form, which provides a better control of the board. The long and variable wheelbase enables a good downhill performance and is suitable for all those who prefer a top-mount board to a drop-through model. airflow-skateboards.com and airflow-skateboards.ca NEVER SUMMER Having made a few changes since they printed their skate catalog, Never Summer provided us with some new specs for the Smoke, starting with an improved length of 10” x 40” in. and a wheelbase of 34”. The
ARMADA Armada has also just released a “LiL” Renegade mini-model for 10-year-old vert prodigy Dakota White along with the “Camp Armada Hills“ team model, which pays tribute to the ‘80s Camp Beverly Hills. This series represents Armada’s Alma Mater Crest. All Armada decks are made with 100% Prime Wood manufactured in the USA. armadaskateboards.com FACTORY 13 The gang at Factory 13 tell us their new constructions and molds are hitting the public with good response. Danny Creadon, head of F13, says the new Channel Lock mold is insane. Artist Paul Neumann created this latest graphic, available now. factory13.org SOUL RYDE Soul Ryde have just launched a full line of apparel along their new line of boards, which they have now broken up into two different categories. They have their hardwood series (which is now mahogany instead of oak) and their new inlay ply. Soul Ryde has introduced a brand new method of making the ply board while still keeping in the Soul Ryde style. All the color that you see in these ply boards is actually made up of different pieces of colored veneer inlayed together. After inlay and press, it is then finished with laser-etched graphics. soulryde.com
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NOTEWORTHY PRODUCTS, PEOPLE, EVENTS
KOASTAL K o a s t a l Skateboards is proud to introduce the “Meat Loaf.” Just like mom makes, except they take the best of what’s left over in the wood shop to produce this tasty morsel. It’s their contribution to minimizing waste because every little bit helps. The “Meat Loaf” is also the first fairly limited-edition production board. Why is it “fairly limited,” you ask? That’s because every sixth deck the stringer pattern changes, so more than likely you will never see the same board twice. koastalboards.com RUCKUS Crown 5.0 low trucks are newly redesigned, light weight and currently available in Mid and Low profiles. They also feature improved turning geometry, quick and stable turning radius. The trucks have debossed logos, high-rebound 88A bushings and cast-in nonslip axles with a hardened kingpin and axle. ruckusmetal.com ROAD KILL Road Kill is a small coll a b o r a t i v e illustration-based fanzine by Craig Questions and Dan Singer. Road Kill is inspired by ‘80s skateboarding, staying up late to draw, old zombie films, curb slashing, old hardcore bands, eating too many sweets, collecting rotting animals, comic book reading, screen printing, finding the secret wall ride in every park, slam dancing, and most of all doing everything wrong. myspace.com/theroadkillzine
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MUNNSVILLE GRAVITY FEST Patrick Switzer leads Will Brunson
POWELL MiniLogo has added two new shapes, Shape 170 (width 8.25”) and Shape 171 (width 8.5”). MiniLogo™ skateboards are manufactured by the source of some of the finest brands in the skateboard industry. MiniLogo doesn’t skimp on quality materials or workmanship, and their decks and wheels are still made in the USA. MiniLogo means no-nonsense quality and performance at a rock-bottom price. powellskateboards.com
W49th “Ambition” showcases the talents of selected skateboarders from the 200 amateur cross-Canada riders who comprise the West 49 Flow Team. The third DVD in the Flow series. W49.com HOPELESS OLD MEN Hopeless Old Men On Skateboards is veteran vert skater Mark Conahan’s skate comic about the lives of padded-up, crusty old skateboarders as they grind across, carve around and air over the difficulties of being a thoughtful skateboarder in a pedestrian culture. Hilarity ensues. The strip appears daily on antigravitypress.com and skateandannoy.com. Volumes one and two are currently available from lulu.com
By Aaron Hamilton Photos: Jenny Bradshaw Gravity Fest 7 was a huge success as the quaint town of Munnsville, N.Y. put on another great show of speed, skill and thrills! Racers from as far away as California, Florida, Vancouver Island and Montreal eagerly traveled to upstate New York for what promised to be an amazing spectacle. American Legion Post 54, Dr. No Racing and the town of Munnsville displayed incredible hospitality and showed everyone a great time. Spectators’ gasps and children’s cheers had all the competitors stoked going into the famous “Crash Corner” with hopes of making it through unscathed. This year’s event was the 7th annual, and each year just gets better and better, with a race course 1.5 miles long and a 500ft. change in elevation. Racers competed in Street Luge, Standup Skateboard, Classic Luge (Buttboard) or Gravity Bike in Junior, Amateur or Pro classes. Planning for next year has already begun, with high hopes for more racers, more speed and of course, more crashes. Race Results – Standup Pro 1. Kevin Reimer 2. Patrick Switzer 3. Brian Peck 4. Louis Pilloni 5. Will Brunson
HOUSTON PARK OPENS Sunday, June 1, 2008 Opening Day of Lee and Joe Jamail skatepark in Houston, Tex. brought out some heavy hitters, including Christian Hosoi, Lance Mountain and Steve Caballero. Photo: Molly Palacios
DADDIES BOARD SHOP
THE FRENCH OLD SCHOOL SKATE JAM The third jam took place in Marseille on July 12-14.
Oregon’s Daddies Board Shop won a coveted spot on the Portland Business Journal’s “Top 100 FastestGrowing Private Companies,” placing #42 on the list, up from #75 in 2005. Daddies co-owner, Dan Loveland, accepted the award on stage from a bunch of tall guys in suits (who looked confused). Everyone at the reception was cheering Daddies as a welcome break from the boring old management consultant and accounting firms that seem to rule the Top 100 list. daddiesboardshop.com TACTIS SK8 Tactis Sk8, proudly offer their "Pro Series" decks with full concave and serious materials innovations. Whatever your discipline, Tactis offers true competition decks, cruiser, mini, slide and a couple of the most advanced downhill and slalom systems you can score. Tactis also offers an affordable prototype and custom shop so your ideas can become product. Dealer inquiries welcomed call 916-712-7000. Tactis Sk8
Events included a visit to bowls, parks and ditches and banked slalom competition. Photo: Marion Casano
Photo: Joe Johnson
KHIRO Khiro has just introduced bearing spacers. They are available in 8x8mm, 8x10mm and 10x10mm and are made of the finest aircraft aluminum. The company states these will last you a lifetime! khiroskateboardproducts.com
BOARDPUSHER.COM Skate shops can now offer their customers one-off custom skateboard decks. By purchasing a BoardPusher Custom Deck Voucher, customers will be able to design their own custom skateboard online and pick it up at the skate shop when it is ready. BoardPusher hosts an online design tool for each skate shop at the shop’s own personalized URL, branded with the shop’s logo. The process allows full-color, photo resolution-quality graphics. BoardPusher Custom Deck Vouchers are available exclusively from Pure Distribution. boardpusher.com
NOTEWORTHY PRODUCTS, PEOPLE, EVENTS
SOUTH SHORE David Cain, the controller of South Shore Distributing (in the back), and Janine from South Side Skate Park giving “Double Reds.” This process gives twice as much of the red blood cells than regular whole blood while giving back your plasma. They also give you some saline too, but this makes you gain weight. The guys from South Shore, David, Damian and Danny, all gained about 10 pounds each, but it was for a great cause – replenishing Johnny Romano’s blood usage! BOB STACK’S PAVED WAVE
Bob Stack is Concrete Wave’s representation in the Sunshine State. Bob hits a number of Florida events and skateparks during the year along with the South Beach bike path. He’s full of energy, and it’s his intention to promote a number of different skate companies and grow his promotional business. Who are you? I am CBS – Crazy Bobby Stack. What is it that you are doing with Paved Wave Promotions? My goal is to give the consumer a chance to try different skate products that are hard to find in our local shops here in South Florida. What I am doing is bringing Concrete Wave alive. I am giving people a chance to touch, hold and ride on the different boards that are out there. For some reason the choices here suck of what is available in the shops. There are so many other boards out there that don’t get their fair shake here in South Florida. Where do you think your services could help the most? Direct contact with the consumer. I am not much different than a preacher on a soapbox. The difference is I am preaching skateboarding, not religion. I am the guy that is getting 40-year-old men and women back on boards again. I also preach to the kids and show them there is a lot more to skateboarding than clothes and street skating. When they meet me, they learn about downhill, slalom, carving, flow and whatever niche you can think of. They learn about what soft wheels are for and what hard wheels are for. I love stopping the van when I see a bunch of kids WALKING with their boards when I pull up and open the doors and take out all the boards. Let’s say it takes a good hour to get the boards back inside the van. And then I hand them a copy of Concrete Wave, and all they can say is WOW. What’s it been like setting up your business? That is a hard question to answer. It has been a lot
of work. But then again, every day I go out to promote it is like going to the beach. It is a lot of fun just watching people enjoy the different boards. The hardest part has been getting some of the companies that I work with to understand what I am doing and that if they want to sell or promote their products, it takes teamwork to do this. You’ve probably turned a lot of folks on to skateboarding. What’s your best story? That is a toss-up between the street skaters pounding on my front door all hours of the night wanting to get soft wheels and riser pads, and my cousin Frank coming to see me from Boston. OK, Frank wins – here goes. Frank came down to Florida to see family and take a vacation. He showed up at my door the first night, and I started in about skateboarding and what I was doing for the magazine. Let’s just say he left the house thinking I was nuts. Two days later he showed up again. While he was there I had about seven kids outside skating that I was working with. At first he stayed inside talking to my wife and then FINALLY he picked up the magazine and really started looking at it. Within two weeks he went out and bought two boards, and [now] if he is not snowboarding, he is skateboarding every day. The funny part was the last night he was in town. My mom called him at his hotel. Between all the books and DVDs I gave him, he couldn’t sleep, so when my mom called he thought it was me. He mistakenly called her a f**king a**hole because he got hooked on skateboarding! I guess he felt a little embarrassed. The moral of the story: pay attention to who is on the other end of the phone line! Florida is pretty flat. Can you still have fun without huge hills? Sure, you can – rain or shine, seven days a week, 24 hours a day. In downtown Miami alone we have over 25 parking garages, all ranging from five stories to 20 stories, all different – from corkscrews to ramps for speed, and also ramps for drifting. We have everything here, and it is all within two square miles. I even have places for the beginner. Those I call the bunny slopes. If you ever come down, give me a call – or just look for our thread on silverfishlongboarding.com. Any final comments? There is no reason what I am doing here can’t be done anywhere else. All you have to have is the love for the sport.
House for Adaptive Action Sports.” The event was originally planned to celebrate their recent distribution deal with Eastern Skateboard Supply and to give back to the customers that made Bustin’s growth possible, but it quickly turned into an opportunity to acknowledge an underpublicized non-profit organization. Adaptive Action Sports (www.adacs.org) creates programs and opportunities for individuals with permanent physical disabilities to participate in Zeid Bataineh action sports as well as the art and music scene that follows them.
The Open House weekend kicked off with a freeskate around Central Park. More than 80 riders clogged the loop to make a statement and to raise awareness for the cause. These skaters were rewarded with event shirts designed by Okoto Apparel and were also given swag from Skater Socks, Gravity and Concrete Wave. Visitors and customers were treated to a tour of the facility as well as a meet-andgreet with the Bustin Crew/Riders. More than 350 people attended the event. The evening’s highlight was AAS co-founder Daniel Gale’s speech about AAS’s goals. After his heartfelt words, Gale played a clip of the 2007 Amped Riders Tour to show all the partygoers what their donations were providing. The end of the video sparked a roar of applause. The event raised nearly $3,000 for AAS. Bustin would like to thank the event sponsors that made it all possible: Anheuser-Busch, Monster Energy Drink, Zyr Vodka, Okoto Apparel, Skater Socks, Gravity Skateboards, Concrete Wave Magazine, Ogden Clothing, Don’t Be Stupid and Stereo Skateboards. INDY INVASION Words and Photo: Brian Bullis
SWEDISH SKATE EXHIBIT
A number of products that are featured in Concrete Wave are included at a Swedish exhibit on skateboarding at the Röhsska Museum of Fashion, Design and Decorative Arts. The exhibition runs from June 18–November 2, 2008. info.designmuseum@kultur.goteborg.se BUSTIN OPEN HOUSE On May 17, 2008, Bustin Boards opened up their loft/factory for “Bustin Boards 1st Annual Open
As the grumpy juice flowed, the sun beat down on the skate gluttons of the valley. From the grommets to the seniors, everybody at the park seemed to be sharing the same stoke. Whether it was on the 10stair or in the amoeba, there was a positive aura floating in the air. Maybe it was just the heat or the grumpy juice, or maybe it was a combination of both. Either way, there was a good vibe throughout the park. Only the true veterans and skate recruits were in attendance to witness the brutality that was about to go down. Anticipation turned to reality when an old primer-black Independent truck came pulling
SUMMER 2008 CONCRETE WAVE 31
NOTEWORTHY PRODUCTS, PEOPLE, EVENTS
into the parking lot, followed by two white vans filled with professional, dirt-bag skateboarders. The grommets went wild as the skate geezers pretended not to be too concerned about the mayhem. But let’s face it, we all felt like grommets when legends like Steve Caballero, Christian Hosoi and the one and only Jeff f**kin’ Grosso graced one of the valley’s own little oases in the desert. Chris Haslam was pretty much devoured by the hordes of star-struck rug rats. One of them even asked the man for a piece of his beard. Chet Childress lived up to the reputation that I’ve only heard so much about. Braydon Szafranski doubled up with Adam Alfaro for a blunt kickflip under about six feet of Adam’s stalefish, over a gap to boot. The way Sammy Baca skated blew my mind. It seemed that he was launched from the wrist-rocket of Satan himself, burning his way through the park. It was kind of weird seeing my heroes just hanging out unscathed at our park, while some of the others were being treated like rock stars; if these kids only knew who exactly was at their park on that day. To close out the skate, Old Man Army veterans hosted a kick-ass BBQ. No one does it better: grumpy juice, burgers, dogs, brothers and skating. Dreams came true for many that day. Five-year-old “Dubs” got to play a one-on-one game of SKATE with Chris Haslam. He also got some great advice from the one and only Christian Hosoi. As for the rest of us old farts, we got to grub, swill, skate and just hang out with our childhood heroes. MOTTO GRIP TAPE CONTEST Congrats to Jimmy Stayt of Queensland, Australia, who took first place in the CW/Motto grip tape contest. Second place went to Greg Fountain, and Tyler Kline took third. To see some amazing customized grip tape artwork, visit emotto.com BULLDOG SKATES WEST COAST JAM 2008
The fourth annual Bulldog Skates West Coast Jam went down June 28-29, 2008 in Los Osos, Calif. The event gathered more than 70 BDS skaters from the US and UK. It also included a massive barbeque and raffle, but this jam was dominated by old-school skateboarding. The Los Osos skatepark proved to be an excellent site for this year¹s jam due to its central location, large size and the Paul Halliburton bench, a memorial to a fallen brother. Local skateboard guru Jonny Miller (pictured) threw a blowout party, which included more skating and live music late into the night. Photo: Jeff Donovan
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HUNTSVILLE PARK
One of Spectrum Skateparks’ newest concrete creations opened in Huntsville, Ontario, Canada on May 31, 2008. The four-year project was spearheaded by Rob Saunders and Jeff Carter of the local Rotary club to honor Rotary International’s centennial anniversary. rotaryyouthpark.com Photo: Scott Shipman 5TH ANNUAL DENVER GO SKATEBOARDING DAY By Jason Atencio Photo: Jeff Nass On June 21 in Denver this year, skateboarders came out in masses to the Denver Skatepark for a long, hot day of skateboarding, art and music. Beginner and Intermediate contests were held in the morning in the main street course. Every year the level of skating improves, and this year was no exception, in all skill levels. Notable mentions go out to Lovis Medina who took the intermediate contest without even trying (since when is a kickflip boardslide down a rail an intermediate trick?) and to Ruben Vigil, who had a solid couple of runs to take the beginners contest. The public art walls were a big success. Dave Sheets (resident BoardPusher artist) managed hordes of kids with paint markers and spray cans, a feat that can’t be claimed by many. The end result was worth all the trouble, though. Eight different panels were filled with the most random stuff you could imagine, and they remain a sort of artistic account of the day. The Biggest Fish in the Pond pro-am contests turned out to be a true battle of the locals. The contestants seemed pleased that all the pros in town that day decided to leave the contest alone. Despite being interrupted by the cops trying to shut down the event and the firemen having to pull a kid with a broken leg out of the peanut bowl, the contests went off smoothly. The street finalists even got an extended finals run while most of the event staff were dealing with the local law enforcement, giving all the onlookers a worthy show. In the street course, Julian Christianson ended up on top with an arsenal of tech tricks over the hip that even the best could have trouble rivaling, including nollie bigger spins and nollie 270 heels, with amplitude to spare. He was closely followed by Whyatt Milhollan and park resident Lee Wilson and
the biggest kickflip of the day. The peanut bowl contest was an easy win for Otto Pflanz, followed by Michael DeBuano with large frontside airs, and Cameron Lawrence, who skated twice as fast as anyone else. The toughest showing of the day goes to 10-year-old Evan Tooley, who fell straight to his head twice in row into the deep end of the peanut bowl and didn’t even seem to mind. Keep an eye on that kid. After the contests came to an end, the music turned up and the performances began. Two straight hours of underground Denver hip-hop (Bionik Brown, Whygee and EFK) in the middle of the park took the event into the night and ended a long day of fun. Make sure to come next year if you’re in the area. Pro/Am Peanut Bowl 1. Otto Pflanz 2. Michael DeBuano 3. Cameron Lawrence THE RAIN TRAIN By Nick Sable Conehead Cup Round 1 June 15, 2008, Sidonia Gardens, Central Coast New South Wales, Australia Round 1 of the Conehead Cup was meant to be a full weekend of slalom racing. Saturday was lined up to be banked ditch slalom on the now-famous Kincumber Mountain, but that was a washout. The weather played us a foul hand of cards in the shape of a full house of rain – damn! Sunday was head-tohead slalom racing at Sidonia Gardens. We woke to find that rain dealer was still on top form, but the weather did not deter the hardy few; start ramps were assembled, the rain was still on and off, the track was soaked. A few brave souls started gingerly cruising the cones at a sedate pace. Many had reservations as I put my hand up to admitting I never skate in the rain. Jackson Shapiera and Steve Daddow started pushing the speed envelope with water spray coming from all four wheels. We could not believe what we were witnessing. The god of sticky urethane was showing us a miracle. I suppose what happened next could only be described as skate peer pressure; if these guys weren’t slipping, there was hope for us all! We got padded up, and as people got more confident, the racing got faster and faster. Everyone was in agreement we were witnessing something special. As no one could ever recall a competition slalom race ever being held in the rain, it was truly groundbreaking. Jackson Shapiera took his first-ever victory over Steve Daddow in the final, and Haggy Strom came in 3rd.The win was close but well deserved. How close? Only .07 of a second! Special mentions must go out to Boyd McMillan, Nathan Paff, Paul Shaddock and Glen Mills for stepping up their game for the 2008 series. Big thanks to Paul Carey for supplying the start ramps and to ASRA for running the event.
NOTEWORTHY PRODUCTS, PEOPLE, EVENTS
Between June 20 and June 22, 2008, Joshua Neff and his team skated 180 miles across and up Florida to raise money for the Preemptive Love Collation. preemptivelove.org and freewebs.com/skateacrossflorida THE COLLECTION AGENCY By Michael Early The purpose of this column is to look back on some of skateboarding’s history and feature the boards and equipment that made progressive advancements and got us to the present –because after all, you can’t really know where you’re going without realizing where you came from.
Makaha “Commander” 7” x 33” This board arrived in the early to mid-1960’s and is real skate/surf history. It was made with surfing in mind; even the shape is that of an original Hawaiian redwood longboard, meant to reflect the style and feel of cruising a wave at Makaha. The deck is constructed of vertically laminated mahogany and redwood and is a hand-shaped beauty! The current owner lost out on an eBay auction (dozing off in the wee hours of the morning with less than one minute to go). But being the die-hard he is, he contacted the winner and traded another desired item (a collectible surfboard) for this skate. He then made a 500-mile-plus trek to make the trade. Finally this prize was in his hands. No value will be given here, but one of the original Dogtown boyz was willing to trade an original DT skates/handpainted from his private stash for it!
Sims Taperkick 6.75” x 30” (WB 16”) Circa early summer 1976, this was the brainchild of Tom Sims (before his snowboard fame). The Taperkick was the “composite” deck of its time. It has a unique lamination using exotic hardwoods with a 3layer process and deep wheel wells. It was one of the more expensive decks on the market and way ahead of its time. This one is set up with original Bennett Truks w/ Ad Traks and OJ wheels. The current owner/collector (SDO) originally set this up for a buddy while he worked at a skate shop in La Jolla, Calif., then made contact with him some 28 years later and “negotiated” a deal. This board reminds me of carving a snake run at my favorite park. A true classic. Approx. value $300 to $600.
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SKATE GOD Skate God is a new sci-fi action film that will be skating into theaters next year. The screenplay was written by pro skater Al Garcia (in the photo on left), who is also an executive producer, along with film veteran Peter C. Jensen and Chris Kirkman (middle). The film takes place in the post-apocalypse and will feature skaters Jim Bates, Greg Fountain and Dakota White. The film will also be introducing new camera dollies that were specifically designed by Jensen to film skateboarding. They give a whole new meaning to “POV.” skategod.com S3 SUPERGIRL JAM Photos: Sandy Huffaker
Mimi Knoop Evelien Bouilliart The Second Annual S3 Supergirl Jam, the only large-scale, all-female action sports competition and music festival, took place on July 25-27, 2008 in Huntington Beach, Calif. Mimi Knoop took 1st place in the bowl jam and earned herself a check for $3,500. “Mimi looked like she owned it,” said World Cup of Skateboarding head judge Charlie Wilkins. “Run after run, she skated everything fast and powerfully, including all corners of the bowl while incorporating traveling airs.” Mimi was humble in her triumph: “I am honored to win,” she said. “A lot of girls were skating well. I wasn’t expecting to take 1st place, but
Cara-Beth Burnside
I just happened to stay on and connect some tricks, which worked in my favor.” Lauren Perkins picked up $5,000 as 1st-place winner in the street contest. The S3 Supergirl Jam is designed to promote and celebrate female strength, independence and empowerment by creating a platform for today’s athletes to compete in multiple action sports disciplines. The event features top female athletes in surf, skate and snow, as well as female bands and a variety of other activities. For more info, visit s3supergirljam.com. Skateboard Street Finals 1. Lauren Perkins – $5,000 2. Rachel Reinhard – $3,000 3. Evelien Bouilliart – $2,000 Bowl Jam 1. Mimi Knoop – $3500 2. Karen Jonz – $2000 3. Cara-Beth Burnside – $1,200 Best Trick Evelien Bouilliart - Backside bluntslide on the rail ($1,000) VERNON DH By Ryan Theobald The 4th Annual Vernon DH was met by a perfect sunny day and 112 downhill skateboarders who were all stoked and ready for a day of rubbing elbows and pushing the envelope. The race course on Middleton Mountain overlooks the city and nearby lakes; it’s a great spot for racing. As always, race organizer and two-time podium finisher Mischo Erban put together a seamless day of racing, brotherhood, excitement and intensity. Saturday marked the pilgrimage of the quickly growing downhill family to Vernon; the familiar BC locals who have been part of the scene since before it was a scene, new riders from across BC, the huge Alberta contingent and the relentless invasion of deadly American riders and kick-ass bros. This motley crew blends seamlessly together to form a downhill family reunion.
Photo: Spencer Smith
SKATE ACROSS FLORIDA
Vernon is home to Silverstar Mountain ski resort, which happens to have a wicked 12-mile road full of pavement changes, tight corners, drifters, straight bombs and for today, more than 100 guys and girls bombing it like mad. Mischo went all out to make the event as pro as possible: nice T-shirts, stickers, wicked Swiss-made metal canteens and a set of Jim Z bushings for everyone. Saturday was also “Go Skateboarding Day,” and the skatepark was the ideal place for people to rip it up and enjoy the company until the sky opened up and it started raining hard enough to send everyone for cover. Sunday was race day. There were a few big changes to this year’s event, mainly the decision to add the event to the IGSA schedule, making it the Canadian Nationals. As Mischo explains, “I wanted to give the event more professionalism. I wanted it to be a part of something bigger and help create awareness on an international level. Riders can now look at
NOTEWORTHY PRODUCTS, PEOPLE, EVENTS
Photo: Eric Ware
global rankings and see where they stand compared to guys overseas.” The move to IGSA meant riders will be awarded points toward world rankings, but what was really on everyone’s mind was the change from a one-push start to an unlimited push start. Last year’s fastest qualifying time was 58 seconds; this year saw the top 12 qualifiers all under that time with Louis Pilloni on top with a 56-second run. A roller-
coaster drop into the first corner ensures everyone starts out very fast, calculating how much footbrake or drift to throw down. Heading into the big, hard left was a challenge for nearly everyone. As always, there were several hundred people packed around the corner cheering along with Striker’s play by play on the mic. Exit speed out of the super-wide corner one was key; watching riders battle for ground was a blast for everyone. Speed and lines made the steep drop between corners one and two a super-exciting section, full of passing and tight riding as people fought for the faster line down into corner two. Although corner two was wide, it proved to be more of a challenge than riders thought; drifting and rough pavement made for a few big wipeouts and several key position changes. The last stretch of the course was a long straightaway, where drafting played a major role in the outcome of many heats.The day was packed with tight races, big spills, upsets and tons of skilled riding. For the first time at Vernon, Mischo was proud to be able to hold both a women’s race and a juniors’ race. Everyone’s favorite was 9-year-old Quinn Dubois from North Vancouver, who rode the hill with confidence and speed like a seasoned veteran. Look out for him at upcoming events. But running away with the Juniors’ event was 14-year-old Spencer Smith, who showed everyone that his skill level matches his stoke level – which is sky high. Once the bulk of riders had been eliminated, an incredibly talented top 16 men stood at the top of the hill trying to envision how to negotiate the track and get ahead of the three other skilled riders they were going to be taking on in their heat. Nearly anyone in the top 16 could have come out on top; however, the quarterfinals meant the end for top riders like Mischo, K-Rimes and Billy the Kid along with up-and-comer Nick Brenton – fast as hell – and Aaron Hamilton, and among other ass kickers, yours truly. The top 8 that met in the semis were no surprise – top gunners across the board. The crowd was especially stoked to see local Zen Shikaze taking on the top riders at the event and did a great job of making a lot of noise to let him know how stoked they were to see him there. Unfortunately, all the noise wasn’t enough; Zen and American top rider Patrick Rizzo were beaten by Tom “Meatball” Edstrand and “Top Gun” Jesse Tynan. The other semi was just as talent-packed; Team Green’s Rylan “Raggie” English and 2007
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runner-up Nate Lang were outgunned by favorites Scott “Scoot” Smith and Dr. Jim Z. In the finals it was Jim Z, who has become a legend throughout the BC racing circuit thanks to his near domination of Kimberley’s Sully Challenge; Scoot Smith, reigning Maryhill champ; Jesse T, who is no stranger to the finals in Vernon, placing 4th in both 2005 and 2006; and Meatball, the 2007 Vernon DH champ, aiming for a big repeat after a recently released article pegged him as being “in the twilight of his racing career.” With the crowd on their feet and the booming play-by-play on the mic, the finals didn’t disappoint. It started with nearly flawless full-speed racing through the first corner with Jim Z in front, but everyone with a different line packed up tightly going into corner two where the riders went out of view. After a few minutes of anticipation and people pouring into the street, word came through the mic to a cheering crowd that Meatball was the champ again, followed closely by Scoot, Jesse T and Jim Z. What more can you ask for — from a deadly event organizer in Mischo, a supportive, patient and helpful neighborhood in Middleton Mountain and a growing field of talented riders willing to make the annual trip into Vernon to put on a show for the locals. It was perfect. A big thanks to the residents. Mischo says he’s going to be capping the event at 128 riders for 2009, so keep an eye out for info and register fast! Men 1. Tom “Meatball” Edstrand 2. Scott “Scoot” Smith 3. Jesse “Top Gun” Tynan Women 1. Haven Anderson 2. Anne Harding 3. Anna O’Neil Juniors 1. Spencer Smith 2. Colin Watchuk 3. Steven Kopyt
States after serving five and a half months in the Middle East. My wife had a very unexpected surgery, and I needed to get home to help her and the kids. When I left Iraq, I had just published the “Cradle Of Civilization III” skateboard video. As far as I know, one, two and three were the first skate videos ever made in Iraq, and it was a blast making them. Skateboarding for me in the Middle East is most likely what skateboarding is for everyone all across the world. It allowed me to be very creative, athletic, focused and have fun all at the same time. This helped me immensely during my times of loneliness and stress. Now that I am back in the USA, many things are racing through my head: my relationship with God; getting back in tune with my family; my career goals; skateboarding again after all these years away; and life and death. Two people I knew lost their lives during the past few months, and trying to come back to my “normal life” is harder than I thought. One thing that I have come to enjoy this time around with my skating is the ability to influence others in a positive way. I get a lot of satisfaction out of just being there when young skaters want to ask questions, send e-mails or simply watch an older guy skate. I’ve even had a few kids come up to me and say, “Man, I wish my dad skated; all he does is drink beer, sit on the couch and get fat.” Kids say the darnedest things! Moreover, I remember what it was like being that kid. For some youngsters, skating may be all they have. Some have absent parents and other issues that life has presented them. Skateboarding may be the one thing they can turn to for hope, discipline and joy. I was that kid. If I can give something back to our youth and this sport at the same time, then it is my pleasure, and I am all about it. God bless, Keith Butterfield KAHUNA BIG RIDE
DEAR MOM: LETTERS FROM IRAQ III By Keith Butterfield – Marine, Father, Skateboarder
As we approach the end of this deployment many things come to mind. Although today’s service members are all volunteers, deployments can still take a toll on the human spirit. Besides the crazy heat pounding down on our skin, the military men and women give up many things that most of us take for granted everyday — simple things such as being able to dress how you want, drive where you want, eat what you want — not to mention the absence of loved ones. As for me, I have just entered back into the United
The Big Ride was part of the Seismic 2008 National Slalom Championships, July 11-13 in Morro Bay, Calif. In the first-ever Land Paddle race, Kevin Delaney and George Pappas battled neck and neck right to the finish of the Pro/Open event, with Delaney pulling out the victory and scoring the $500 first place prize provided by Kahuna Creations. ARISE SKATE COMP By Heather Rieland We experienced a colossal event at the Arise Skate Competition in Billings, Mont. On Saturday, June 7, 2008, the Lazarus Project brought in professional skaters from San Diego for a day that focused totally
NOTEWORTHY PRODUCTS, PEOPLE, EVENTS THINK INK By Jay Mandarino
on youth. Kids ages 8 and up registered to compete and show off their skating for the judges. The schedule included a festival-type atmosphere with an all-day band, Indian fried tacos and home-style kettle corn among other tantalizing treats, and colorful booths occupied by the event’s gracious sponsors. With Monster being the main sponsor, energy drinks were sold from the bed of a “monster” truck — how appropriate. The extravaganza boasted a packed lineup, with two hospitals, St. Vincent and Billings Clinic, stepping up to the plate in the area of safety and giving away free helmets to needy kids. They distributed them in honor of nineteen-year-old Justin Schlueter, a snowboarder who died without a helmet on a local mountain slope. The frosting on the cake for the day proved to be real – as in wedding cake. Event coordinator Scott Jones married beaming bride Deanne Hogan at the skatepark. The minister, bride and groom were not on skateboards, but the happy couple did share skateboard-shaped cake with the celebratory crowd. Jones was elated that Billings’ youth could participate in the first-time Arise Skate event. “This day is all about giving kids a healthy outlet and an alternative to otherwise destructive decisions and behaviors they could be involved in.” myspace.com/lazarusskate
When was I younger, one of the things that helped me immensely was skateboarding. A number of years ago, I started my own printing business called C.J. Graphics here in Toronto. Recently, I decided to install a miniramp at my printing plant, and we began a program to teach kids – all types of kids. We run three different programs right now – an autistic, learning-disabled and regular program. We have all the kids interacting with each other, and everyone gets along incredibly well. One of our autistic skaters is named Evan. I asked his father what it was like to get him involved with sports. He told me, “We’ve tried many different activities…swimming, soccer, tennis — and not one of these did he enjoy or would he want to do without us bringing him there and forcing him to do it, and he would only do it for 15-20 minutes a time, with resistance.” The first enjoyable activity they ever found was here at the C.J. Skateboard School. Evan is engaged by skating, and he loves it. He actually skates for two hours at a time, and his parents have to pull him away. They are
very proud of him, and so are we. Greg Lowe and I are the two main instructors in this program. Greg has been a tremendous asset and is great with the kids, and they respond to him. Evan has just become a junior instructor, helping out the other kids. If you were to watch him, you wouldn’t know he had ASD. He is just a regular kid — happy, enjoying himself and doing very well at the skateboarding, and he is getting pretty good! This past spring, Evan taught his dad how to skateboard, and it was something special. Another student I wanted to mention is Mark. Mark has a couple more challenges. When he first came to the school, he was high strung and would become nervous and start screaming. Nowadays, he is a lot calmer. Everyone is willing to help, and Mark gets along with other kids — and he’s pumping! He’s doing well and he’s happy at what he’s doing, and it’s important that he’s engaged and is more confident. Our plans are to open a much larger facility. We are just in the process of fundraising and starting up a non-profit foundation. We are compiling a guide to skateboard instruction, and we are also involved in a film on the history of skateboarding. It’s exciting to be involved with all these programs. Although I am proud that I have grown my business to a multi-million dollar operation, I am equally as proud of what we have accomplished with this program. It is an amazing feeling to be able to give back and watch these young skaters grow. CORRECTIONS • Fullbag Skates was a sponsor of the Ditch Slap race in New Mexico. • When installing Skatelite, you need to use a ½” countersink and counterbore each hole with a 7/16” size, not a ¼” countersink. • Dave Dallion’s name was spelled incorrectly in our last issue. • The Web address for Loaded Skates is skateloaded.com
FALL 2008 CONCRETE WAVE 37
Letter of the month receives a prize pack from Original Skateboards
Almatrieb Race n breaks out at the Star Wars Conventio ke oo Br Photo: Michael
Camps. I would very much like to acknowledge that my participation in this year’s Skate Camps is made possible by CORE Education, a not-for-profit educational research and development organization in New Zealand. Furthermore, the continuation of the Skate Class really does deserve kudos to volunteer lead instructors Alan, Eric, Angelo, the Ott Family YMCA and all the junior instructors who keep on sharing their passion for skateboarding with the next generation of upcoming skaters. Keep on skatin’ on, Remo
SPIDER, MAN One night I was getting ready to go to sleep when I noticed a particularly nasty-looking spider in my bedroom. I wouldn’t stand for it; this guy had to go. I reached for a magazine on my bedside table – a suitable death, I thought. I walked over to the spider, rolling up the magazine, when I noticed it was a Concrete Wave and thought to myself, “Concrete Wave is too high class a magazine for this.” Instead I went to my closet and grabbed a Maxim magazine, and with no remorse I smeared spider guts all over Carmen Electra’s face! Tony G. Kimberley, B.C.
FROM DOGTOWN TO TUCSON I was pleasantly surprised to see an article on Tucson’s Ott Skate Class, with which I am so honored to still be involved, even if indirectly from New Zealand. If I may, though, I would like to set the record straight...when the article said that I “skated with the legendary Z-Boys,” it should really have said that I “dreamed of skating with the legendary Z-Boys”. Slight difference, eh? From a 1975 or ‘76 demo that Stacy Peralta did in my Southern California neighborhood with the Pepsi skateboarding team of the day (promoting the “Freewheelin’” film), they most definitely inspired me as a young skater (see attached picture). But unless you count the time 30 years later when Tony Alva graciously skated an old-school bank session with the Ott Skaters during our 2006 Dogtown & Southern California skate trip, I would have to say that I did not skate with the Z-Boys, as cool as it sounds otherwise. I am stoked to be in Tucson this month helping with the Ott’s 2008 Summer Skate
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LOST & FOUND, COURTESY CW Letter of the month I started skating when I was about 12 years old. My best friend Mike lived down the street and we took it up together, starting out with the old plastic toy-store variety skateboard. We skated together all the way through high school and into our first year of college at the University of Virginia. Somewhere in the college experience, we kind of lost touch. Long story short, about 4 years ago I started looking for Mike with no luck. Until three months ago, I hadn’t seen or talked to Mike in almost 20 years. Now we’re getting together and skating ramps, ditches and drainage pipes just like we did when we were kids (now age 45). It’s the best feeling in the world. So how did I find him? Well, it began with my contributing an article to CW. I wrote a piece on Pat Clark, which Mike happened to read while leafing through a CW mag at a Barnes & Noble store. He was stunned to see my name, and he told his brother, who also skates, about the article. In the meantime, I started writing the 3-part VA Ramps piece and came in contact with a great guy named Jason who hosts a killer website called the House of Steam. Jason was trying to help me find photos of the Cedar Crest Country Club ramp. Jason requested permission to post the Pat Clark article on his site, which you kindly granted. Mike’s brother then went searching for my article, hoping it might be online, and he found it at the House of Steam, where he left a comment. Jason gave up his e-mail address, and I contacted him, and then of course, he told me how to locate Mike. Now I’m skating again with one of the best friends I ever had. I had tried everything I could
think of to find Mike, but I never would have found him without CW (and the House of Steam). Thanks for that, and to everyone who remembers all those great times just looking for skate spots and skating with your friends ê go find your old skate crew! If you’re lucky like me, they might still be skating, and they might only live an hour away. John E. Culpeper, VA
IVORY ISSUE I was totally disgusted, appalled and sickened at the fact that Per Canguru (who was profiled in the June issue in the Freestyle Collection article) had a skateboard made of ivory. What’s wrong with this guy? Does he not know where and how ivory is obtained? I think if he were to see how his skateboard was obtained...he would probably change his tune. Or maybe he just hates elephants for no reason. Truly unbelievable. Bryan S.
BOTH ENDS BURNIN’ I can’t help but really dig where you’re coming from skatewise-physically, spiritually and mentally. That’s in no particular order. I’m not getting any younger myself and sometimes feel as though I’m down to my last 10 minutes of youth before crashing and burning. Then at other times it feels as though it’s the only thing keeping me young! Just gotta dig it. Anyway, you guys deserve all the props you get. Keep rollin’ and ride on!! James B.
WHAT’S THE FREQUENCY Hello CW. I wanted to ask why you guys don’t come out more often? I really enjoy the mag but would love to see it come out more frequently. Why don’t you think about publishing 10 times per year? Dave S Akron, Ohio Dave — there is a reason why we only publish bimonthly — it’s all that I can handle. Rather than the magazine controlling me, I control it. If you want more of CW, visit my forum/blog at silverfishlongboarding and don’t forget, “Evolutions” hit 3 hours this year.
SUMMER CANCELLED!!
SKATING CONTINUES…
Team Albuquerque sends you stoke from a ditch! Find’em, Skate’em!
COMING EVENTS: GoFast Speed Days Eastbourne, UK, Sept. 5-7 Spokane Outlaw DH Washington, Sept. 13-14 Conehead Cup Series Oct. 4th, Canberra Nov. 1st, Sydney SoCal Outlaw GS Pasadena, Oct. 4th San Diego, Oct. 26th Dixie Cup Statesville, NC, Oct 31st
Did you skate all summer? Back to School?! No reason to stop shreddin’ hills, slicing through cones or As this edition of the report comes out, we’re up at the Maryhill Festival of Speed in Goldendale, Washington. It’s a 5-day, non-stop party with skaters from around the globe taking endless runs down twisty Maryhill Loops Rd all day, festing with live bands in the athletes village/camp all night and then the IGSA World Championships to finish it all off! Visit the ‘Fish for daily race reports, results, more photos than you could ever want (we’re not skilled but we can push the button!) and video links. Then, watch the races on NBC’s Jeep World of Adventure Sports, airing Saturday, Oct.11th at 11:30am PST everywhere in the USA!
MORE NEWS IN THE SKATE WORLD: • Big Business is looking at “niches” like longboarding, and they like what they see! Billabong bought S9 and its Gullwing Trucks line in July. Will S9 enjoy the success that Element, Nixon & Von Zipper have under the surf empire’s guidance? It’s a pretty sure bet that we’ll all see more speed, carve and (do we say it?) slalom in the media and stores this next year.
Will it change the way you skate if
“everyone does it”? • The vast intarwebz wasteland is no place to
IGSA Nor Ams San Dimas, Nov. 15-16
skate, but it’s still growing as a place to find
Hot Heels Africa Kogelburg, Dec. 5-7
skaters across the globe visit the ‘Fish every
and stoke more skaters! Hell, over 8,000 day and new websites are popping up all over! Got a skate crew? Put together a page and
RACE RESULTS: The Canadian Conquest of Europe: Vancouver’s Brianne Davies, K-Rimes, Scoot Smith and Mischo Erban brought the stoke to IGSA’s World Cup Series with wins at Peyragudes, Jungolz and Thalgau. Davies has three wins and is the fastest woman speedboarder in the world! The Slalom Worlds in Gothenburg: Dominik Kowalski of Germany and US National Champ Lynn Kramer took overall World Championship wins (Pro and Womens’) in Sweden! Top-ranked American Men’s Pro is #7, George Pappas out of Colorado. The Madison County Gravity Fest: for the seventh year, the New York speeds were high and the Canadians dominated the podium again, K-Rimes on top!
post it in the Regional Forums on the ‘Fish! Skate first, post later! • Did you score our ‘Fish Balls wheels? They’re gone, but we’ve got more limited edition schwag coming! Check it all out right after you GO SKATE!!
US Slalom Nats: two competing events and who’s the Champ? Lynn Kramer won her classes at both, so that’s clear, but is it Carrasco, Pappas, Reaves or Mitchell? Death matches in ‘09 to find out!!
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MOOD Wheels by OUST Inc. These wheel were developed for slalom and longboarding. They provide skaters with ultra grip without the loss of speed or stability. The design of the wheel and specific chemistry used combines excellent lowtemperature properties, super-high abrasion resistance, outstanding hydrolytic stability and the highest resilience of any wheel manufactured in the skate industry today.
OUST LONGBOARDS Oust Longboards are manufactured using the highest quality Musical Grade 5A lumber for the incredible look. The boards are designed for Super fast response using OUST BB cores and special composite laminates and weight in at an amazing 1.7 to 3.5 lbs. All OUST boards are made in USA
OUST BEARINGS Speed and cleanliness have always been two major issues in the manufacturing process. The Moc 9 addresses both issues. These bearings are manufactured with the highest quality USA made balls, finer polished raceways and a seal system that is different from all other methods of bearing seals in the bearing industry at the present time.
oustbearings.com OUST It’s all about speed. Eastern Skate Supply 800-358-7588 & Ocean Avenue Distribution 321-777-9494 and in Canada at S&J Sales 800-267-6950
Dealer inquiries welcomed. Call 310-212-3000 44Available CONCRETE WAVE SPRING 2007at in the USA
44 CONCRETE WAVE FALL 2008
THE T HE R RESURRECTION ESURRECT CTION H HAS A The H-St Sttreet St tr Skateboard eb Company mp w s form was formed med in 198 1986 98 8 b profe profession ess ssion n skateboarder na nal oa ar Tony Mag To M and his h bro b Mike Te br Ternasky ernasky rnask . Th two sough sough so htt out industry ndustry leader George ndustr G Geo A ha Abuhamad to form m the firs skateboar boar oard company pa p any th that hat was was s run n by ska ateboarders. b bo Inspired ns b Powell’s ’s success s in n ma mak making skatebo skateb skateboard v video’ video’s but without ho ou any o large film ilm budget available, va Tony To ny y an and Mike e theor theorized rrized that hat on one n migh be able ble e to to make skateboard ka video’s de with cheap h VHS HS cameras camerras r and nd d editt the edit them em at home, me,, o on n VCR VCR’s. s. This T was th he e first basic c hom home video home o equipmen uipmen ipmen nt avai available ilable la e early in the he e 80’s. 8 The e two tw friends al also soughtt some me e off the mos ost inn innovative novativ n ve ska ve skateboarde a ers rs of the time, rs me like Ron Allen, n, Dan nny Way ay y and Matt Hensley Hensle e . To ey To og ge gether ethe er with TT-Mag, -Mag a the four ag became am a part of a legendary y team t team, which ich c also o cons consisted sis isted of o a host off other othe th great skaters a at the tim time. One O ne summ um mmerr late laterr,, the t video Shackle S Me Not N was born rn n and would ld d change hange th he w way ay th that hat skateboard ateboa atebo b video‘s ‘s s were made de from that att point in on. A year later laterr,, Louisiana Louisian Louis a swa swam wam mp p rat Sal Barbier B was added d to the t team, ea along with Alphonzo phon nzzo Rawls Raw Ra w and wl nd d seve several other sev top p skaterrs of the t day and d the video o Ho okus ku Pok okus kus was wa as made, de, whic wou which uld take a the world ake d by storm and n togetherr with ith Shackle Shack k kle Me N Not, ot, the e vide videos became m some of the me t e most watched at skate atte vii video video’s. H-Street H-Street Street would would d even eventually produ eve rod o uce five major ma video’s,, w with such h notable notabl ott skaters katte ters as s To Tony y Mag Mag, Matt Hensley ens n , Danny y Way Ron Allen, Way, Allen le Eric Koston, Kos Koston oston s Mike e Carro Carrro ol Sal o ol, S l Barbier, Barbier Barb b r, Jason n R Ro Rogers, C by Carter, Colby r, Art Godoy G , John hn n Sch Schultes, h ltes, Eddie e Elguera, Elguera, Ch Chris h Livingston, ngsto gs gst s Chad Vogt and many n otther top op p pro pro’s of tha tth hat era era. a The com m mpany also o pro produced od du d a ho host of innovative n and d originall skateboard sk d produ products, prod ducts most m nota ably y To Tony n Mag’s Hell l Concave, ve a board d with w an extreme xtreme amount a ou amo ount of of concave, cave, e even throughout th thr t the he tail and nose. nos os To T oda ay the company ay, ompa ompan p is set to t produce a numberr of o qua ality y skateboard skate e eboard eboar products ducts ucts ts to ca ater to o all forms of o ska kateboarding. ateb in ng.
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Am mongst ong on n the e many ma any a H--Street re skateboarding boardi board oa products du soon to be av vaila vailab vailable la is this original o Ta T ay ylor--D ylorDykema ma a made boa oa ard,, pressed press sed e in n the ear arrly ly 90’s, available ly avaiil ilable in TT-Mag’s g Kid’n’C Kid’n’Cross id’ d and d Ron Allen’s en 2X4 Guy y graphics and a logo lo logo o deck k (modern (m re-p e-prints), rints) rint t av available vailabl on a vailab reall eall all y limited basis. basis When Whe en n they’ ey’re gone, a piece off histo sto s ory is also gone. g The board b is s 10X 10X31, 0 with a 6.75”” Ta Tai ail a and nd 5. 5.25” .2 Nose ose e with it a 14.25” 25 5” wh wheelbase. heelba h ase. These h e boards rds ds has h the the riginal sized ri d truck holes, es, es s wh which whic h are 2.5”” in length. l H ll H-S -S St et Sk Street Skateboarding ka ding ng rodu roduc od d cts t are re available avai avail bl at; att VK Skate • 800.427.1278 800 8 2 278 a rn Skateboard aster te Supply p South outh th Shore S Can nada ada da • S& S&J S Sa Sales ale les O N LY
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FALL 2008 CONCRETE WAVE 45
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REAL ACES EDITION STEVE OLSON MODEL At 32.5” x 8.75”, this deck looks bigger than it is, yet it’s a fine platform for a myriad of skating styles. The deck is 10 mm thick, making it nicely stiff and suitable for both older riders and young alike — yet it doesn’t feel remarkably heavy. Add a 15º tail kick and a 20º nose kick to what is clearly one of the most interesting shapes in a long while, and you’ve got a platform for shred. We tested this one out with Spitfire Grosso Lifers loaded with Powell Swiss 6s hung on some Indy 169 Stage 9s, with Khiro bushings (orange on the front and blue on the back) on Khiro 1/8” risers, locked down with Edger hardware. Shiv’s and Shanks killer UHMW slide rails and Madrid Flypaper rounded out the setup. Front foot lock was near perfect as the board was tested — transitioning well from street to mini ramp and on to bigger bowls and pipes. The swallow tail is oddly quite comfortable and provides an ideal platform for tail stalls, pivots and tail taps on coping. The Indys were the perfect fit for the deck, and their geometry made the little rocket a very manoeuvrable weapon. The Spitfire Grosso Lifers spun up to some to some significant levels of speed on the Powell Swiss 6s as well. Real sent us two decks, so we re-located the rear truck placement to the kicktail on the second deck to try it out as an Axe-style slalom board, with Bennett 4.3s and Retro ZigZags. The result was epic. Be it the street, skatepark, pool, pipe, slalom course or just cruising, this board makes for a whole lot of fun. Its distinctive look not only makes everyone get out of your way, but the unique shape seems to sear into the minds of all who behold it — and everyone who sees it wants to try it. realskateboards.com
POCKET PISTOLS HILL KILLER At 9.875” x 42.25”, with a 34” wheelbase, this is your larger variety of longboard that can easily do multiple duty as a longboard cruiser, speedboard, ditch racer or even an SGS board on larger courses. The Hill Killer was built up with Kahalani trucks, Biltin bearings and 71 mm, 80A Alligator wheels. The deep concave makes this plank very manageable despite its length and locks the front foot in nicely. The Kahalani trucks were simply amazing. This Swedish-made, CNCmachined, cantilevered truck with 8mm axles is one of the best downhill trucks we’ve ever tested, with a level of precision construction that becomes obvious when rocketing down a hill. But more importantly the turning ability was exceptional, with no dead spots in the entire geometric swing of the hanger. Measuring up at 204 mm in width with a 45º angle on the base, and weighing in at a mere 428 grams each, the Kahalanis are seriously impressive in hand, but under board they were nothing short of amazing – nicely stable at high speed with, very nice turnability. Blue ‘Gators loaded with Biltins proved to be not only much faster than anticipated but displayed a great balance of grip and driftability. They seemed to really take the abuse too, with no chunking and restrained wear. Although we had a whole lot of fun bombing hills, steep winding paths and just cruising about, we frankly can’t wait to get this rig out to Indian School for some high-speed banked action. pocketpistolskates.com
ALTERED SHORE 38 The Shore 38 is 38” x 10”, with a 28.5” wheelbase. It’s concaved, with stylish (and functional) cutouts and a wicked cool winged swallow tail. With nine plies of concaved hard rock maple, it’s no “boinger;” it’s a very stiff, responsive ride. Altered gripped the Shore with their “Supra Grip” made from ground, recycled glass — looks cool, grips great. The steering is handled by 180mm Exkate TR 201 torsion-style trucks. I’m not normally a fan of alternative-designed trucks, but these work, and work well. They turn tight and feel right doing it. You can pump like crazy with these things. One caveat, though: the only way to adjust the Exkates is to replace those big ol’ bushings with a different durometer bushing. The rolling bits are 70mm Retro ZigZag “Lemons” (83A) — great wheels, great grip. You can’t go wrong with Retros. Add it all up and the Altered Surfskate Labs Shore 38 is a fun ride right out of the box. It’s ready to go where you throw it. The Shore stuck through every turn with nary a slip or slide. To be honest, I never got the Shore over 25 mph; it did that speed well, but I can’t vouch for anything faster. Good stuff. Let me add a thanks to Altered: “Thank you for not using surf graphics.” alteredusa.com
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By Ryan Simpson
A Skate Comp Like You’ve Never Seen he Great Northwest Gromfest held its 2nd Annual Gromfest Finals in Whistler, British Columbia in July, bringing together skateboarders and snowboarders from three countries and nine states and provinces. From July 6-10, riders busted out the pads and hopped on a board for the only international, amateur summer skateboard and snowboard competition exclusively for riders 18 years old and younger. Started in 2006, Gromfest allows the competition segment to take a backseat to being there simply because you love to ride. What makes Gromfest even more unique is that portions of the event proceeds are donated to board sport nonprofits. For the ‘07-’08 season, Gromfest benefited the Pennsylvania-based Patrick Kerr Skateboard Scholarship as the skate non-profit. Hosted at Whistler for the second year, Gromfest challenged competitors on everything from bowl to street to slalom to flatground. The skateboard
Keala Cole gets into the spirit of things.
T
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events spanned three days and included events both in and out of the park. When it came time for the competition portion of Gromfest, competitors discovered the entire event was a jam format. No timed runs, no set method of doing things and most importantly, no added pressure — after all, don’t you get enough of that at regular competitions and at school? Also Gromfest judges were looking for the most wellrounded riders. Rather than each event being judged separately, winners were chosen based on their skills on all features. You couldn’t be just a bowl rider and take Gromfest. The atmosphere and location brought the best out in everyone. Fifteen-year old Utah rider Logan Summers was boosting higher out of the bowl than you often see with people twice his age, and one of last year’s winners, Daniel Cuervo from the Dominican Republic, kept pushing himself to give it his all even when his previously broken hand was
Salt Lake City’s Logan Summers
GROMFEST
telling him to stop. There was no lack of persistence, either: take 10year old Braedon Wheeler from Whistler, British Columbia. Even after the Best Trick — All Park competition had ended, he kept riding until he was happy with the way he was clearing the biggest tabletop box in the park. A laid-back competition wasn’t the only thing Gromfest offered. Each evening the Gromfest staff hosted a different activity, including an Underground Skate Jam at the Whistler Creekside Skatepark, a full BBQ and a movie premiere. When all was said and done, everyone received a gift bag stuffed with more schwag than is humanly possible to use, and skateboard awards were presented to well-deserving competitors as follows:
Street Winners 1st Place – TJ Lewis 2nd Place – Gregory Dehart 3rd Place – Brogan Robinson 4th Place – Joe Hunsaker 5th Place – Daniel Cuervo Best Trick – All Park Daniel Cuervo Best Trick – Flatground Griffin Kirby Best Trick - Bowl TJ Lewis
Bowl Winners 1st Place – TJ Lewis 2nd Place – Brogan Robinson 3rd Place – Daniel Cuervo 4th Place – Griffin Chase 5th Place – Gregory Dehart
Griffin Chase of Monroe, Washington
Overall Gromfest Winners 1st Place – TJ Lewis 2nd Place – Brogan Robinson 3rd Place – Gregory Dehart
Best Time – Snake Run Brogan Robinson Gromfest Staff Awards Griffin Chase Logan Summers
Special thanks to Whistler/Blackcomb, Arbor Skateboards, Freeline Skates, Concrete Wave Magazine, Spun Skateboards, Dakine, Quiksilver, DC Shoes, Circa, Woodward, Vitamin Water, Jones Soda, SPAUSA, Westbeach, Stuntwood Board Shop and others for helping make Gromfest possible. For more information on how you can qualify and be a part of the Great Northwest Gromfest Finals in 2009, just head to www.gromfest.org.
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s I arrive at the Munich airport I start to grin. I notice all the people and the different languages, and I feel like I’ve entered a whole new world. It’s pretty overwhelming. After collecting our luggage (thank you, Old Man Army, for a great skate bag!) I walk with my dad toward the exit, and he says to me, “Jon, this is going to be one hell of a trip!” Meeting us at the airport is Concrete Wave’s European correspondent; Markus Suchanek. He takes us down to the center of Munich to visit Stephan Risch (maker of some very customized helmets). As we pass the spectacular scenery my heart races in excitement at what is yet to come. We arrive at Stephan’s house. After being introduced, we take a tour of his workshop. We try on a number of helmets and eventually set out to eat breakfast/lunch. At the breakfast we are introduced to an Australian and insane skater by the name of Kurt Nischel. After an hour and a half discussion of skateboarding I suggest to the adults, “How about a pool session at the skatepark?” Their first reaction is, “Poor kid, you’re dying of jet lag.” My dad quickly ushers me back to Stephan’s apartment and straight to sleep. After two and a half hours of sleep I awake, ready for some serious skateboard action, only to realize it is raining. I talk with the adults and discuss Concrete Wave, the history of skateboarding, longboarding, Germany and Almabtrieb. Finally, we decide to head over to Boneless, a local skate shop close by. There we are introduced to the shop owners, Andy and Vroni. After helping the two out we set out to eat dinner and go to sleep. Despite what you might think, our trip was not 100% skateboarding all the time. We went with Kurt and Markus to BMW World. The building is stunning, and it’s filled with all kinds of BMW stuff. We had a blast playing with all the displays. The cars are pretty cool, too! I wake up early in the morning and rush outside. I leap into Markus’s car with my dad and our skateboards. We drive over to Ulm Skate Park only two hours away! Markus shows us how fast his Volkswagen can go and takes the car up to 130 miles per hour. Love that Autobahn! As I enter the skatepark, my first impression is, “No! Such a great skatepark, a massive snake run, a kidney bowl with perfect transition and a massive eggshaped bowl — all overrun by 5-year-olds on skateboards!” But as I get closer I realize the little kids are not on skateboards but are running around the park barefooted, playing tag. Before skating, I wait for Markus to skate. I don’t know how to skate with a hundred running kids in my path. After Markus finishes putting on his pads he grabs his pool deck and moves to the egg bowl, he places his board on the coping. As soon as the children notice Markus, they start to scream. They run around like frenzied chickens trying to get out of the bowl. After the children escape, Markus drops in. He is a wizard and tears it up like there is no tomorrow. The children clap and chant, “Markus! Markus!” After I skate the entire park for only four hours I am considered a local. The kids cheer my name and the skaters congrat-
A
CONCRETE WAVE’SSUMMER TRIP -> By Jonathan Brooke
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ulate me on my runs; it feels great. We head out and start driving back to Munich. We arrive, eat dinner and talk. At 11:00 we go back to Stephan’s apartment to crash. The next few days for me are heaven — skating all day and staying up all night. The Keyhole skatepark in Munich, the Hard skatepark in Austria with its really flowing lines and the new St. Gallen park in Switzerland — it’s a skater’s dream come true. My knees are aching, but I will not stop. I love the feel of carving the bowls, and I dream of the sound of grinding the coping. However, in all of this joy and all of this fun on my pool deck, my mind is fixed on cruising down the hill on my longboard at the Almabtrieb race. (Editor’s note: Not without leathers and a helmet, sir!) After several hours in Switzerland, the time arrives. We repack the car, and after three hours commuting through cow country (I won’t soon forget the smell) we arrive at the event. It’s 10:30 p.m., and we are looking forward to some food and a decent place to crash. We head over to the bed & breakfast we reserved only to find out the owner has given away the rooms to somebody else; we have nowhere to sleep. Thankfully, Stephan is able to arrange for a “Plan B,” and we wind up at the Pension Katharina. After eating dinner we return to the bed & breakfast for some sleep. In the morning, I wolf down my food and rush out with my dad to the course. It’s unbelievable; it’s raining! That’s right, on the first day of the races, it’s raining. I walk gloomily back inside, grab my raincoat and prepare for a day of sitting at the bar and re-listening to discussions of skateboarding, Concrete Wave and the history of skateboarding (the regulars!). On Day 2 of the Almabtrieb we get finally get some sun. I head out down the hill with my dad. We stop at a place we nicknamed Carnage Corner (in honor of the Danger Bay contest). The turn is made up of a steep downhill followed quickly by a sharp “S” turn. Over at Carnage Corner is where the real action is. Through the days we make our way up and down the hill viewing the race, talking with people and taking photos. Over the course of the four days I spent at the race, I met a lot of people. I want to say “hi” to all the folks from Australia I met and to Casper Rathbone (who shot a ton of photos with me on Marc Dean’s camera — thank you for trusting us, Marc!) The final race is incredible. With the finish line is only 20 meters ahead, K-Rimes is leading and Scoot Smith is right behind. It looks as though K-Rimes has the win. In a flash, Scoot drafts by him and passes. It all happens within a fraction of a second! Everyone is amazed by Scoot’s unbelievable win. After congratulating Scoot and the other racers we head back to Munich. We check out the world-famous Deutsches Museum and soak in the sights and sounds of this beautiful city. On my final night in Munich, my head races with my new experiences and knowledge. It seems like it was almost all a dream, all too good to be true. My mind jolts back to reality on the plane as we head back to Toronto. I sit up remembering where I am. I feel sad about leaving Germany but truly happy about all the experiences I’ve had and all the new friends I’ve made.
Photos: (Left page) — Jon enjoys the snake run; Kids overrun the Ulm skatepark; Bridge made from pencils; A Viennese skater girl tries out a longboard (for the first time!); Downhiller photo taken by Jon and Casper; Almatrieb landscape; River surfing in Munich; Gorillas in the midst; BMW World; Marcus Retiema freestyles at the race start; (Opposite page)—Andi and Vroni of Boneless; Julian Ettel and his deck collection; Unknown skater at the St. Gallen park; The gang from Shaka St. Gallen; The BMW Building; St. Gallen; Overview St. Gallen street area; On the newsstand in Germany!; Even the cows were amused by events at the Almabtrieb race; Ramón Königshausen — slalom machine; Manfred of Shaka skates with his daughter; Leilani Ettel at the Munich Skate Park
FALL 2008 CONCRETE WAVE 51
BRUTIQUE. A BRIEF HISTORY OF SYDNEY BANK AND VERT SKATING IN THE 1970s E
N PART O By Bill Schaffer
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his story takes place in Sydney, Australia, between 1976 and 1981, during the period when skating changed from a mass fad based on freestyle and flexiboards to an underground lifestyle centered around banks, pipes, pools and ramps. The names will be obscure to most readers outside Australia, yet they include some of the most talented and innovative skaters ever to roll on the Island Continent. Any skater knows to keep his eyes on where he’s going. Trying to look backwards over my shoulder now and re-assemble all these memories into a story leading to something meaningful inevitably obscures the most essential fact about the whole experience: that we were dirt in the eyes of adults and just a bunch of boys playing with out-of-date toys to most of our peers. But this lie is also the truth. It is true because the people in this story inspired a whole generation of skaters to come. I will only speak only about the scene that I knew. This is just one angle on the story of how Sydney vert skaters evolved their own ethos out of a fascination with an American style of skating that had originally been inspired by Australian surfers.
THE DOORS OF HELL: THE BOAT RAMP Sometime around the end of 1976, at the age of 13, I was escorted by a skater friend to a ‘secret’ spot known as the boat ramp. Before that day I had been spectacularly uninterested in all forms of sport. What I saw that day felt less like a sport than a new form of art. It had no uniform, no rules and no defined goal other than the pure joy of free motion. The art form was bank skating, and the artist was a kid — only a few years older than me — named John Tesoriero, more commonly known to his peers as Tez. The boat ramp is located on the edge of Sydney Harbour in the leafy, genteel northern suburb of Greenwich. Everything in the immediate surrounds seems beautiful and serene: the
Tez channels Tony Alva at the Boat Ramp, 1978 Getting back to their roots at the Greenwich Boat Ramp, Sydney. Adrian Jones, Bill Schaffer and Ritchie Thompson. Photo: John Harle (left photo)
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Nicky Martin relaxing in his natural environment, Boat Ramp 76. Photo: Craig Roach
gentle, glistening waves of the harbour, the open blue sky above, the passing sailboats, the silent cliff face that lies behind it, the rich indigenous greenery. A visitor with an artistic bent might have observed that the smooth white concrete planes of the ramp itself seem to echo the gleaming white shells of then newly-built Sydney Opera House. The elegant concrete wings of the ramp might even be taken as works of sculpture intended to induce states of peaceful contemplation. All of this is deeply deceptive. In fact, the boat ramp is a doorway to hell. That’s why skaters love it. Imagine a short concrete ditch, 20 feet long, with no transitions onto the 30-degree winged walls and eight feet of flat bottom. Now take the whole shebang and tip it over 30 degrees so that the flat bottom becomes a short downhill course with no way to stop at the end. Starting to sound a little more serious? It’s worse than that. At some point you suddenly realize that the steep downhill slope running down the middle of the two wings serves as a one-way concrete chute leading directly into the salty guts of Sydney Harbour. Menacing razor-sharp mollusks, treacherous moss, jagged rocks and rusted railway tracks are strewn all over the entry to the shark-infested waters. Now you’ve got the legendary boat ramp — and a reason to be scared. The story went around back in the ‘70s that some kid had gone off the ends of the ramp and crushed his spine on the boulders below, ending up a paraplegic sucking dinner through a straw and begging passersby to hlep him spin 360s on a wheelchair. This tragic tale may have been a myth, but it served to focus the mind on the real risks involved in riding the boat ramp. Tez skated the boat ramp like no one else that day. Gary Bird, his only rival at the time, and his most constant companion, was not in attendance. Everyone there just stopped riding and happily stood back to appreciate the performance. You had to see this poetry in motion to understand its power. There weren’t many freestyle ‘tricks’ in a typical Tez boat ramp attack. His way of riding was all about speed and flow. It was at once smoother and more violent than any form of skating I’d seen before. Tez seemed to approach every turn like he was engaged in a no-holds-barred brawl with the
...WE HAD SPONTANEOUSLY ADOPTED THE INDIGENOUS TRADITION OF ACTING AS CUSTODIANS, NOT OWNERS, OF OUR SACRED SITES. FROM THE VERY BEGINNING, SYDNEY BANK AND VERT SKATERS SHARED THEIR SPOTS WHENEVER POSSIBLE — WITHOUT ANY TRACE OF LOCALISM OR RESENTMENT. concrete — each move delivered like a punch to the body of the ramp. But he also skated with a sense of unbroken rhythm and flow — as if the dead concrete were really a rolling wave. Bank skating is a subtle art at any time. It is all about lines and flow — things that are hard to catch in a still photo. This was even more true at the boat ramp. The slope into rocks and water changed everything. The tight and deadly structure of the boat ramp dictated a very specific style of control and recovery. To rip the place you had to overcome the natural fear of the dead-end downhill slope and deliberately draw lines that used the force trying to drag your arse toward destruction for purposes of acceleration and control. This took total commitment. Any attempt to bail during the downhill acceleration phase would inevitably send the rider running and/or skidding on his face into rocks and water. Most people used their brains and avoided those lines altogether, choosing instead to perform all their turns and slides safely against the pull of the slope or in straight up-and-down lines from wall to wall. Tez was on a different trip altogether. He
proved that skating could be a form of action painting where the concrete is the canvas and your own bleeding flesh becomes the brush. Riding a genuine Zephyr with Sure-Grip trucks, he pulled lipslides on the rounded lip, long grinds on the rough lip, berts, and drifting power carves across the wall, all in flowing lines of continuous smooth aggression. The most sublime and complex drawing that Tez committed to the concrete for his stunned viewers was the full-speed 540 slide exploiting the full flow of gravity sucking his body toward the angry sea. To my mind this will always be the definitive bank skating maneuver. In a still frame you would just see a guy on a skateboard dragging his hands on the wall; in living motion you saw a graceful lunatic thrusting himself backwards at insane speed down and across a slippery slope toward the gates of hell. Tez rode like he was born to rule that day, like he just fell out of the sky on a Z-Flex, but his skating had its own history. He too had benefited from a life-changing encounter at the boat ramp. In early 1976 two American skaters were
Adrian Jones at Pymble pool , 1978. Photo: Mark Scott
brought to Australia for a lengthy tour as part of the “Golden Breed: Keep On Rolling” promotional campaign. They were friends who respected and admired each other as skaters, but would each come to represent two very different visions of skating as an art, a sport and a lifestyle. Each had a deep influence on local skating culture — but in very different ways. One would be seen and emulated by many thousands, yet his style of skating would become little more
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BRUTIQUE:
than a fond memory almost immediately upon his return to the States. The other seems hardly to have been noticed by Australian skaters during his stay in the country, yet his influence would eventually spawn a whole new generation of devoted bank and pool rats. Russ Howell, then a world-renowned winner of freestyle titles, had already visited the country a year earlier during the height of the craze. He had been made a household name through a series of locally published books. Some of the signature moves detailed in Howell’s Australian instructional manuals were insanely ballsy and dangerous to various parts of the body. These included the finger-crippling handstand gutter jump and the nose-planing two-board elbow-press. Yet the thrill that comes from moments of extreme risk always seemed secondary in this style of skating. Russ clearly drew his fundamental inspiration from gymnastics, and thousands of Australian kids would take their vision of what skating could be from his example. Stacy Peralta came to skating from a different angle: the radical angles of retaining walls and empty pools where he and his friends pursued skating as a form of concrete surfing. Stacy probably felt no contempt for the kind of skating promoted by his friend Russ. After all, his own long, golden hair looked even shinier and more otherworldly than Howell’s when shot from above in mid-360. Nevertheless, as an original member of the Zephyr skate team, Stacy inevitably represented a very different style of skating. In early 1976, however, the legend of Dogtown had hardly begun to spread beyond the shores of Venice Beach, and Russ Howell still had all the impressive numbers. He could spin more 360s and do more handstand variations — tricks that could be relied upon to look spectac-
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Old School Ritchie, Greenwich, 2008 Photo: John Harle
ular in any Australian supermarket parking lot. Stacy wasn’t too bad at that sort of thing either, but the low-slung, flowing, aggressive skating that he most loved, originally inspired in part by the lip-destroying tactics of Australian shortgun surf legends like Wayne Lynch and Terry Fitzgerald, required specific terrain that was rarely available during his exhibitions. Stacy really needed a pool or a set of banks to do his thing and stand out as anything more than an alternative source of spinning blondness. In fact, Russ and Stacy did both get to skate the boat ramp during their stay in Australia. The short-lived Sydney-based skate magazine, Slicks, even featured an article on Howell’s first session. He was said to have slammed badly while “attempting a re-entry.” For some reason, however, even though bank skating was much more Stacy’s schtick, no pictures seem to have been published of his sessions at the place. Very few locals remember seeing him skate there, but one skater enjoyed his own intense, private audience with the visiting Z-boy. His name was John Tesoriero. He was granted this immense privilege because his older brother was one of the behind-the-scenes organizers of the Golden Breed tour, and Stacy happened to be hanging out for a fix of the old concrete lip. Tez must have watched Stacy that day with the same sense of awestruck revelation that I would feel watching Tez himself a year or so later. He became an instant disciple of Dogtown style. Every skater knows what that means these days. Where the ideal shot of a gymnastic skater in action might show a body frozen in a state of perfectly centered control, a typical Dogtown shot in SkateBoarder magazine would catch the skater in some perilous position on a bank or vertical wall, seemingly about
IT COMBINED TWO ORDINARY AND CONTRASTING WORDS — BRUTAL AND BOUTIQUE — TO EXPRESS THE FLOWING, VIOLENT, ELEGANT, EXPLOSIVE STYLE OF SKATING. to cause grievous bodily harm to himself and the cameraman. Alva’s signature image would become a shot of him menacingly throwing his board straight at the camera/reader. That said it all. Just looking at shots of the Z-boys could feel a little risky. Tez soon became the living incarnation of Z-boy style in Australia and the unrivaled master of bank skating in Sydney. He mastered the 540 slide that Stacy had pulled and then got it down even faster, smoother and more suicidal than Stacy. Every move became a statement, an exercise in style. A kickturn was never just a way of turning, a carve was never just a getting from A to B. Tez got used to conducting solo sessions while other skaters just watched — exactly like Tony Alva as reported in articles by Craig Stecyk. He even sported a hairstyle closely approximating the prototypical “Dogtown dreadlocks” that so clearly distinguished Alva from other riders in SkateBoarder. Many observers would actually mistake him for Alva and report back to their friends that the infamous Mad Dog was making a secret tour of Sydney’s skate spots. Tez’s anointment as a remote Z-boy would be completed later that year when Stacy, now returned to the states, arranged to send him and Gary Bird their own genuine Zephyrs. At almost this exact moment, the skateboard craze collapsed in Australia. As a matter of necessity, very few Australian skaters followed through on the alternative style represented by Stacy Peralta and John Tesoeriero. The terrain simply wasn’t available. As Stacy himself told Craig Stecyk in an interview published upon his return to the States, Australian skaters had talent and attitude, but they completely lacked any rideable pools in which to develop a vertical mode of attack. Most kids soon stowed
their loose-bearing Bahne, Grentech and Golden Breed boards away with discarded yoyos and the remnants of other now half-forgotten marketing fads like sea horses and quadraphonic sound systems. In the period between late 1976 and late 1979, as the US skatepark scene exploded in day-glo colors, the mass-market teenage hysteria of the Sydney skate craze would all but fade into nothingness. For many thousands of Australian kids who skated in the ‘70s, Russ Howell would remain the defining icon of everything that could be done on a skateboard. It would be left to a small band of misfits obsessed with SkateBoarder magazine and dreams of blue tiles to form the beginnings of a local pool-skating culture. Tez would go on to be an important and highly respected player in the early Sydney vert scene, but he readily admits that he reached his peak at the boat ramp. He was the absolute best
there, and his example played a decisive and lasting role in inspiring others, including the Jones brothers, Russell and Adrian — one of whom would soon get good enough at the boat ramp to rival Tez and would eventually become the country’s leading pool and vert skater. Tez would also became a friend and idol to a strange group of teenage dropouts known to outsiders as ‘the Balmain boys’ and known to themselves, quite weirdly, as ‘The Pupburghers.’
PUPBURGH: SYDNEY SKATE CULTURE IN THE LATE ‘70s The initial skateboard craze of the mid-’70s seems to have died a little sooner in the US than it did in Australia — this seems to be part of the reason for Howell’s long visits — but the industry there was soon revived and taken to a new level. The Dogtown image proved unbeatable as a marketing tool in the States and
was exploited for all the sales juice that could be squeezed from it. Skating culture at last broke free of the pastel colors of mainstream surfing and began projecting serious street cred. The skating lifestyle could now be marketed as something altogether too dirty and pure to conform to the demands of marketing itself. Gymnastic freestyle skating would soon fall into relative obscurity, and Tony Alva would become the first global skate-rockstar. Vertical became the main game. The late ‘70s saw the blossoming of the classic skatepark era in the USA, as new purpose-built facilities began popping up everywhere across California like zits on a teenage face: Upland, Del Mar, Winchester, Big O, etc, etc. These concrete utopias featured pipes, halfpipes, Dr. Bill, sunshade layback at the Boat Ramp. Photo: John Harle
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THE TIGHT AND DEADLY STRUCTURE OF THE BOAT RAMP DICTATED A VERY SPECIFIC STYLE OF CONTROL AND RECOVERY
Wedge, patented killer BS axle carve, Pymble, 1978. Photo: Mark Scott
sculpted snake runs and pool bowls that allowed the underground style illegally pioneered in drought-stricken pools to be commercialized and taken to a new level of professionalism. In the meantime, as American skating was transformed by the influence of modern surfers, many of whom were Australian, Sydney’s most renowned sponsored skaters from the era of the craze — like Cheyne Horan and Robbie Bain — abandoned skating to devote themselves to the pursuit of professional surfing. Sydney’s one and only purpose-built skate facility at the time turned out to be essentially useless for anything but freestyle practice. Sydney’s first park was constructed around 1976 in Mortdale, a middle-class southern suburb. The designers apparently held so little faith in the future of skating they deliberately shaped the park in anticipation of need to convert it back into an arena for the pursuit of more conventional sports. It featured a smoothly poured but perfectly flat section equivalent to two tennis courts, surrounded by nicely sculpted banked walls on three sides. Unfortunately, these walls were angled at no more than five degrees — barely steep enough to pull off driveway-style Bertlemann turns, let alone any kind of radical vert action. It was really just a tennis court in drag — stiff cheddar if you wanted to slide on a bank or grind some coping! These were the lean years. A complete lack of legal, dedicated terrain would force the nascent tribe of Sydney bank and vert skaters to emulate the kind of subterranean bowlhunting, pipe-crawling lifestyle that had been rendered temporarily unnecessary back in the park-rich suburbs of California. Deviant wallriding creatures emerged from suburbs all across Sydney, from across all class barriers, and shared their underground knowledge of rideable spots by pinning up photos of their exploits on a noticeboard at the city’s only specialized skateboard shop, Skateboard World. An aspiring skater could build a working knowledge of the best places to bust a bert or try for a ride on real vert just by studying these pictures and asking a few questions of the right people. There was the boat ramp. There was a small
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contoured brick bowl in Harris Park, a working class suburb in the city’s west, with a colorful pack of local skate rats that included Dog, Trog and Roy. There was a lovely banked loading dock in the back of a factory known as the Balmain wave. There was a long, 10-foot-high stormwater pipe next to a cliff in the leafy, middle-class suburb of Roseville and some banked walls in a Catholic school situated in the nearby suburb of Hunters Hills. There was a vertical wall with smooth transition in a driveway somewhere in the Northern suburbs that only a few sponsored skaters were able to ride because you needed permission from the owners. There was a very tight, carve-only pool with chipped marblesheen in a showroom just near the new park at Mortdale that could be ridden for a few minutes until the cops came. Homemade vert ramps appeared in various backyards. An indoor, over-vert ramp was constructed at my place and bizarrely described in a surf magazine as being situated in my parent’s loungeroom so riders could grind off the back of my parent’s TV set! Another infamously high and suicidally narrow vert ramp could be found in the Eastern suburbs. It was completely dominated by two friends, Biff Murdoch and Barney. Yet another ramp appeared in a service station in the northern beach suburb of Manly. The local heroes there were Duane Heketa and Dale Halpin. Most Sydney spots had a local crew in the late ‘70s, but all these separate groups mostly worked together to share the available terrain. It was as though we had spontaneously adopted the indigenous tradition of acting as custodians, not owners, of our sacred sites. From the very beginning, Sydney bank and vert skaters shared their spots whenever possible — without any trace of localism or resentment. Even the tennis court-shaped park at Mortdale managed to get back on the list thanks to the mad labors of local skaters like Zoran Zeno, Cator and John Fox. Each weekend these perverse architects would construct enormous ramps out of form ply liberated from building sites, using the otherwise useless banked surrounds to gather speed. Some of these baroque
constructions reached as high as 15 feet. They had two remarkable and potentially troubling characteristics. For a start, the only nails involved were those that had been left sticking threateningly out of the plywood sheets after they had been removed from their assigned place in construction sites. The ramps themselves were built without any form of fastening, like a house of cards. I still don’t really understand how this was done, but it was! Second, these constructions also had no transition in the usual sense. Instead, each plywood section was simply abutted to the adjoining section at a steeper angle. You hit a first section at 30 degrees, then a 45-degree section, then a 70-degree, then perhaps a final section that went to just off-vert. The impact as skaters hit each one of these finely balanced, unjoined sections was predictably immense and frequently catastrophic. At least once a day the ramps would collapse, catching some poor skater in mid-grind, sending him plummeting to earth like a cartoon coyote in a cloud of dust and exposed nails. From that time on the word ‘Mortdale’ came to have a very special significance for Sydney skaters. It would be exclaimed aloud whenever something happened that seemed sort of radical, but basically just made no sense at all. Someone figured out that ‘Mortdale’ might mean ‘Valley of Death’ in the original French. It was no longer just the name of a place, it was a concept. There was even a special, universal way of pronouncing the word in a high-pitched American accent with your face sort of screwed up like a constipated monkey. Every subculture develops its own vocabulary to distinguish itself from the mainstream, and Sydney skaters were no different. Some of the words and phrases used in Sydney were adopted from SkateBoarder magazine. ‘Don’t mess with da kine’ originally came from an Alva interview (as far as I knew) and could frequently be heard at the boat ramp and other spots. But it was never going to be enough to mimic the stylings of Americans. Sydney skaters began to form their own weird skate-based neologisms,
and the Balmain boys quickly became the most prolific inventors of words and images for the emerging Sydney skate bank and pool scene. As individuals, the Balmain boys were all good skaters, but never the best in a technical sense. Only one of their number, Tony Man, could ever have been considered a contender. As a skate tribe, however, they seemed to most closely incarnate the underground lifestyle associated with the image of Dogtown, and they did it with a uniquely Australian self-deprecating sense of humor. The first thing I noticed about the group was that they all had elaborate Dogtown-style graphics in a crucifix/gravestone scrawled in black marker across their decks. The second thing I noticed was that the words so carefully printed in gothic typography inside these crosses were not the expected import ‘Dog Town,’ but the much sillier-sounding ‘Pup Burgh.’ I soon learned that this was a selfmocking tribal emblem. It was a joke that at once admitted to an obsession with an American marketing image, made fun of that obsession, made fun of the American image itself, vaguely alluded to the very ‘70s theme of ‘hot dogging,’ and even manifested a fascination with all things Germanic that would become much more pronounced in the coming days of punk. The Balmain Boys were able to devote themselves to skating without any of the annoying distractions suffered by other teenagers because most of them attended a bizarre ‘alternative high school’ just down the road from the boat ramp. This place could only have existed in the ‘70s. It was run by anarchists, acid casualties and vengeful feminists and could not actually grant any form of academic qualification. Although the ‘school’ refused to offer anything as old-fashioned and authoritarian as formal lessons in math or history, it definitely did involve many joint-passing sessions. Most of the students in the school had been rejected as uncontrollable by the normal education system. The Balmain boys openly used the place as a base camp for planning each day’s skating excursion. They were able to become the most frequent visitors at all the bank and vert scenes scattered across Sydney and were considered locals at both the Balmain wave and the boat ramp. They lived and breathed and slept skateboarding and moved everywhere as an inseparable group. They were also very early connoisseurs of punk rock. In interviews conducted for Surfing World magazine in the early ‘80s, two later legends of Australian vert skating, Adrian Jones and Duane Heketa, both mentioned the group or members of the group as early influences and allies. Another legend of
Johnny McGrath, small person, huge impact. Pymble, 1978 Photo: Mark Scott
OZ, Biff Murdoch, recently told me that he never imagined skating could become a culture, an all-encompassing way of life, until he first encountered the Balmain boys. Original members of the Balmain Boys included Adam Roach, Doug and Tony Lake, Tony Man and Simon Butler. Gerald ‘Lopez’ Gardiner became a member of the group at a later date. Richard Thompson, who has designed and created his own decks from that day to the present, and Bret ‘One-T’ Connolly were also early associates. To my mind, however, the quintessential Pupburgher will always be Nicky Martin. Nicky Martin was renowned across the Sydney scene as a maniac skater, an inventor of bizarre words and an executor of even more bizarre public performances. Nicky’s mother was a barmaid and his father was a constantly absent Scottish sailor, but it was hard to imagine Nicky ever having been a cute little baby. I always thought he must have been formed out of concrete dust scraped off the surface of the boat ramp. Nicky never tried to compete with Tez or Adrian Jones at a technical level. His body was probably too lanky and his style too expansive for him to achieve the concentrated control necessary for a 540. His skating seemed to flow less from a determination to pull off tricks than an instinctive need to uncoil some kind of springloaded energy. I thought he did the best berts in the world. He had a way of sliding lower and faster and longer than anyone else, coiling and exploding, sweeping his entire body inches above the cement. It seemed to me that he was able to get close to the cement surface of the boat ramp in the way that an aboriginal dancer gets close to the desert sand. Nicky was far from being an avid reader, but
he had a genius for creating and transmuting words. At some point he spontaneously invented a new word for the natural affinity with cement that we all sought to achieve. This word was “brutique”. This became Nicky’s most lasting contribution to the Australian skater lexicon. It combined two ordinary and contrasting words — brutal and boutique — to express the flowing, violent, elegant, explosive style of skating that Nicky most admired. Imagine something that is at once perfectly poised like a classical statue and out of control like a rabid dog and you will have begun to understand the concept. It was Nicky who would inexplicably do downhill handstands in peak hour traffic going the wrong way down the main street of Sydney. It was Nicky who famously and dangerously swam home to Balmain across the shark-ridden expanse of Sydney Harbour from the boat ramp at night, all the way throwing his board in front him. It was Nicky who scaled the cliff wall behind the boat ramp without aid of harness or ropes, again throwing his board ahead of him, while chanting his own strangely authentic-sounding version of an ancient tribal song. Later, it was Nicky who regularly set light to his own hair on packed ferries coming from Manly Skate City. That was the essence of Nicky; he’d do anything to himself for a laugh, but he would never have used his enormous physical power to hurt anyone else. Nicky disappeared from the scene in the early ‘80s for quite sad reasons, but even today, if you mention the word ‘brutique’ to an old-school Australian skater like Adrian Jones, Biff Murdoch or Wedge Francis, you are sure to get a knowing and affectionate smile in response. Nicky wasn’t the best at the boat ramp in a technical sense — the main competitors for that honor were definitely Tez, Gary Bird and Adrian Jones. No, Nicky wasn’t the champion of the boat ramp, just the living soul of the place... To be continued next issue… DEDICATION This story is dedicated to Bret ‘One-T’ Connolly, who was the only person ever to belong both to the Balmain Boys in Sydney and the RadLanders in Melbourne. Bret and I were planning to publish a history similar to this one when he suddenly passed away. I would also like to conclude by listing some of the skaters who should have been mentioned at length in this history, but could not be included for reasons of space: Matt Thomas, Rertz, Tim Dawe, Rocky Geraghty, Brad Shaw, Kelvin, John Finlay, Matt Davis, Steve Sargeant, Greg Ambler, John Grey, Danny Van, Murray ‘Barbs’ Taylor, Trevor King, Tim Whitten.
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Skateboard Culture from the Rejects Who Made it BY SEAN MORTIMER | PHOTOS BY GRANT BRITTAIN Editor’s note: “Stalefish” is a must-have book for any skater. This excerpt gives you only a small taste of the treasures found inside. Our thanks to Chronicle Books for allowing us to reprint part of this chapter. Get to your favorite bookshop, or go online and grab “Stalefish”. Tommy Guerrero
PRO SKATER There has never been a strict job description for a professional skateboarder. It basically boils down to a skater possessing something that makes people want to emulate him enough to buy his product. Because skating is a culture as well as an activity, a popular pro needs personality as well as skills on a board. Then again, anybody can turn pro-you could right now, with a stack of blanks and a screenprinter. THERE WAS NO SUCH THING AS A PROFESSIONAL SKATEBOARDER Stacy Peralta: Russ Howell might have been one of the only skaters to get paid at the time [1975]. I know he was the first skateboarder to get a [mainstream] deal with Grentec. He even did TV commercials back then. But there was no such thing as a professional skateboarder as it’s understood today. AS FAR AS I KNOW, I WAS THE FIRST PRO SKATER Russ Howell: In the early ‘60s, they used established surf stars to promote skateboarding. Skateboarding never had any big stars of its own until 1975. My first skateboard contest in Huntington Beach in 1975 awarded me a ten-speed bike. The April 1975 Del Mar contest gave away trophies only. A contest in South Bay in July 1975 gave a motorcycle to the first-place winner. I think ’76 was the first year a contest awarded money. As far as I know, I was the first pro skater. After the ’75 Del Mar Nationals contest, skateboarding really exploded. I was twenty-five, the old guy in the sport. When I began winning other contests, companies started saying, “If this guy is winning the contest, he’d be a good spearhead for promoting the sport. We can put him on an airplane and send him anywhere in the world without a chaperone.” I had three sponsors my first year, and then the next year 150 people were paying me for doing demos, product endorsements, TV shows, and commercials. A professional skater’s contest winnings may amount to only a few thousand dollars, a fraction of his total income.
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Skateboard organizations, such as the United States Skateboard Association in 1975 and the International Skateboard Association in 1976, began to develop rules for competition and for amateur and pro divisions. There were people who really hurt the sport in the ’70s. There were two factions during that time, no doubt about it. There was a line drawn, and everybody knew it. You were either going to be a druggie and say, “I really shred and tear, and I’m a badass.” Or you were going to say, “You know what? I’m just going to try and do something for the sport. I want to gain some sponsorships, and I want big contests, and I want people to feel that this is a professional sport.” I was a physical-education major, and I wanted to help integrate skateboarding into public school athletics and into a place where the International Olympic Committee would consider it a sport. There were a lot of skaters who did not like my approach and didn’t want me in the sport, I’ve got to admit. I don’t think age played into it-I was just stealing the limelight from other people. The Dogtown skaters said, “We don’t want this organized stuff! We just want to thrash!” I Rodney Mullen was not profit-oriented. Consider this: I come in to the Del Mar National, and I take first place. There is no profit to be made there. Being sponsored by Grentec turned out to be an enormous mistake. They linked me with their stupid little cheap boards. It was an embarrassment. I could see why other skaters thought I had sold out. I was supposed to get $2,000 a month and a percentage of sales of a high-end professional model that was never manufactured. I never saw a dime off of that contract. I got away from Grentec after a year and went to work with Innovate Design. I was with them for two years and never saw a dime off of that, either. I was an idiot. The owner finally went to jail. I got so burned out that I moved to Australia for six months after receiving an invitation to organize provincial skate contests.
I WILL BE COOL TO KIDS Steve Olson: One time [in 1977], before I was even sponsored, I was skating the Fruit Bowl with my friend. There was this big session with Warren Bolster [editor of SkateBoarder], some of the Dogtown and San Diego dudes, and Waldo Autry, Wally Inouye-all these cats, all the big dudes. They went to this new skatepark, Concrete Wave. We were outside the fence watching these dudes, and I remember telling my friend, “These assholes might be able to skateboard, but Tony Hawk
they certainly can’t surf.” They were dicks to us. Not every one, but there was a definite separation. I thought, If I’m ever in that position, I will be cool to kids. My pro model came out somewhere in ’78. And then wide boards came out in around the third pro pool contest in Newark. I never saw royalties. I still got my salary. I have no idea. I couldn’t have cared less. I was so stoked on life that it was frightening. I got [SkateBoarder ‘s] Skater of the Year that same year. F*ck no, I wasn’t expecting that. At that point I was totally into punk rock, and a lot of skateboarders were lame. I was isolated inside skating. I’d go to contests and be smoking these dudes, and they would still call me a faggot. I took on an elitist attitude: OK, you guys don’t get it. You call me gay because I have my ear pierced and I cut my hair short when everybody else has theirs long, and I wear tight clothes and whatever. It was totally excellent. Halloween was every day, and the music was sick.
I remember exactly what I wore to the awards ceremony. I had a white dinner jacket, like James Bond. My friends from TSOL had broken into a bondage-sex shop and stolen all this shit, and I was wearing leather pants they’d given me. I had little pointy black-and-white shoes and a polka-dotted tie and a black shirt, and my hair was cut short. Alva was into it-his art-department dudes were totally down and turned him on to it. They announced the reader’s poll awards at this formal dinner. The older guys were there, the controllers of the industry. We were the kids. They announced whoever got third, and Alva got second. I was like, F**k, I didn’t make the top twenty-what a joke. I had just won the overall at the Henry Hester series. And then they called me up and said I’d won and yelled, “Speech! Speech!” I was totally hyped out of my mind. I couldn’t believe it. I was obviously overwhelmed. By then, Alva had thrown his runner-up trophy in the trash as he walked away, because he hadn’t won again. He had been looking for a two-year sweep. I was just a punk-ass kid, influenced by the punks around the world, so I spat at a couple of cameras and picked my nose and flicked boogers and refused to say anything. That freaked the industry out. The two top dogs in that little world were rebelling against their establishment. Pow!-it just blew up: “These guys aren’t good for skateboarding ... bad representation.” One skater guy wrote to the magazine, something about how skateboarding was in a bad place with Alva and me as the top guys. I went to Michigan in ’79 for a demo or something with my hair dyed blond. I went to the skatepark before all the other pro dudes. I was skating, and these kids were anticipating the pros to roll up, but I had blond hair, so they didn’t recognize me. These two little punk kids said, “You’re pretty good.” I was like, “Yeah, whatever.” I was just skating around and talking to them. I was around seventeen, and these kids were maybe three years younger. They said, “Whoa, you’re really good! You know, these pro dudes from California are coming here today.” “Really? Are they good?” “Yeah! They’re the best!” Then [Brad] Bowman, Bert LaMar, T.A., and all these dudes roll up and say, “Hey, what’s up, Olson?” The kids were all, “No way!” I grabbed the kids and said, “If you kids treat me any other way than you did in the beginning, I’ll beat your f**king ass. Let’s go skate.””
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PORTFOLIO
JON HUEY
As a skateboarder and a photographer, people often ask me which I enjoy more. I’ve given it much thought and usually reply that I love the act of skateboarding more. The two hobbies have been progressing together for me since I began both of them 11 years ago in Bismarck, ND. From the beginning, I loved documenting the skating we did so we could look at photos and watch videos again and again, imitating the style of our favorite pro skateboarders. While driving around town as a teenager, every ledge, stair set or rail was a potential skate spot for me. When I moved to Olympia, WA to attend Evergreen State College, my friend David Price taught me how to longboard and safely ride down hills. Soon after, instead of seeing almost every staircase and ledge as a potential skate spot, I saw hills and corners and banks and my mouth started watering. I began traveling to skateboarding events and photographing and skateboarding bowls, hills, corners, banks and cones. Now, as I live in Portland, Oregon, I still contemplate which I enjoy more, skateboarding or photography. The spontaneity and potential risk of skateboarding makes you high in the moment, and you still feel it hours later. But when I am photographing skateboarding, I get to experience vicariously through the subject and share the moment with him or her, even if for a couple seconds. Furthermore, I get to relive it when I review it on the LCD screen, and then again when I am editing the image on my computer, and even once more when I have the finished product printed. Whereas most of my personal skate memories are trapped in the moment they were created, my photographs get to preserve some of those moments of skateboarding bliss. I may not be able to skate my whole life away (though that would be nice), but I will be able to share photos that document this way of living called skateboarding.
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Billy Meiners launches a fat frontside air out of a bowl at the famous Burnside Skatepark in Portland, Oregon.
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After attending three Attack of Danger Bay races, this photo of Noah Sakamoto leading a pack through Carnage Corner at Danger Bay 5 is my favorite from the event. I was shooting with a film SLR that year and regretfully ran out of film before the final heat was run. I soon switched to a digital set-up after that.
During a visit in LA this last March, Andrew Mercado showed me a newly discovered pool in a temporarily abandoned lot.
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In the summer of 2007, a Swedish downhill skateboarding race was called off about a week before its scheduled date. With no chance to change flight plans, I stayed with friends in Stockholm, along with some other Americans, including Josh Weisfield. With very few hills to skate in the city, Josh makes the best of the bike paths around the city.
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At the 2007 Rock And Roll race in Austria, Nihat Uysal gets clipped by French racer Sebastian Tournissac. Nihat was standing over the hay bales for a good shot (make that two since he has two cameras), and Sebastian was drifting off course at a significant speed. Nihat was unconscious for a short while, but recovered and was fine.
Dennis “the Mennis” Manougian and Kevin Reimer early grab together down into a ditch in Albuquerque, New Mexico. (top) Danger Bay’s slide competition on the Sunshine Coast always exhibits some sick sliding. Micku Mirgolo shows off her backside style. 66 CONCRETE WAVE FALL 2008
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uchanek By Markus S
her side, right? eener on the ot gr is s as gr e is be different? e all know th why should th , ks ar ep at sk ks over here in Concerning decent skatepar e m so ve ha e ors somewhere Nowadays w opening its do is rk pa w ne when the conwhenever a e how it will be in Germany, but ag im d an r the photos r dreams. else, we long fo e the park in ou at sk e w built by Team d an rks in Belgium pa crete has dried, w ne . e th rent with new park in St It was not diffe to forget the t no – afe ijk s tr rk t those pa erp and Kor posite way, bu Pain in Antw y s is just the op hi T . to travel man nd la n er ers are know at Gallen, Switz sk ol or po er on nd . So coping. A on real coping ture real pool frontside grinds e m les looked so ad r cr fo d s an ile s llpipe, pool fu hundreds of m e th of os ot go. The ph later we had to nos a coast. We g. ss: Belgium ha very promisin le st re us e th ad else m the Nor Sea minutes from But something 30 st ju e er w . destinations for a few waves ticed that our had the chance e w always think ns u ea Yo m . er at being a surf coast, and th d an y an ago m er ing in G a few months It is not fun liv lly both were ua us d tel an ho e, a av ws: book e next w on was as follo si of the last or th is m e 80 th (4 So km e ahead. ive 800 to the roof, dr or are a long tim ds ar hy bo e us m th g w plus a fe coast, clin d pool coping, room on the an e til t hi d an utobahn miles) on the A istic plan. Autoes – a very optim av t hours on the North Sea w ise. After eigh om am pr its d. of 100% d just drie Te Antwerp gave and the park ha ne ihi ss ns po su d by s lines an greeted here are endles bahn, we were T . rk e pa on is y nl th ai t job with t and cert Pain did a grea ly worth a visi ite fin de ’s It . fun with bilities to have ope. t to e parks in Eur ip to the coas re th of the best en made the tr th d we an t n bu io , ss st ng se the foreca We skated a lo foot waves in 3e e er th w on re ” he Paradise waves. T check out the called “Surfers ub cl er l th al ea sm w y A e rain much. easy wait in th did not expect d t it made for an bu , in noticing an ol gr e m us e ho beach mad felt right at e W s. er be Belgian offering some the roof. verdeck nailed to to Kortrijk ne om Turner slal but we headed ng ni hen or w m up xt e ne the e sun cam Heavy rain on up in a pool, th ng ha ina m as w fe ed a ct unexpe dried in theless. And as ation. The park in st ely et de r pl m ou co km from ce park, we were a few n. It was a ni io t ss se bu e is, th s t ay ar w could st t, as it al utes, and we n was too shor io ss se he T p. good. Antwer ing and all was different than d a satisfying feel r fo e that most hate ad by m d ds te a few grin e were gree w So se !“ di es ra av Pa w s rfer great Back at the Su earlier; we had e have been here ld ou of boards on th s sh nd ou ki “Y l : sentence There are al r. ba e th in s the beer t. it was back to – so we felt righ if it was surf and snow e, the water even at to in p ho walls – sk to d ne e afan pl e in w ning play with th The next mor w fun waves to fe a d aves, w ha e D W N le out. , tiles A just for a padd hit pool coping e w l the So al t. e at no br ve it or d to cele ternoon, belie e beers were ha or M al is: d. or lle m lfi he fu was ded there. T en um gi and our mission el B to d our road trip fun we had, an ” ow kn of 210 t n’ do , you With the speed “If you don’t go ore trip to do: m e Bowl on d re ha he e w w , y Switzerland n, le al Back in German G . St to ced Swiss utobahn, we ra n. Precise like a km/h on the A their new creatio ed ther ish ea fin w e st ju th d e G ha t. So wer Construction A areas are perfec ol trips d po oa d R an . ip w , flo mer road tr m su r ou knife, the street r fo d en unich; It was a perfect Marco from M and our session. Julian, Kay and os br ow all el N av ! tr er y m to m of my sum ys da st rule, and thanks be e th e too. Those wer as we did! you guys rule, d hit the road an e us ho ur yo e av le s er you read
W
Markus at the ne
w Team Pain park
in Antwerp, Belgi
um
e p o r Eu ’ in p ip r t d a o R r e m m Su
in
Know ’t n o D u o Y , Go If You Don’t
The
anek, Kay Mads crew: Markus Such
en and Marco Lape
nna (not pictured
Julian Ettel)
off this Julian Ettel pulled everyone d an nd gri ide backs d. screame Marco enjoys the
Belgium, Kortrijk Skatepark overview
perfect cement of
St. Gallen
The search for waves brought the gang to the coast of Belgium
Next time you think of Belgium, it won’t just be mayo with French fries. Antwerp kidney bowl.
Markus grinds over the deathbox in the St. Gallen, Switzerland bowl.
Kay makes full us
e of the transitions
at the Kortrijk pa
rk, Belgium
FALL 2008 CONCRETE WAVE 69
VIVA
LOS BARRIOS
lez Gonza Chuy arba y b s B d Wor iego s by D Photo
I
love to skate, and like any good skater I try to promote and spread the sport. For me (and many others), the practice of this sport is simply magical, and the challenge is to motivate those who love skating as much as I do. A few months ago I read an article about a competition somewhere in the USA, and I got so excited that I thought: why not set up an event in my city, Guadalajara, Mexico? It took three months of planning and banging heads to get this rolling. The city’s sports committee was surprisingly supportive and granted permission to close an amazing hill to traffic. After that, I lined up a paramedic presence and got all the tents, chairs, etc. ready for setup. Fifteen days before the event I passed out flyers, sent out invitations and spread awareness as best I could so as to attract as many skaters as possible (in the end there were actually too many!).
On Sunday, the day of the contest: I got up early and gathered the last few things that were needed: numbers, lists, prizes, etc. – and most importantly, the “super board” that I had reserved for this day: a brand new Loaded Dervish with Sector 9 Race wheels. As a kid who saw me putting it together said: “That is one sexy longboard!” At about 8:30 a.m., one of the photographers called to tell me that he was already at the hill ready to set up, but that the hill was closed and being patrolled by police. The night before some guy had been found dead in the gutter just across the street from where our event was to take place. We had to wait a while, but eventually the police left and allowed us access to “our” hill. We swept the hill and set it up for giant slalom. Setup wasn’t easy, but it came out perfect. At noon we finally got started. Each skater had three runs to show their stuff. Final score was best of the three. More than 30 skaters competed. After the first round it turned into a spectacle of style, skill, and creativity as limbs and wheels and heads competed for the fastest time. After an hour everyone had had their runs and all of the times had been recorded. The winner was decided, but kept secret until the awards ceremony. 1st. place: Miguel Azansa / Board: Loaded 2nd. place: Rodrigo Azansa / Board: Sector 9 3rd. place: Sebastian Rodriguez / Board: Loaded
By Andrea Siedsma
S E L E C T I O N K E Y TO C O R E S H O P S
Editor’s Note: This is the first in what will be an ongoing look at the world of skateboard retailing. In this article we look at the concept of variety within a skateshop and what it means to offer customers a wide range of product.
S
cott Lembach, manager of Muir Surf & Skate, is stoked. It’s a primo SoCal day in July, and a handful of groms from Ramona are milling around the popular skate shop on the UC San Diego campus in La Jolla, which is about 30 miles from their hometown. Lembach is talking to two of them. “Hey where did you get that Muir sticker?” he says, asking them if they’ve been in the shop before. Turns out they have.
72 CONCRETE WAVE FALL 2008
“I’m so fired up,” Lembach says. “I have all these kids in here from Ramona with their (Loaded) Vanguards.” Lembach is so busy that he barely has time to chat — a sign that business is good. One of the main reasons Muir Surf & Skate has repeat customers and healthy sales is due to the shop’s huge selection of skateboard brands and styles, Lembach says. The shop, which opened about two-and-half-years ago, has several different brands for the core skaters, as well as for beginners, including Gravity, Honey, Muir, Never
Daddies Board Shop, Portland, Oregon
of choice
FREEDOM
I get a lot of people in here who appreciate that I have a lot of other brands.” Ackerman, who lived through the “old school” skateboard era, is stoked to see its revival among younger skaters today. He loves to see the groms develop their quivers, which now include cruisers, 70s style boards, old banana style boards, longboards and street boards. Catering to this important group of consumers is critical not only to the skateboard culture but also to the livelihood of the industry, Ackerman says.
Ackerman says that any shop that leans toward only one brand is barely going to make its payroll. “You can develop a reputation in a community for having the best selection,” he says. “In Santa Cruz, I have a lot of competition with longboards. I can’t not carry Sector 9. Their bamboo stuff never stops selling! But
After all, he wants to stay true to the core skaters. “We have a wall full of boards,” he says. “This is a place for the groms to come and hang out, and for the culture to cultivate. The bigger selection of boards you can offer the better off you’re going to be and the more you’re going to get return customers. They are mesmerized
“IT’S JUST LIKE WHEN YOU WALK INTO A CAR LOT YOU WANT TO SEE DIFFERENT MODELS OF CARS WITH DIFFERENT OPTIONS SO YOU CAN MAKE AN INTELLIGENT CHOICE.”
Scott Lembach at Muir Surf & Skate, San Diego
— Melanie Loveland, Daddies Board Shop
Purple Skunk Shop, San Francisco
Summer, Loaded and Rayne (the list goes on). “We’re all about customer service,” Lembach says. “If you have a variety of boards, customers come in and buy two or three more. When you amplify your line of boards you reach a wider audience. We’re selling boards to skaters all the way up in Oceanside and even Los Angeles.” Muir Surf & Skate isn’t the only shop reaching out across county lines to nab customers. An estimated 12 million skateboarders in the United States and 25 million around the globe are giving skate shops a huge financial opportunity. Today, it’s much easier for shops to carry several skateboard brands. Bill Ackerman, owner of Bill’s Wheels in Santa Cruz, Calif., remembers when he opened his first shop 31 years ago that skaters had slim pickings when it came to boards. When longboards rolled onto the scene several years ago, the options were also low. “For the longest time, Sector 9 was one of the big brands,” Ackerman says. “That’s the brand you’ll still find in most shops. But my customers started asking if you have anything else besides Sector 9 because it’s too mainstream. … I started carrying two new brands last week that I never carried before.”
by the selection you had last time. The tourists keep coming back every year too.” Further north in the heart of longboard country in Portland, Oregon, Melanie Loveland and her son Dan have been catering to tourists and locals alike for the past 13 years at Daddies Board Shop. The mother-son team ordered their first longboard in 1996 — a Powell that hung on the shop wall for quite awhile. Finally, Dan started riding the board out in the shop parking lot and it caught on like wildfire. Back then, Loveland says an Independent 215 was the widest truck you could get, and the biggest wheel available was a 75 mm Kryptonic. Loveland, who started exploring other longboard companies, says the brand selection at that time was extremely limited. In just the last three years, both shops and skaters have had a broader choice for longboards, she says. “Our focus at the shop has always been to offer customers a choice, which is why we don’t buy pre-builts,” Loveland says. “We let people choose because this isn’t a one-size-fits-all sport. We take longboarding so serious that we think it’s important to offer as many brands as we can. We are only limited by space.” Daddies Board Shop, which has upgraded to a 7,000 square-foot space, is a better alternative to mall stores, Loveland says, because customers have a better selection. “They walk into a mall store and see four pre-built longboards on the wall, but maybe that’s not what they want,” she says. “As they start to do research they come into our shop and they are blown away because we have so many boards. They had no idea these other brands even existed.” Loveland says shops that carry only one or two
FALL 2008 CONCRETE WAVE 73
Bill’s Wheels, Santa Cruz, California 74 CONCRETE WAVE FALL 2008
Dave Chimochowski from Brave New World, New Jersey
heavy-hitter skateboard brands are doing a huge disservice to their customers. “It’s just like when you walk into a car lot you want to see different models of cars with different options so you can make an intelligent choice,” she says. And, offering several different brands attracts the whole family to the sport of skateboarding, she adds. “We have had families come in here to get their dad a longboard for Father’s Day and then the rest of the family ends up getting skateboards too,” Loveland says. “We’re thrilled to death with longboarding; I think it definitely puts smiles on lots of people’s faces who never thought they could get on a skateboard.” Some longboard lovers are even turning to the Internet to get their fix when they can’t find what they’re looking for in their local shop. One popular site among the skateboard crowd is The Longboard Store. The company, which launched its site in 1996, carries lots of brands, including Gravity, Honey, Comet, Flexdex, Scarecrow, Gordon & Smith, Descent and Powell. “Longboarding is such a niche market that there isn’t a lot to choose from in the mass market,” says Jennifer Seelye, who owns and operates The Longboard Store with her husband Scott out of a warehouse in Bend, Oregon. “Different skate styles warrant different boards. Many of our customers will have two or three boards because each has a different purpose.” For Dan Cavalheiro, it’s all about the hard goods. His Santa Barbara, California-based Beach House, has everything from street boards to downhill longboards to cruisers.
“DIFFERENT SKATE STYLES WARRANT DIFFERENT BOARDS. MANY OF OUR CUSTOMERS WILL HAVE TWO OR THREE BOARDS BECAUSE EACH HAS A DIFFERENT PURPOSE.”
“There’s a lot of good, quality products being made out there,” Cavalheiro says. “I try to support the smaller, core companies because that’s what skateboarding has always been about,” he adds. “A lot of the big brands are turning their backs on core customers by going more mainstream and corporate.” Cavalheiro says carrying a variety of brands also helps legitimize a shop as a “core” shop, a place where customers actually feel like hanging out. “By carrying the core brands and meeting the needs of your core customers, they will realize that this is the place to come,” he says. “Right now we have about seven kids hanging out and one of them is eating a sandwich. We try to provide a neighborhood environment where people can talk about the latest products and reviews and skaters. …You will maintain a core shop by having a place where people can come and get everything they need.” Cavalheiro adds that it doesn’t matter what kind of board a customer wants and likes — shops should cater to all skaters, young and old, core and beginner. “I grew up skating pools and ramps, but I also like street skating,” he says. “I grew up skating the CASL (California Amateur Skateboard League) Series contests, where you had to do slalom and freestyle. I also love going downhill. By offering different types of boards you open different avenues to getting that kind of stoke, whether it’s going down the boardwalk or downhill. As long as you’re riding a skateboard and you’re having fun that’s all that matters.”
FALL 2008 CONCRETE WAVE 75
CANADIANS SWEEP ALL THREE EUROPEAN DOWNHILL WORLD CUPS! By Marcus Rietema
PEYRAGUDES DELUXE CUP
Photos: Sven von Schlacta
July 9-12, 2008 The first IGSA World Cup race of the European swing was held at the French ski resort of Peyragudes in the Pyrenees Mountains. Mischo Erban from Vancouver, Canada dominated the qualifying session to earn the number one starting position. Erban led a Canadian sweep of the top three qualifiers with Nate Lang in second and Kevin Reimer in third. Jonathan Martinez of France was fourth with reigning IGSA World Cup Series Champion Erik Lundberg from Sweden in fifth. It was an incredibly pressure-packed qualifying session with each rider’s single best of two runs used to qualify and seed him into the field. With a strong field of 101 riders competing for only 64 places in the race, the adrenaline level was off the charts. After qualifying in third position, Reimer just seemed to get stronger and stronger with
or the first time in history, all the best downhill skaters from Africa, Australia, Europe, North America and South America came together for three events to determine who was the best in the world. For years, many have debated who had the best downhill racers. After the European leg of the IGSA World Cup Series, it became clear that currently the Canadians hold the balance of power. In the past, skaters from the host continent dominated the European World Cup events. Not this year. The dominance of the Canadian racers was complete and left many veterans amazed at seeing how high the bar has been raised in the past year. Not to be outdone, there were also strong performances put in by foreign skaters from Australia, Brazil, South Africa and the USA. The podiums were much more international than ever before and show that top downhill racers are developing all over the world.
F
76 CONCRETE WAVE FALL 2008
There were many upsets along the way, but probably none bigger than when Brazilian Douglas Silva crashed solo in the “S-Bend” while holding a commanding lead. As the race wore on, there were more and more upsets. Number three qualifier Haller was also eliminated when he crashed while out ahead of his three other rivals. In semifinal number one it was Scoot Smith, Alexander Ulrich from Germany, American Patrick Rizzo and Erban. It
Kevin Reimer (K-Rimes) started the invasion!
each run. In the final he crossed the finish line about 10 meters ahead of Smith. Number one qualifier Mischo Erban lost any hope of victory when he spun out and crashed in the semifinals. He recovered to win the consolation final and earned fifth place. It was Reimer’s first IGSA World Cup victory, and he did it by defeating the strongest collection of international racers that had ever been assembled. Final Results Pos Name Nationality 1st Kevin Reimer Canada 2nd Scoot Smith Canada 3rd Martin Siegrist Switzerland 4th Mike Zietsman South Africa 5th Mischo Erban Canada
Photo: Sven von Schlacta
Photo: Yorck Dertinger
trieb was even tougher in terms of talent. Douglas Silva from São Paulo, Brazil rebounded from a disappointing performance the previous week to dominate qualifying. Silva was the fastest skater in both runs and wound up with a 1.3-second advantage over Erik Lundberg. Bassi Haller turned in two solid runs to secure the number three position. Mike Zietsman was fourth, and Mischo Erban rounded out the top five.
Photo: Sven von Schlacta
Rain seemed to plague the racers everywhere!
ALMABTRIEB WORLD CUP July 16-19, 2008 The second round of the Euro tour was held in the Austrian-German border town of Jungholz. In fact, the start line was in Austria and the finish in Germany. There were a number of top German skaters who did not make the trip to Peyragudes, including veteran racer Bassi Haller and rising star Sebastian Hertler. Many were waiting to see if either of these skaters or one of the other top Europeans could give the Canadians a fight at Almabtrieb. All of the top skaters from Peyragudes were there, so Almab-
The previous week’s race in Peyragudes was described by many as the toughest in the history of downhill skateboarding. The bar was raised even further when 119 of the world’s best downhill skaters battled it out in Jungholz just to earn a spot in the top 64 final eliminations. Watching the skaters negotiate the “S-Bend” at the end of the long straight was incredible and showed how much downhill has progressed in the past two years. Heavy footbraking has been replaced by light speed checks, with cornering speeds increasing dramatically. Veteran skaters who watched described it as unbelievable!
was a close heat, with Rizzo crashing while Smith and Ulrich went on to the final. In semifinal number two it was Martin Siegrist, Stefan Ruefli, Peyragudes winner Kevin Reimer and Lundberg. All four skaters came down in a tight pack, with Reimer and Ruefli from Switzerland advancing. The final was an epic showdown between Canadians Reimer and Smith, Ulrich and Ruefli. Scoot took the early lead down the fast top section, followed closely by Reimer, Ulrich and Ruefli. As they braked coming into the “SBend” Scoot and Reimer were side by side, with Ulrich and Ruefli side by side just behind them. Reimer rode a slightly quicker line through the “S-Bend” and exited with about a 10-boardlength lead. It looked like the race was over and K-Rimes was going to make it two World Cup victories in a row, but Scoot nailed the Carousel and got into K-Rimes’s draft coming off the final corner leading onto the finish straightaway. Scoot timed the draft perfectly, eating up Reimer’s lead and surging past him as they came to the finish line. There was nothing KRimes could do but watch his victory evaporate. Smith’s win was a very popular one for the green-haired skater from Pender Harbour,
FALL 2008 CONCRETE WAVE 77
sweeping corners. Just as in 2007 it was Mischo Erban who earned the number one qualifying position and established himself as the favorite. He was followed closely by Douglas Silva in second and Fredrik LindstrĂśm from Sweden in third. As with the two previous European events, once the heat racing got underway, the competition became really intense. In the semifinals Silva was sitting in third position and using the draft as they approached the final straight. Just as he began to make his move to the front, former World Cup Series Champion Lindstrom accidentally hit him from behind.
Photo: Yorck Dertinger
British Columbia. It also gave him a commanding lead in the IGSA World Cup Series point standings going into the next race in Thalgau, Austria.
K-Rimes, Scoot and Alexander Ulrich
Nationality Canada Canada France Switzerland Canada
July 23-26, 2008 The third and final stop of the European tour was the Rock & Roll World Cup in Thalgau, Austria near Salzburg. After the two hardfought battles in Peyragudes and Jungholz, some of the top riders decided to sit out the event. The field was still stacked with talent as 98 skaters battled it out in qualifying for the 64 race spots. The course was not as technical as either Peyragudes or Jungholz and favored a skater who could hold his tuck for long periods of time at high speeds. Essentially the track is four straightaways connected by three tight,
Both riders went down hard at more than 100 kph, allowing Patrick Rizzo and Australian newcomer Jackson Shapiera to go on to the finals. In the other semifinal, Lundberg beat Erban to the line, with Mike Zietsman coming home third and Canadian Nathan Lang finishing fourth.
Photo: Yorck Dertinger
ROCK & ROLL WORLD CUP
Mischo Erban displays his race face
Photo: Sven von Schlacta
Final Results Pos Name 1st Scoot Smith 2nd Kevin Reimer 3rd Alexander Ulrich 4th Stefan Ruefli 5th Mischo Erban
This set up an intense final with Erban, Lundberg, Rizzo and Shapiera. Lundberg pushed hard off the line with Shapiera in second, Rizzo third and Erban trailing far behind in fourth. Erban seemed content to just let the other three lead down to the first hairpin and waited. As they made their way through the corner, Erban took a superior line and came rocketing out of the corner. He sailed past the other three riders as if he had a motor and left them in the dust. At the finish he had about a 20-length lead over the others. Lundberg, Rizzo and Shapiera battled it out amongst themselves all the way to the finish. Shapiera beat his rivals for a well-deserved second place, with Rizzo finishing third. Lundberg didn’t seem to have an answer for the others as he came trailing in fourth.
Photo: Sven von Schlacta
Final Results Pos Name 1st Mischo Erban 2nd Jackson Shapiera 3rd Patrick Rizzo 4th Erik Lundberg 5th Douglas Silva
Martin Siegrist leads the pack on a freeride.
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Nationality Canada Australia United States Sweden Brazil
After four events the IGSA World Cup Series now moves to North America for the Maryhill Festival of Speed/IGSA World Championships. Scoot Smith has taken over the lead in the point standings, with Mischo Erban second and Erik Lundberg in third. Look for riders like Mike Zietsman, Martin Siegrist and Kevin Reimer to move into the upper positions of the points championship once they get their fourth World Cup races under their belts at Maryhill and Eastbourne, England. For detailed coverage and daily updates from each World Cup event, visit IGSAworldcup.com.
FALL 2008 CONCRETE WAVE 79
THE
iNNOVAtORS FIRST IN A SERIES
Jason Salfi: we strive to create a net positive impact on the environment and society
80 CONCRETE WAVE FALL 2008
Fordphotography.com
The roots of this article stem from a feature we occasionally run called “Company Profiles.” I started to realize that a number of individuals are spearheading some rather unique initiatives within skateboarding. Their vision encompasses more than just starting up a company and providing a product or service; they want to completely change things. Time will tell if their ideas and innovations will make an impact, but I know where I am placing my bets. — Michael Brooke
CREATING A BIODYNAMIC/ ORGANIC SKATEBOARD MAKING MACHINE Jason Salfi Reaches for the Stars It was five years ago when we last did a company profile of Comet Skateboards. At the time, they had just co-located their facility with Glissade Snowboards to leverage their manufacturing expertise and solar-powered facility. Since then a lot has happened. Comet’s mission has always been to make light, strong and fast skateboards, affordably, with cutting-edge materials in the most sustainable way possible. Comet’s president, Jason Salfi, is a longtime skateboarder and has a background in natural resource management. To say he is a committed environmentalist would be an understatement. “Skateboarding has been responsible for up to 40% of the maple trees harvested annually and millions of tons of VOCs (volatile organic compounds). I saw two great opportunities to help the skateboarding industry have less of an impact: make stronger boards, and do it in partnership with people focused on the future health of communities and environment.” Comet’s focus has always been on taking pressure off the natural environment while supplying the goods people need to shred. To do this, Jason explains, “We have worked very hard at abiding by closed-loop (or Cradle to Cradle) design and manufacture principles.” It was these principles that led Comet to biocomposite engineering in collaboration with e2e Materials in Ithaca, New York. When Jason speaks of affordable, he means much more than how much a board costs the person buying it. “It means what are the social implications (such as working conditions or
health care), environmental implications (such as deforestation or global warming from high VOC lacquers) as well as economy.” The way Jason views things, cheap products are available because the companies that make them “externalize” the costs of making them. “Externalizing is the act of placing burden on the environment or society to clean up and/or pay for the ill side effects of producing a product. When one buys a cheap – say, $20 – blank, there could be the equivalent of $100 in external costs.” These include things such as landfill remediation, reforestation, worker health care costs etc. When you buy a Comet board for $60, you can trust that you have made an investment in community (a local living economy), a safe environment and a great skateboard. Jason is so committed to the concept of a closed-loop system that if you send Comet your beaten and destroyed skateboard, they will compost it and give you $10 back toward your next board. “We strive to create a net positive impact on the environment and society as opposed to costs down the road. There will be no cost to society and the planet as there might be with less eco-intelligent products. Our focus is on total responsibility for everything that we make.” This is a model that has been exemplified in Europe, but Comet is committed to do it in skateboarding and in the youth space. “How people in their 10s and 20s live their lives will dictate which way this planet goes. That means everything from having a loud voice in present-day politics to everyday buying decisions.” While spending years of innovating and benchmarking what could be done with epoxy, carbon and fiberglass, Comet had their eye on
university and government research labs that were developing high strength-to-weight biocomposites. In 2004, Jason came across a paper written by Dr. Anil Netravali, a professor at Cornell University, where Jason studied natural resource management . For the first time in history, a biodegradable composite based on soy protein and plant fiber was invented that could perform on par with aerospace composites. In January 2006, Jason was invited to speak at a political activist conference in Washington D.C. Later on that trip he met with Bill McDonough (co-author of “Cradle to Cradle” – a must read for all aspiring designers and architects) at McDonough’s office in Virginia, and then drove up to Ithaca to see the research he had been tracking first hand. Luckily for him, Dr. Netravali invited Pat Govang, who at the time was in charge of intellectual property (patents and such) owned by Cornell making it into the market place. Shortly after that meeting, Pat and Anil started e2e Materials, and in late 2007 Comet loaded up an 18wheeler and cruised most of their factory across the country to join forces. Pat and Jason went back and forth about how to get the e2e technology into production skateboards and finally decided that moving Comet’s manufacturing to Ithaca would be the best plan. “Part of Pat’s focus with e2e Materials was developing regional supply chains,” recalls Jason. “After seeing the west coast BALLE (Business Alliance for Local Living Economies) come to be at the Comet West Coast offices from 20032004 with the vision of Don Shaffer, this resonated very well with us.” In central NY there is a quite a bit of farmland. In the next year e2e / Comet will be sourcing all of its soy protein for resin from the by-product / waste stream of biodiesel production. Through biofuels, biocomposites and a skateboard company working together regionally, Comet envisions activating the economy and farmland to produce solutions for the future. By relocating to the East Coast, Comet cut the distance that their woods, glues and coatings traveled to less than 500 miles. With e2e, they can rapidly prototype new formulations of the resin and work on new applications for the product. The goal is to eliminate the concept of waste altogether and create high-performance products in a perpetual biological cycle that feeds the earth or the next generation of products. The factory in Ithaca is a basic wood shop with the e2e Materials high-tech lab attached. This is where e2e makes the resin. They have about 10 employees laminating, cutting and decorating tons of materials until they are
under your feet in the form of a skateboard. Along with their own boards, they are making boards for five other companies of all shapes and sizes. “Comet East smells sweet like a farm,” Jason says. “My daughter can play in the wood chips, and we compost our scrap. We are a biodynamic-organic skateboard-making machine.” Comet views making skateboards as an extension of a farm and the agricultural base that has made the USA and Canada strong. In that regard they have been rethinking the way they sell skateboards. “We are creating the analog to the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) in skateboarding,” Jason says. A CSA operates by members of a community near and far joining a farm and getting shares of what is grown. For example, Comet paid $500 for their CSA for eight months of fresh produce and can barely keep up with eating it. They are doing the same in skateboarding through the Internet. Comet Skateboards team members Justin Bryant, Blake Smith and Nick Lee have designed and programmed a social forum for skaters to congregate online. The website will offer free membership that allows people to meet and find like-minded people online to hang with in the real world, plus donation memberships that get people all their favorite skateboarding gear, music downloads and so on in abundance. The amount one pays for how much gear they get is possible because of committed support and a predictable cash flow for Comet. A paid membership is completely ethical because it is optional, Jason says. As he sees it, “The majority of people who would accept our offer would be skaters who are loyal to our company and our vision of skating. They are helping us, and we do whatever possible to
Comet views making skateboards as an extension of a farm and the agricultural base that has made the USA and Canada strong. In that regard they have been rethinking the way they sell skateboards. “We are creating the analog to the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) in skateboarding,”
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Photo: Max Erwin
hook them up – be that better board and gear deals, free stuff, custom graphics, custom boards…” Comet’s vision is not to eliminate the local skateboard shop but to work with it in a different way. In the case of Comet, they make a fun and interesting community platform for skaters of all disciplines (street, pool, vert, longboarding, downhill, sliding) to post pictures of themselves, write blogs about their favorite skate spots and decks and create friendships with other skaters. It is just about creating connections without the drama. Both the Comet website and the team’s community-based website have the same intentions: to help grow the skating scene by getting people excited about it. “Our job is to connect all skaters so they can spread the knowledge and stoke of skating to others, while always keeping an open door to all new skaters. The Internet is the perfect mode to do this. Take MySpace and Facebook, for example. People like the idea of having their own ‘personal space’ online that they can share with others. But Facebook and MySpace don’t have any one specific topic and have too many users that can’t connect on a common ground. We have that common ground for our users: skating. This will not only benefit the skaters by giving them a fun personal space to meet other people and get hooked up with good skate deals, but it will also benefit the skating community as a whole by inviting more skaters to come out and ride,” Jason says. Comet believes this will be informative to people who want to buy their boards too. Things are mostly heard and told by word of mouth (or blog – same thing, basically). Information is spread skater to skater, not as much by the companies as it has been in the past. “Skaters want to hear it from skaters. We will be trying to skip the company website description-of-a-board BS and allow you to ask someone who’s got the one you got your eye on,” Jason says. I asked Jason about the cool factor of “being green,” and he was pretty forthright in his response. “Over the last two years everything green has really taken off. It has always been cool in some circles to have high regard for the environment, but for the most part, if you uttered the word ‘eco,’ you were pegged as a hippie. We would talk about eco-initiatives we were making since 1998, when we started, and shops would say ‘Whatever – how much?’” Nowadays, Comet is getting calls from individuals, shops and distributors from all over based on the merits of their “eco-grooviness.” For Jason, it all fits together seamlessly.
“Our stuff is tech, and the boards are built to shred. Now, if you are not thinking about your impacts on the planet, you are in denial. With the eco-revolution kicking into full gear, mainstream press has been all over us.” He’s not kidding about the press being all over Comet. In late 2006, Jason wound up on the cover of Inc. Magazine. I asked him how that came about. “In 2004 we got asked to film for Current TV and Treehugger and got coverage in a couple of newspapers and magazines. The media was super-hot on the green and social responsibility tip. The whole triple-bottom-line (measuring social, environmental and economic impact) business practice thing was and still is in its infancy, and we were really viewed as the real deal because we have been living it before it was trendy.” Inc. featured Comet on the cover of a magazine that read “Do Good, Get Rich.” “I reckon we are the ‘Do Good’ part,” remarks Jason. Since that cover, they have been featured on Sundance, History Channel, Discovery Channel (twice) and NBC’s Today Show. Jason appreciates having the opportunity to tell the Comet story because it is pretty easy to replicate. “I can see a whole group of young people and entrepreneurs following dreams just like we have. It is cool that skating is having this impact,” he says. If there is one thing Jason would like to tell the rest of the industry, it would be the idea of focusing on the concept of collaboration. “I definitely want to give a big shout out to Frank Scura of ASEC (Action Sports Environmental Coalition). He has helped provide a blueprint for a united industry on a sustainable platform. If you are making stuff, check out ASEC [usasec.org], join, and donate some cash to that cause – the value for the services far outweighs the investment.” To learn more about Comet visit cometskateboards.com.
FRAMED AT HIGH SPEEDS Colabo Videos Spread the Stoke Dan Pape, founder of Colabo Innovations, has created some eye-popping video footage of downhill racing. Based just outside of Vancouver, British Columbia, Dan’s company is starting to garner a huge amount of attention. As he explains, the idea for Colabo, a play on the word “collaboration,” started up three years ago. “I originally spilled the idea to Kevin Reimer. The timing was perfect because he was in the course of making some tough decisions on sponsorships,” recalls Dan. “At the time I was also between companies and could relate to his dilemma – a dilemma that questions loyalty to brand rather than to the sport itself.” Dan wanted to start something fresh that didn’t affect the bottom line: skate and not make decisions based on the logo between one’s feet. The goal was to create a dynamic team that wasn’t confined to any one specific sponsor. As Dan recalls, “Nathan Lang was making moves on the scene and in my eyes stuck out as the top rookie at every race. Soon he was on board with the Colabo mantra.” The crew for the first year consisted of these two strong skaters and Dan, the film enthusiast who captured their moves. “We all rode different boards and soon were trying new, innovative things ourselves. Our standard for premium quality video was increasing rapidly.” As time went on Colabo grew. Dan credits Kev and Nate in helping him choose Brianne Davies and Max Erwin to join the team. With the team now five strong in year two, they went on to make their video premiere, “12 in Oh Seven.” Dan says that when he put the team together, the main concept was to showcase good people that could shred with the best of them. “We had no idea that the synergy of our team would see these results so early.” Colabo riders graced the podium 12 times in 2007. As Dan
recalls, “Last summer was a very exciting time.” Getting a group of the world’s best skaters together is a not an easy task. I asked Dan how he managed to pull it off. “Although the sport gets more and more competitive each year, Landyachtz and the Coast Longboarding crew were always about the growth of the sport, not so much on who won the race,” he explained. Dan said he has always felt a unique bond between himself and the guys at Landyachtz and Coast, as the first racers to enter the Danger Bay races. “Over the next 11 months, regardless of what happened, the greetings and vibes were consistently positive when we got together. Their constant optimism for the growth of the sport was inspiring, and because of it I always wanted to be a part of it one way or another.” Dan took the plunge to support riders before companies, which helped build the foundation of Colabo. “It took me four and a half years to come up with a concept that invited all the top riders together to ride and leave the politics in the dust.” Once the riders saw the quality of the Colabo video production the team was producing, they were amped to be involved. Besides the team stepping up, the actual production quality got a boost too. “Those days we filmed in standard definition (and still do), which is rad, but in order for the world to realize the greatness of these dynamics and how visually thrilling longboarding is, we decided to go further and team up of with some very talented filmmakers,” Dan said. He decided to introduce high definition (HD) into the mix, and the results have been extraordinary. “On our first HD shoot we hit up the some of the highest peaks in the world. On the second, we
implemented a 40-foot boom cam with a remote head. Each skate/film session has progressed further.” Although Dan wouldn’t divulge more details, he did say that his next release, Colabo Volume 4, will “showcase some tasty spots with the same talented riders along with new riders.” Dan’s background is street skating, and he spent much of his youth building ramps in Thunder Bay, Ontario. “I’ll never look back and regret the things I’ve done in my life, but in the early ‘90s the only type of skateboarding that I was introduced to was street. If I had practiced railing corners and carving on sweet longboards instead of kickflipping a 10-stair, I have no doubt I would be in a different place,” he said. Dan loved street skating in those days
but says he could never go back to doing that after the experiences he’s encountered. “The things you are introduced to as you grow up help influence the roads you take.” The way Dan sees it, when someone uses the word “skateboarding” in a conversation, they visualize intense technical flips or huge ramp airs. “We want to help the rest of the world to appreciate all these other types of riding through innovative video.” Dan believes it can be difficult to put into words what goes through a rider’s mind when he or she hits high speeds. “Our hope is the video will entice new riders to come into the scene.” It was Bricin Lyons (founder of Coast Longboarding) who first recruited Dan eight years ago to race at the first Danger Bay event.
Dan Pape: We had no idea that the synergy of our team would see these results so early.
“It took me four and a half years to come up with a concept that invited all the top riders together to ride and leave the politics in the dust.” Once the riders saw the quality of the Colabo video production the team was producing, they were amped to be involved.
Dan follows Brianne Davies as she charges a hill.
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“Somehow he convinced me to race alongside Tom Edstrand, “Shnitzel,” Ryan Theobald and other innovators. I showed up at the race with a rather unique-looking board but was never turned away for its diversity.” Dan says because he was treated so well, his respect grew for the group, and he wanted to become more involved. “They took me out on rides that were well beyond my skill level. It wasn’t about winning and it wasn’t about having to ride one particular type of board. It was doing things that you never thought were possible and hanging with people that helped you get there.” Dan remembers getting picked up off the pavement quite a few times as he was introduced to new things. “Somehow the deterrence only lasted as long as the pain. I was back on my board as soon as possible.” Dan says he’s been getting great feedback from his video productions. “The letters we’ve been receiving from people saying that our videos are helping endorse new races and new events pump us up more than anything. It’s this type of support and desire for new things that keeps us driving this thing forward.” As you can imagine, video production is a costly venture, and sometimes it’s difficult to keep it going. “Friends and mentors in this industry have said that if my intention was to make all kinds of money from this video, I got into the wrong business.” The goal is to keep the dream alive by showcasing fresh new talent, rad new races and just pure growth. This means the next video will showcase not just his own team riders, but racers from around the world. Currently, Dan is reaching out to the entire community in an effort to get his latest project – a full-length DVD – off the ground. “Landyachtz recently stepped up to the plate and are assisting in any way they can to support the project as well as throwing in some dollars to keep it alive. I’m very excited to have the support from these guys.” For Dan, it’s crucial to make the video as affordable as possible. To this end, Concrete Wave has decided to offer a free subscription to anyone who purchases the video. Or, as Dan sees it, you get a free video if you subscribe to the mag. Dan wanted to mention a number of folks who have helped him along the way. “A big thank you to Patrick Weir, Roman Bamburin, Errol Lazarre, Marcus Maraih and Darcie Profeit. Years ago I envisioned what we have today. Having the five of them supporting the vision has helped so immensely in getting it off the ground,” he said. He also wanted to acknowledge the four team riders he’s worked with over the years. “I vividly recall sitting with a 15-year-
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old K-Rimes at the Cactus Club in Vancouver about innovating through collaborating. I am proud to know Kevin and see his progression.” Dan was also grateful to Nate Lang for his “I don’t care, I just wanna skate” attitude. “Big props to Brianne for always stepping up to the plate regardless of where we skated. She’s been spotted many times passing some of the fastest men in the world, yet always remaining humble and true to herself.” As for Max Erwin, Dan feels he’s just plain cool. “The guy randomly skates and then goes out and wins some of the most difficult races to win like Paskapoo (1st in 2006, then 2nd in 2007). Then he buys a camera and suddenly amazes us all with his photos.” Dan also wanted to send his respect to Mike McGoldrick from Landyachtz, whose “pure adrenaline and intense filming ideas are a huge motivator.” To find out more, visit colaboinnovations.com.
THE FRONTLINE IS EVERYWHERE Troy Churchill Aims High with Warco Skateboards Troy Churchill makes skateboards – a lot of skateboards. You’d be surprised just how many over the last few decades – it runs well into six figures. “I have made skateboards directly and indirectly for many longboard companies, and shortboards for brands like Plan B, Active, Element – and the list goes on,” explains Troy. For him, skateboarding is a lifestyle, and he’s been buried with it since he was eight. “It will
Troy Churchill: We want to give the alternative longboard to those who want to skate a longer skateboard.
always be around, and I can’t think of a better time to be in it. Today anyone can skate. It’s not just for kids any more.” Currently Troy is in the process of unleashing his reactivated brand, Warco, in the hopes of shaking things up in the skate market. Warco USA was started in 1996. Troy had just built his third factory and had a run-in with a partner. It made sense at the time to leave and then start amassing equipment for other manufacturers and build up the competition. “Warco took off as a press and machinery maker. We built machines for everyone, including military projects. It’s pretty ironic that the name stands for War Company!” In a sense, the battle had begun – and now Troy feels it’s his turn to capitalize on 17 years of skateboard manufacturing. “We want to give the alternative longboard to those who want to skate a longer skateboard.” When I asked Troy about the actual act of producing skateboards, he delivered a pretty blunt assessment: “Making skateboards can suck. It’s messy, and there is always someone trying to shut you down for making too much dust, spraying chemicals or just because most people hate the idea of skateboards.” Yet the way Troy sees it, there is nothing better. “They can keep trying [to shut things down], but if we can’t make them, China will, and they do. No EPA over there, at least not yet.” What he likes about longboards is the fact there are so many choices in design and construction. He also truly enjoys riding
longboards. For him the longboard market is still new and exciting, with new companies cropping up all the time. “Shortboards have narrowed down to about five brands and shop decks. That is the whole industry. In fact, I will sell you all the shortboards you need.” As Troy focuses his efforts on the longboard market, you get the sense that a well-deserved shake-up might be coming. “Here in San Diego, the product is strong! The boardwalks and sidewalks in Pacific and Mission Beach can’t get enough. As for the rest of the world, the frontline is everywhere!” Troy acknowledges that running a skate company is an almost impossible business. “Brands will come and go all day long. Everyone wants to own a skateboard company.” Seen from the inside, Troy believes that many brands get too caught up in their image and what the other brands are doing. Fundamentally, however, he realizes that there needs to be good product that stands for something. Next is the ability to make the product for the shops and a demand from skaters. “Most skate shops live through the shortboard industry. Longboards are still weird to them. [They think] one or two brands will do for stock.” The way Troy sees it, everyone in this game needs to get into their buyer’s heads or sell direct. “Selling direct is hard. Selling to shops is hard. Hell, it’s all just too hard.” Troy knows first hand just how hard it is. “I have been the proud owner of five skate shops. My best friend’s dad had a shop and mentored me into my first in 1990. I wanted to sell what the other shops had, but even more, what they didn’t have.” Troy views the big shops as being corporate and far removed from the small guy. “Why do they need new stuff? Wait until it gets big, then get it.” For Troy, it’s a riddle that needs to be exposed. “Longboarding is tough for the shop buyers. The shop owners and buyers need to ride them, and then they can understand what the product does. Until then, it is too confusing.” Troy realizes that shops have to go by what their customers are asking for but admits it’s quite a conundrum. “These days, customers don’t ask. If they don’t see it on the shelf, they buy it online. Before, you had to order through a shop if it wasn’t in stock. When I asked Troy what it was exactly that consumers wanted, he answered very directly. “There is a simple answer what consumers want. They want what they know. In longboarding, 90 percent of the sales go to the leader. Everyone else is following.” So what makes Warco different? “I come from shortboards and grew up in the Rocco era.
“Warco took off as a press and machinery maker. We built machines for everyone, including military projects. It’s pretty ironic that the name stands for War Company! We want to give the alternative longboard to those who want to skate a longer skateboard.” I had two skate shops at the time and couldn’t make a move without World Industries product flowing through my veins. That guy is genius. Kris Markovich was a friend, and I miss that time in skateboarding. It was all about skating and great graphics and good shapes. Longboards need this.” Troy knows what his mission entails. “I don’t care what everyone else is doing, nor do I need to. I build prototype boards for Plan B and built the factory that makes them! I ride both short and long boards and think there should be no prejudice.” As Troy ramps things up with Warco, our discussion turns to future technologies within the skateboard manufacturing process. “Nobody is complaining about the performance of most boards. Shortboards are mostly the same. The best boards use North American maple veneer and a good two-component glue. Some will argue. But this is a mechanical fact.” Troy states that two-component glues “catalyze,” whereas single-part glues, like normal wood glue, dry out to get hard or solid. “No matter what, they stay rubbery.” He went on to explain that China uses heat to cure their boards to
speed the process. “Some of these boards skate very well. We use a new two part glue system called Vario. It is very stiff and keeps the board from fatigue. This is very important in a longboard, especially with the long wheelbases and heavy pressure and stress that the veneers have to endure from regular use. All three of the new Warco boards use this system.” Troy was quite candid as he explained the use of other substrates. “Many brands have chosen to use carbon fibers and composites to stiffen and give specific flex patterns to their boards. I am paid to develop these technologies for some top brands, but they are mostly for marketing rather than actual performance.” Troy says that wood itself is nature’s perfect dampener, performing like a good shock on a race car. “Wood absorbs the impact of riding and disperses it efficiently throughout the board without generating heat. This is not possible with most metals and some composites.” So the way Troy sees it, this makes wood the long-lasting performance choice. “Select wood can then be manipulated to increase “pop” by tweaking the glue system. One-part glues are softer and can feel dead under your feet, whereas two-part glues are ‘pop makers.’” Ironically most factories have chosen to use one-part glue systems to save money.” The fact is that Troy remains committed to wood as he is to skateboarding. “If the right materials are used, the future of skateboarding will stay pure and maintain its natural wood heritage.” Contact warcousa.com
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HOW TO
GET SPONSORED, BE SPONSORED AND STAY SPONSORED Editor’s note: This came to me from an anonymous industry insider who’s been active with companies you see here in our pages. He’s written a guide to getting into the world of extreme sport sponsorship, and he’ll lead you through approaching a company, securing sponsorship and then getting the most out of the privilege that is sponsorship. Due to space constraints, I’ll publish this article in three parts.
INTRO There is nothing like it: the moment when you’re offered a sponsorship from your favorite company. Imagine the opportunity to have a company you support actually endorsing your unique way of riding while you promote them. With a bit of work and a lot of persistence, you can do this. The following is a basic rundown of what you can do as an individual to get yourself into a position to be sponsored. DEFINITION OF SPONSORED VS. PRO Before we get into it, I just want to go on record and clearly define the difference between pro riders and sponsored riders. “Sponsored riders” can expect to get gear and eventattendance support. They might get some costs covered and be reimbursed for things they spend money on to do the activities the company is paying for. A “pro” will be receiving money directly from the company, be it for boards, ads or just straight-out payment. Often, a pro may have a side job that also supports them to supplement their income. The basic distinction here is the sponsored rider gets gear and event costs covered and the pro just gets paid huge, fat sacks of cash. The following is a guide on sponsorship. Once you’re sponsored, then you can worry about how to become “pro.” WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO GET SPONSORED? You want to get sponsored because you love skating and want to be as involved as possible in your passion. If you want sponsorship to be the free gear, the extra cash for events, the hot chicks, the rad photo sessions that are all about you, the groms asking you to sign their grubbed hands just to be ignored by you ‘cuz yer a cool sponsored skater…if that’s why you are reading this, then just skip this article! Better yet, drop this mag in a dustbin, ‘cuz you are reading the wrong mag, bro! You can go stomp on yer deck with your girl pants on and blame your unsponsorship on your deck – yeah, it’s the deck’s fault. But if you are reading this because you love the sport and want to push yourself even harder, thanks for joining us.
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GET SPONSORED The Objective The goal is simple: to secure sponsorship with a company of your selection. Think long and hard as to whom you have in mind as far as who you would like to skate for. Not only does it matter a great deal, but following the instructions you’re about to read will be much easier if you have an idea of what companies you want to approach. The Benefits The benefits differ from one company to another. However, you can usually expect to get gear either for free or for nearly at cost (more on ProForms later). Having a sponsorship can also make it much easier to get to events you want to be at. It can also be a great starting point for getting your own events together. You’ll find out the full extent of what the company is willing to do for you down the line, but for now, let’s just focus on the first part. The Targets Think about it; is there a company that just gets you all stoked, a company whose ethos just seems familiar and attractive to you? Maybe your favorite board comes from that company, and maybe you rip it 24/7. That sure makes the decision easier. However, you can pull sponsorship from more than just board companies. Local shops sometimes make awesome candidates; why get one type of board when you can get any board? Being sponsored by a local shop means you always have a shop where you can work on your decks, a steady supply of groms to stoke out and a location to really get riders together. That’s not all, though; your options include companies that produce drinks, headphones, shoes, safety equipment and skate hardware. If you’ve got a favorite local restaurant, get sponsored by them! Keep it local, think global! There’s no harm in trying. If you are feeling it, set your sights. Contacts Eventually, you will need to contact someone at the company you have chosen. How are you going to do this? These days with the Internet, doing research and finding contact information is easier than ever. Check their website. Never be hesitant to pick up the phone and call a company to ask whom you should talk to in regard to sponsorship. If your local shop carries the company you are planning on approaching, find out who they work with and see if they can get you some contact information or a business card. Attend events the company sponsors and pick up contact information or business cards from the reps there. Always keep a list of everyone you have contacted
Bucky Lasek continues to have an amazing pro career. Here he is at the Bondi Bowl, Australia. Photo: David Pang
Martin Siegrist and Mischo Erban enjoy the benefits of a car sponsorship from Daihatsu. Photo: Michael Brooke In an effort to show how elusive sponsorship can be, we looked for a shot that combined skateboarding with rainbow. This is the closest we got! Mike Joyce at Kincumber Mountain. Photo: John Harle. (opposite page)
and their position! Keep the business cards all together and make notes on them if the rep gives you any advice. Ask around! You never know when someone you meet might be able to get you a contact that will one day get you sponsored. How to Put Together a Sponsorship Package This step isn’t necessary, but it can help – and it never hurts to have it all together in one place. Gone are the days of VHS demo tapes; a rider’s influence can be quantified by so many more values than one tape can impress. With online content, Web portals and social networking sites, there are such varied points from which a rider can influence others that it’s mind-blowing. The goal here is to bring it all together. In your sponsorship package you should have images of you skating, links to video of you skating, links to all of your social networking sites, links to community sites and information about
your level of involvement. List all the events you have attended or planned and links to articles or online news sources about the event. If you have ever been featured in any media source, in any way, shape and/ or form, include it! A burned CD of you skating is a good thing to have. In most cases you can just as easily find a place to load it. Also, a small business-card graphic with all your contact info is helpful; use it to tag your e-mails, or print some out and keep them with you. If you run into any skaters you want to rip with, just pass ‘em on. Also in this package you should have a short biography, or bio. Writing your bio Writing a bio can be disconcerting for some people. It’s very difficult to really describe yourself. For a start, take a look at the Next Wave section at the back of this mag. The bios there can give you an idea of how to formulate your own bio. Ask your friends and family how they would describe you. Besides the basic interests, add where you like to skate, what style(s) of skating you really enjoy and, obviously, any outstanding results in competitions. List every event you have attended. Try to give the reader of your bio a small glimpse into your life. Finding Help Getting everything together to produce a good sponsorship package can be hard. What if you don’t have any good video or pictures of yourself skating? Do what you can with your group of friends; see if anyone has a good camera you can use, and go shooting. Make some of your sessions
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into that ditch and rock a finger flip on the far wall for the 42nd time, just shut it and do what they ask. Maybe that is gonna be the shot of the session! The Methods: Three Ways to Score The following methods lay out three very different techniques for contacting and relating yourself to the companies from which you are looking for sponsorship. These will lend themselves as more useful for specific scenarios and personality types. Believe it or not, personality matters just as much as – if not more than – raw skill when it comes to endearing yourself to a company when you are looking to get sponsored!
Mike Vallely has made (and continues to impression) an incredible mark on skateboarding. Photo: Tate K. Nations Exposure is crucial for successful sponsorship. Cameron Lawerence was on the cover of our April issue. Photo: Jeff Nass
about finding the most killer shot of doing what you love. If you’ve got no cam and no friends, then you can recruit. Local camera and video shops often know of people that might be interested in shooting you skating for a few bucks, or maybe for free, if you promise to give them photo credits. Local colleges and vocational schools also have a plethora of eager, future professional photographers and videographers who are willing to expand their portfolio with something as dynamic as some solid skate shots. Posting up flyers looking for a photog’ or videog’ around the school is usually all you need to wrangle someone willing to shoot ya! Always remember when working with anyone shooting photos or videos: You are their subject for the time they are shooting you and, unless they are paid, you are on their time. So show respect. Always be on time, and set up the shots and locations they would like to shoot. By all means, give them suggestions if they’re new to shooting action sports. Otherwise, if they want you to drop
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The Sniper Technique This technique is best used when you are looking at one, and only one, company for endorsement as a sponsored rider. In this case, you need to have as much groundwork laid as possible before you even consider contacting them. A very methodical and logistically inclined personality is highly tuned toward this method. Have a very strong sponsorship package ready and, before you even send it to them, start sending them email updates about how the riding is going, what you think of their products, etc. Link to them from your social networking sites, and act as a (non-sanctioned) resource when people ask about their products on forum communities. If you get sick photos and video, send them links. Keep them informed and involved in what you are doing, and show just as much interest in what the company is doing. When you get someone to pick up one of their boards, let the
companies know you hooked it up. Ask about board development and new gear they will be releasing, and learn all about their technologies. If they sponsor events in your area, attend! Get well informed about who works for the company and whom you need to contact to really promote yourself with them. Make a list of contacts and who does what. Always keep in touch with them about what is going on. But if you feel like it’s too much, back off a little bit. When you feel ready, when you’re as close as you can get to the company, pull the trigger. Send them a formal letter along with your sponsorship package. In your bio, make the content very concentric to the company you are contacting. Let them know what you have done in the past, and let them know what you would do for them in the future. Include as many concepts you can think of that would allow you to help promote the company. Present yourself as an asset to their business and as a full-bore skater who would do anything for a sponsorship opportunity. The Shotgun Technique This technique is more aimed at a semi-accomplished person, someone with a lot of presence who either is somewhat well known or is heavily involved in a local, national or international scene. If you are generally good with people and can present yourself well, then this is the method for you. Again, a strong sponsorship package is a good start, as is knowing whom you want to contact and at which companies. This technique is for when you are possibly looking at a number of different companies for sponsorship, so your sponsor package should be more geared toward overall skating experience and knowledge. Make note of all events attended and experiences where you interfaced with the public as a representative of skating. A multi-disciplinarian will have an easier time putting together the amount of information into a bio that this method requires. If applicable, add any involvement you’ve had with product design and testing on any level. Let them know you’re an informed rider already prepared to provide services they can’t get from any other rider. More ammo for use with this technique: any association with online event promotion, a video submission site, community site or a very active social networking page. There is no way to quantify the value of these aspects of your sponsorship package, but with the changing nature of the way advertising is done, a grassroots rider with a healthy following online is an amazing asset to a company. Many companies will see the value. Get it all together, and send it out to as many
companies as you can think of. See what comes back to you! The big benefit of this method of sponsorship is that if one companies denies you, you just move on. The down side is that you have less of a personal relationship established.
Colorado’s Michael DeBuano is making a name for himself in bowl skating. Photo: Jeff Nass
The Brute Force Technique This technique is dangerous, very dangerous. It should be attempted by one and only one personality type. Here are a few questions for you to ask yourself: Have you ever been told you are annoying? Have you ever been punched in the face and not known why? Do you change circles of friends often? If you answered yes to any of these three questions, please skip the next three paragraphs, as this technique is not for you; you simply don’t have what it takes to pull it off. If you’re still reading, here are some enforcing personality traits you will need: charged, friendly,
energetic, animated, easily entertained, very forgiving, persistent, magnetic and funny. Funny helps a great deal. Throw away the sponsor package; don’t worry about qualifying yourself or writing a bio or any of that nonsense. Just pick a company and harass the hell out of them! Call them every time you see anyone riding one of their boards. Send them pictures or video from every session you have, making sure they get logo spots. Talk about them non-stop to anyone that may even be slightly interested. Better yet, make everyone skate! Post online about your experiences with the company every chance you get. If someone might even possibly be interested in one of their boards, tell them everything they could ever need to know. Go into shops and tell the owner he should carry their boards. Do this until they start to carry them. Do this at every skate shop in your area, including places you go on vacation. Get copies of the company’s catalog and pass them out at sessions – stickers, too! Let the company know about all of this. Make sure they know how absolutely stoked you are! If they have any events, anywhere, of any size, be there! Show up to every event, bring your board, make a showing and let the company know you did. Post on their social networking site every day and make other people add them as friends. Get as many numbers and e-mails as you can for the company, and become best friends with everyone. If your call goes to voicemail, leave a 15-minute-long message. Show up to the factory with a huge smile; bring other people to the factory to also smile. If you ever have any reason to talk to them, do it! Call them anytime! If there is an event you think they should be involved in, make sure they are! If there is a product you think they should make, send them drawings on napkins or 16-bit MS Paint pictures about your great idea. Plaster everything you own with stickers of the company. Make a stencil and tag your dog with their logo in a vegetable-based dye. Make sure you send them a picture of your dog, with their logo, on a board. You get the idea. Be highly visible, constantly active and dynamic. At this point you are beyond a stoked skater; you are a veritable force of nature. If you have done all of this and have not gotten punched in the face or received a restraining order, then congrats. You’re as good as sponsored, and chances are you have a bright future within the company! The next section in this series will run in the Winter 2008 issue of Concrete Wave. Our writer will take 6 you through the many advantages and responsibilities of being a sponsored skateboarder.
FALL 2008 CONCRETE WAVE 89
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FALL 2008 CONCRETE WAVE 91
presented by
JORGE COMELLI
AGE 18
WORDS: HEIDI LEMMON PHOTO: SAM MULLER Jorge started skating in the Rampart area of Los Angeles when he was nine years old, then moved to Alaska, where he skated with Adrian Williams and Preston Pollard. He returned to Los Angeles six years ago and has been bouncing back and forth between San Francisco, Sacramento and Los Angeles. Jorge competed at Slam City Jam in 2006 and the Damn AM contests. You can find him skating local spots in Los Angeles and San Francisco and Tuesday nights at Skatelab. Jorge is sponsored by: DGK, 9 Star, SPA, Rogue Status, Skatelab, Diamond Clothing, Fillmore Wheels and Dogpoo Wax.
CLAY KREINER AGE 11 WORDS: MICAH STANCIL PHOTO: TRAVIS HALL At a young age Clay already shows signs of a mature skater. He is very focused, and his skill and style are beyond his years. When he’s not out ripping up a concrete park near his hometown of Simpsonville, S.C., you can find him skating backyard pools or blasting head-high airs out of a vert ramp. He has done very well on the contest circuit, and I expect him to make a huge impact on the skateboard scene over the next couple of years.
JUSTIN CYMBALSKI
AGE 9
WORDS & PHOTO: JEFF CYMBALSKI Justin hails from Phoenix, Ariz. started skating at age 5. Justin is an inspiration to all ages. He always has a smile on his face and loves seeing old friends. He is always going out of his way to meet new people and helping out kids who need it. Justin gives lessons on the weekends to youngsters. He was just invited to do a couple of stops at the AST Dew tour. Justin loves competing and traveling to new states. He is very blessed to have the sponsors that he does. They make his dreams possible and let us travel all over. Justin has his own smooth style, and you can’t miss him with his painted Kaboom helmet and his radical socks. Thank you to Kaboom Energy Juice, Industrial Ride Shop, Dakine, Split Clothing, Dirty Duck Skate Wax, Vans rep flow, Destructo, Speed Metal, Spy Optics and all family members and friends that have helped.
AUSTIN POYNTER
AGE 12
WORDS & PHOTO: MARK KESSENICH I’ve known Austin for about three years now, and he’s shaping up to become quite a skateboarder. His dad got him a skateboard on his 8th birthday, and he’s been skating ever since. He mostly skates the Combi pool at Vans skatepark in Orange, Calif. but also favors the vert ramps at Clairemont and Encinitas skateparks as well. Other favorite spots are the Etnies/Lake Forest and Culver City skateparks or any place that features bowls. He won the PlayStation Am Jam held at Vans, and he’s looking forward to the finals in Woodward, Penn. He skated the vert ramp in the Clash at Clairemont skatepark and had a blast. Also, he was in the Snowball Express at Oakley. In addition, he placed first in the Vans Warped Tour. His sponsors include Oakley, Active, The 187 pads, Oust bearings and S-One helmets. They all treat him great and care a lot about Austin. I asked him what his future plans for skateboarding are – to which he replied, “I want skateboarding to always be something I love, and try to keep a positive image for other skaters.” I think the future of skateboarding will be in good hands. 92 CONCRETE WAVE FALL 2008
JADE PIERCE
AGE 13
WORDS & PHOTO: DAVE TANNACI Jade Pierce kills it, period. With explosive style and miles of smiles, this Boise-born shredder makes skating look easy. Blasting airs and sticking inverts for a fresh perspective are some of Jade’s favorite pastimes. His first session back after decimating his wrist found him on the top of the podium at a local all-ages contest in Hailey, smiling not because he won, but because he got to skate again. Jade’s preference for BIG tranny leads him to nearby parks like Buhl and Hailey, and even further still because rather than spending his school vacations sitting around the TV, Jade makes trips to neighboring states Oregon and Washington in search of bigger tranny and tastier concrete. Anytime, anywhere, and anything that involves a skateboard, Jade will be there killing it and lovin’ it. Special thanks go out to Bob at Khiro, SOMOS skateboards and especially his parents.
TJ LEWIS
AGE 13
WORDS: RYAN SIMPSON PHOTO: RANDALL LEESE Here’s what we know: four years, Benji Galloway, Inner Space contest and family bond. That’s about all we got from TJ Lewis of Everett, Wash. Truth be told, he was preoccupied with skating at the time, so we got what we expected. Luckily, having known TJ for a couple of years, we can attest that everything this young ripper said, no matter how brief, sums up his outlook on skating and life. Within six months of starting skateboarding, TJ entered his first competition at the Inner Space Skatepark in Seattle and walked away with 8th place out of 16 competitors. Practice and drive have paid big dividends, as this past year TJ pulled off results such as 1st place in the 2008 Gromfest Skateboard Finals, 1st place at the Concrete Rodeo stop in Mukilteo, Wash., and making the semifinals at Lib Tech’s “Pack Your Bags” Skate Contest. Wanting to become the most well-rounded skater he can be, TJ looks up to others such as Benji Galloway and Steven Reeves for inspiration and depends on the support of his family for motivation. “My whole family supports me,” said TJ. “Skating has given my mom and me a really tight bond; I love to skate and she loves to watch me. Pretty good deal!” Sponsors: Rebel Skateboards, Desolation, Skatebarn West, 187 Pads.
JACK LYDON
AGE 17
DANIEL CRESTANI
AGE 16
WORDS & PHOTO: STEPHEN GILMAN
WORDS & PHOTO: BILL FONSECA
This Australian is a born powerhouse. Although I have known Jack for a brief time, I had heard about him from his older brother for months. Jack was on the plane moving back to Perth after two years living up in Cairns with his mom. He had a 5hour lay over in Melbourne, and his brother RJ told me, “Steve, I am going to the airport to talk my little bro into staying in Melbourne? and if that doesn’t work, I just won’t take him back.” After being talked into staying and semikidnapped, Jack was stoked but had a little explaining to do to his mom. After hours on the phone reasoning his decision to stay, things were sweet. Jack’s now in Melbourne living with his brother, doing what every 17-year-old dreams about: skating his days away in epic bowls and great street spots.
Sydney, Australia has some awesome skateboarders that just need to be found. I happened to come across this young guy that goes by the name of Daniel Crestani. He’s 16 years old and totally rips. He makes everything he skates look that much easier, considering he has only been skating for 5 years. Daniel prefers skating bowls and vert but can handle a street course with ease as well. The setup he currently has is Cortech 54 Wheels, Bones bearings and Indy trucks all bolted down to an 8” deck. He currently works part time at Monster Skate Park located at Homebush in Sydney and has done a few demos there during the Easter Show time. In his five years of skating, Daniel has broken his elbow twice (ouch, same elbow too) and had the usual sprains and dislocated fingers. It won’t be long till someone notices this ripping kid at a skate event or park and signs him up for a sponsorship.
FALL 2008 CONCRETE WAVE 93
ART DEPARTMENT
RYAN ONORATO Ryan Onorato was born and raised in a small town in Southern New Jersey, where he spent a lot of time outdoors with his friends. At the age of 8, he found his passion was in cartoons. A recent graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art, (MICA) in Baltimore, his illustration portfolio is heavily influenced by the skate and surf culture, as he is a part of both. Ryan is the creator of “Bonedaddy”, a mini-comic about a skateboarding skeleton, and his struggles to find friendship in the mortal world. Ryan’s portfolio can be viewed at ryanonorato.com
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SKATEBOARD SHOPS LIST ARIZONA Soul Sticks Boardshop 23 South Beaver Flagstaff 928.853.3033 Sidewalk Surfer 2602 N. Scottsdale Road Scottsdale 480.994.1017 admin@sidewalksurfer.com • www.sidewalksurfer.com CALIFORNIA Board Gallery 3333 Newport Boulevard Newport Beach 714.902.3769 Cellular Skate 6787 Carnelian Street Alta Loma 909.941.1004 Mike McGills Skate Shop 335 First Street Suite #S Encinitas 760.943.7730 Mike’s Bike Shop 5507 West Pico Blvd. Los Angeles 323.935.4338 Viva Skateboards 1709 Howard Road Madera 559.664.8997 Bill’s Wheels Skateshop 1240 Soquel Avenue Santa Cruz 831.469.0904 Purple Skunk Purpleskunk.com 5820 Geary Blvd. San Francisco 415.668.7905 Skate Supply 1135 Garnet Avenue #13 San Diego 866.310.2654 CCMF/Toyland 1260 Palm Street San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 805-801-6653 ccmfjay@yahoo.com The Trading Post 622 Upham Street San Luis Obispo 805.801.6653 ccmfjay@yahoo.com Random X Boardshop 13222 Springdale St.,Westminster 714.898.7070 Sonoma Old School Skate and Surf 1001 Broadway Sonoma 707.938.5500 skatesos.com Cellular Skate 287 Mountain Ave Upland Tel: 909.981.8856 cellskate@verizon.net COLORADO All Board Sports 1750 30th Street Boulder 303.415.1600 CONNECTICUT Skate Pusher 57 McIntosh Drive Bristol 860.593.4550 GEORGIA Feral 190 Park Avenue, Athens 706.369.1084 Skate Madness 1344 Stonefield court, Alpharetta 770.777.0336 skatemadness.com Woody’s Halfpipe 6135 Peachtree Parkway Suite # 603 Norcross MASSACHUSETTS Boardroom 6 Armory Street Northhampton 413.586.8857
Want to know where to find Concrete Wave Magazine? Would you like to find all the amazing skate gear you see in these pages? Look no further than our shop list. If you’d like to have your shop listed here, it’s easy. Simply send a check for $115 to Indaba Group PO Box 1895 Carlsbad California 92018 or pay pal tailtapinfo@yahoo.com, ph: 760-722-4111. You’ll get 10 copies of 5 issues mailed out along with this complete listing. For international rates, please email us. Yes, shipping is included. If you think your local shop or park should be carrying Concrete Wave, email mbrooke@interlog.com. MICHIGAN Ollies Skate Shop 120 ½ E Maumee Adrian 517.265.2031 MINNESOTA Old School Skaters 1119 NW 2nd Street Faribault 612.578.3326 www.oldschoolskaters.net MISSOURI Genesis Skateboarding 13 NW Barry Rd. #147 Kansas City 816.456.1307 genesisskateboarding.com MONTANA Wheaton’s 214 1st Avenue West Kalispell 406.257.5808 wheatonscycle.com BlackTop Surfshop 176 5th Avenue West North Kalispell 406-752-6006 NEBRASKA Vinny’s Skatepark 1112 Applewood Dr. Papillion 402.339.3399 NEW JERSEY Black Diamond Skatepark 400 Route 38 Unit 1610 Moorestown NEW MEXICO Timeship Raicing 825 Early Street Suite H Sante Fe 505.474.0074 timeshipracing.com NORTH CAROLINA Soul Ride Skatepark 6049 Victory Lane Concord 704.454.7433 soulrideskates.com OHIO Old Skool Skateboards 19E College Avenue, Westerville roxtar55@hotmail.com OREGON The Longboard Store 1238 SW Wheeler Place Bend 541.480.4254 thelongboardstore.com Cascadia Longboards 3366 West 17th Street Eugene 541.729.7392 Daddies Board Shop 7126 NE Sandy Blvd., Portland 503.281.5123 daddiesboardshop.com Rebel Skates 1025 SE Sandy Blvd. Portland 503.232.0434 Oregon Skate 38962 Proctor Boulevard Sandy 503.826.8427 RHODE ISLAND Seven.Ply 3 Canal Street Westerly 401.348.0656 SOUTH CAROLINA Longboardskater.com 718 Dove Haven Lane Myrtle Beach TENNESSEE Planet Sk8 7024 East Church Street Suite 2 Brentwood 615.377.1947 Sk8sations Skate Shop 3032 N.John B.Dennis Hwy. Kingsport 423.245.0994 tbec@charter.net UTAH Salty Peaks Snowboard Shop 3055 East 3300 South Salt Lake City 801.467.8000
Milo Sports 359 E.1300 S. University Parkway Orem 801.426.4300 VIRGINIA EastCoast Boardco. 10358 Fairfax Blvd. Fairfax 703.352.4600 x:8 213 25th Street Va Beach Black Cat Skateshop 1325 A West Main Street, Charlottesville 434.244.0014 WASHINGTON Gravity Sports 126 Rainier Ave South Renton 425.255.1874 Mountain Goat Outfitters 12 W. Sprague Avenue Spokane ALBERTA Avenue Skateparks 9030.118 Avenue NW Edmonton 780.477.2149 Easy Rider 4211.106 St., #153 Edmonton 780.413.4554 Pipeline Surf Co 10336 111 Street NW Edmonton 780.421.1575 BRITISH COLUMBIA Area 51 191 Station Street Duncan 250.746.8869 a51.ca Raven Skate Shop 411 Campbell Street Tofino 250.725.1280 ravenskateshop.ca Salton Rides Saltspring Island, BC 250.537.4984 saltonskate@canada.com Switchback Longboards 4385B Boban Dr. Nanaimo 250.751. 7625 ONTARIO Orbit 406 Cumberland St., Cornwall, 613.932.9754 Hammer Skate Shop 2225 Queen Street East Toronto, 416.698.0005 Hogtown 401 King Street West, Toronto 416.598.4192 McPhails 98 King Street North, Waterloo 519.886.4340 QUEBEC DLX/Deluxe 2480, chemin Ste.Foy Ste.Foy 418.653.0783 dlxdeluxe.com OVERSEAS New Zealand — Serenity Island Surf & Skate Café 202a Wainui road Gisborne serenityisland@windowslive.com serenityisland.com Boardshop Australia boardshop.com.au 04 15883371 friendlyfolks@skateparkguide.com Cre8ive Sk8 5/244 Ross river Road Aitkenvale Queensland 4814 Australia UK – Octanesport.com Skateboardsofchoice.co.uk Bath, United Kingdom. Tel: + 44 1249 715811
Germany – seasondistribution.com, concretewave.de Hackbrett Longskates Im Wechselfeld 12 St. Peter Hack@customlongskates.com Longboarders.de Gustavstrasse 49 90762 Furth longboarders.de kontakt@longboarders.de Tel: 0911 9772500 France : Hawaiisurf.com Clover Skateboard shop 1-21-3-1201 Befu Jyounan Fukuoka 8140104 Japan Y & T Fussa Fussa 2348 Fussa Fussa.City,Tokyo 1970011 Netherlands — Sickboards Fuutlan 45 Delft sickboards@yahoo.com Soul dh Alameda Picaflores 245 San Borja Lima 41 Peru Indiana Sports GmbH Elbestrasse 14 Wald, 8636 Switzerland ON.LINE RETAILERS Allboardsports.com Blackholeboards.com Bordz.net CascadiaLongboards.com Coldwarskateboards.com Daddiesboardshop.com Denverskateshop.com Edsbearings.com (pleasure tools) Fuegolongboards.com Genesisskateboarding.com Latterdayskates.com Longboardshop.de Longboardstore.com Milehighskates.com Oldschoolskates.net Pressuredroplongboards.com Roadkillskates.com Sk8supply.com Socalskateshop.com Solidskate.com TACTISSK8.COM Tailtap.com VSLboardshop.com
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Fall 2008 Vol.7 No.2
BREAKING NEW GROUND Meet The Innovators
concretewavemagazine.com VOL. 7 No 2• FALL 2008
BRUTIQUE Australian Skate Memories