Words by Ryan Clements
Photos, Captions, and Footage by Rob Meronek
Wow, when was the last time you saw the mullet of hip hop? The high top fade is a rare one for sure
Sarah Molder here was the only girl in the Contest. She's from a town called Regina and yes, the way you pronounce it rhymes with the female body part. It was pretty awkward when she and her mom checked in with me at registration
Niel Blackwood mustache you a question
Jordan Murray - switch heel
Adam Lecker - kickflip front board
This is Michael Rogers on Saturday doing a kickflip crook. On Sunday, the hat was gone. Maybe one too many mic comments about it? Just as when wisecracks are made on the website, wisecracks on the mic about your gear and/or trick selection are generally jokes and we're just kidding, usually. Unless it's Vern on the mic. He's not usually joking
John Hanlon is taller than you. That's a kickflip back lip
Josh Kalis - lipslide to switch crook. It was amazing watching him skate all weekend. He's wearing is new DC shoe
Desmond Hoostie came out swinging on Saturday. After this kickflip fakie on the steep bank, he 360 flipped it. That along with a long list of other tricks in the 16 minute jam got him 3rd place Saturday
Dustin Henry - feeble grind
These kind of hard flips remind me of a pizza guy throwing dough in the air. It flops around, but you're not sure if it flips. Corey Lakeman - pizza flip
Taylor Senft - kickflip frontside boardslide
Our hotel is off in the distance on the right in downtown Vancouver. It's a fun skate across this highway bridge over to the plaza every morning
Jordan Thiessen - crooked grind
Dustin Colombo - frontside bluntslide
Coming out of a switch flipslide forward is harder. Dallas Ives impressed a lot of people this weekend. He ended up in 2nd overall
The Contest ended pretty early on Saturday so I split from the crew and took a solo skate through some of downtown Vancouver
I ran into some kind of dance party where this wacky oriental is embarrassing the entire race
He wasn't the only one. I got beamed by this guy
Later that night, we went to the Bro Bowl of Vancouver. Check out the footage here
There's no lip to blunt nosegrab on, so fun with flyouts is the next best thing. That's Schaefer on his way to the reservoir below that shoots you back uphill if you actually know how to pump, unlike me
Alex Chalmers and crew - thanks for the hospitality
Now it's Sunday and we're back at the plaza. Can't remember this dude's name. Who dat - frontside 5-0
Rail jockey! Good thing it's not a few stairs longer
JS Lapierre - kickflip frontside boardslide. He was checking them off the list on the rail and stairs the whole weekend and ended up getting first on both Saturday and Sunday
JS Lapierre - kickflip frontside 50-50
Let's pause for a quick check-out of Canadian skateboard moms
William Cristofaro took the red eye flight back home to the east coast of Canada to return to school straight from the airport. That's a switch big heel
This one's new to me. Dallas Ives - switch Barley grind frontside 180 out
Dallas Ives - switch frontside 360
Nolan Waller - smith grind
John Purcell - kickflip
He wasn't in this Contest, but that's Sascha Daley - frontside bluntslide
JS Lapierre won a total of $7,000 over the weekend
Sarah, Schaefer, Pang, and Fat Bob. We are all getting sucked into the party tornado on that Coors Light bus. It's about 10pm and we have to wake up at 3am for a flight back to Tampa. We're just going to have one beer
You know it's a fun time when Schaefer throws out his signature salute gesture. When we stepped on the bus, we discovered a party about 40 people deep with with two Coors Light girls serving unlimited silver bullets. All we were missing was Bobby Worrest
It was a packed dude bus that drove us all around the city for an hour or so while we all got good and lit. I spy the King of Vancouver
Get enough sauce in JS Lapierre and he lets out his high pitched party scream
The bus is so big there's a separate room way in the back
That's Trevn's friend Breanne that we just met at the after-party. Schaefer's already getting a little weird on her
Wes Kremer was here with the rest of the DC team. How do I get one of those Rodney Johnson shirts???
Congrats JS, see you on the Coors Light bus at Damn Am next month
After we forcefully dragged Clements outside to join us on the Coors Light party bus, somehow he was still able to sneak away and avoid the party storm. When I returned to the room, I found him passed out on the floor while the hotel staff was trying to break into the room for him. Apparently the lock broke. Should have got on the bus, Clem. Chill cam footage of it all is on the SPoT Facebook page
Schaefer flew up a day early to check out the event site while Rob and I rock-starred it and showed up the night before the event. After a long-ass flight with a layover in SLC, we arrived safely in beautiful Vancouver, but not before a full-on interrogation session with Canadian Customs and Immigration. I don’t know what the deal with that country is, but it’s really a hassle as an American to enter.
Everything was going smooth, we were about to walk freely out of the airport at the last Customs check-point, and then the officer said, “Step this way please.” From there we were placed into a room with about 20 “stations” that looked like grocery store check-out counters covered completely in stainless steel. As they went through my pockets, backpack, and other bag, the questions started coming. Here is a compilation of the questions that Rob and I had to deal with:
What are you doing here?
Is this a tripod?
When did you start skateboarding?
These go on your camera?
Is that the iPhone or iPod Touch?
Where were these pictures taken?
Have you ever been in a skateboard contest?
Are you competitive?
Be frank with me, what drugs have you done?
Have you been to Vancouver before?
Have you ever been anywhere else in Canada?
Why do you have a laptop with you on two-day trip?
Where do you work?
What do you do there?
Who is running the business while you are gone?
Why would you want to skate in Vancouver?
Where are you staying?
Do you know anyone in Vancouver?
Is that skateboard new?
Have you ever been arrested?
What was your charge after you were arrested in Tampa for skateboarding?
Have you ever been finger-printed?
Have you ever gotten a DUI or DWI?
Are you sure?
Why do you have a Concealed Weapons Permit?
What type of guns do you own?
Is that belt buckle a knife?
So you’re going to a contest?
Are you working here?
Are you a professional skateboarder?
Why are there two Panamanian stamps on your passport on the same day?
When you went to Cuba, did you go anywhere other than Havana?
Why did you go to Cuba?
Did you enjoy it?
Who else went with you?
Is anyone else traveling with you?
My search and questioning took about 45 minutes and Rob was in there for nearly an hour and a half. When they were done with Rob, the officer said, “Well, I don’t really have a good reason to not let you in.” Man oh man. They sure do a good job of making you feel like crap for wanting to go to Canada.
By the time we hopped on the train, found our hotel, and got to our room it was nearly 2am. That’s three and a half hours after the plane landed! After being up for 23 hours, working all day, and flying to Vancouver, there wasn’t much left to do but sleep.
Saturday – Tech Zone
The next morning we met up with the crew (Schaefer, Vern, Pang, and Fat Bob) and skated over to the site of the event, Vancouver Skate Plaza, which is a very street oriented spot with stairs, rails, and ledges galore. The City sure did it right with this public, no rules, and free skate park located under a bridge/overpass. Just roll up and skate…exactly how it should be in every city.
The Contest got started at 1pm and was short and sweet, with four, 16-minute action packed jams. Each jam had an average of 10 skaters, so there was plenty of skating to watch at all times on the small four set and rail, banked hubba, long three, flat bar, and ledge. Here’s how it broke down by mid-afternoon:
1st - $1,000 – JS Lapierre – came from Montreal and dominated
2nd - $500 – Dallas Ives – the tie-dye shirt did it for him
3rd - $400 – Desmond Hoostie – bs tailslide bigspin out off the four stair ledge
4th - $300 – John Hanlon – Wu Tang shirts are always good
5th - $200 – Niel Blackwood – switch nose manny up the two-stair and down the four
Just a note here…but we didn’t announce the results from Saturday until after the skating was over on Sunday. We wanted that element of suspense so the skaters didn’t how close they were to being crowned King.
In the early evening, Chris Conway was gracious enough to give us a lift in the DC RV over to one of the world’s oldest skate parks, where a session was going down for a friend of the Vancouver scene that passed away due to a head injury that actually occurred at the same skate park. The BBQ was cranking, drinks were had, and the smell of marijuana was constantly in the air due to Vancouver’s lenient laws on the substance. We carved the over 30-year-old snake run until darkness fell and we could no longer see. Good times and a great way to end the day.
Sunday – Stairs, Hubba, and Rail Zone
We arrived on site bright and early at 11am after a nice, relaxing morning hanging around the hotel. After a couple of old man games of SKATE, it was time to get the Contest going because there was certainly more excitement ahead. Once again, all of the skaters were broken into four heats of approximately 10 skaters each. Something that I found interesting was that a few of the skaters from the first say said “f-it” and pulled a cool-guy-move by not showing up the second day. That’s an interesting decision because there was a purse of $2,500 each day to be given away. Go figure.
The event started at 1pm and we were walking out of there at 4pm. That’s just how we like it…
1st - $1,000 – JS Lapierre – he was in the first heat and completely dominated, leaving no question that he should have been in 1st
2nd - $500 – John Hanlon – improved on his scores from Saturday, but JS was unbeatable
3rd - $400 – Dallas Ives – looking like a skinny, young Tosh Townend, Dallas had a huge bag of tricks
4th - $300 – Adam Fontaine – gansta’ as hell with his switch fs smith down the handrail
5th - $200 – Dustin Locke – I’ll be damned…can’t remember a thing about this dude
6th - $100 – Niel Blackwood – he wore shirts with wolves on them two days in row
As you noticed above, the event was split into two different sections. The skater with the overall highest combined score from those two events was crowned King of Vancouver. The ripper that worked the hardest and tore up both the Tech Zone and Stairs, Hubba, and Rail Zone was JS Lapierre, who walked away with the grand prize of $5,000, after winning both sections. That’s a total of seven G’s he took home with the individual prizes included! Nice work.
The Trip Home
Later that evening, with Vancouver’s Alex Chalmers as our tour guide, a nice dinner was had in the cool, hip part of town. From there it was a ride on the Coors Light bus to the After-Party. I wasn’t much in the partying mood since our flight was at 5:40am the next morning, so I opted out of the bus ride. But based on my experience back at the hotel, I should have partied.
When I got to my room, my key didn’t work. After three different keys, assistance from the clerk, the master key, the “real” key, me lying on the floor for two hours out front of my room, calling the manager, and finally calling in a maintenance worker to work, they literally used a crowbar and destroyed my door in order to get it open. I finally got to bed by 11:30pm and got up bright and early at 3am to catch our plane back to Tampa.
Upon arriving at Customs at Vancouver Airport at 4:30am, we were expecting another hassle. But pleasantly to our surprise, we actually dealt with U.S. Customs, where we were simply asked what we were doing there and then told to proceed. That was it. We got on the plane home and didn’t have to talk to another Customs person upon landing in Salt Lake City. America! F**K YEAH!
Thanks
Every time we work with DC I always feel like we’re overly kissing their asses, but I’ll say it again…they sure do it right. On top of donating $10,000 to the City of Vancouver to benefit the Vancouver Skate Plaza, they took great care of all of the skaters with a fun-ass event, free gear, and a very proper purse, all with several members of their team present. Paul Machnau and Sandro from Color, thank you very much for stepping in and judging with the SPoTlight crew. And thanks to push.ca for the support and Mild Styles for spinning the beats for the two days. See you in Chi-town for King of Chicago in October.
Ryan
Chill Cam Footage
The Bro Bowl of Vancouver
We went to that one snake run from the 70's in Vancouver today. Here's three minutes of slashing and carving.
JS Lapierre Wins DC King of Vancouver 2009
It's a short skate over a highway bridge from our hotel to the plaza where DC King of Vancouver is. Today JS Lapierre won $7,000 and DC donated $10,000 to the park for improvements.
A Small Coors Light Party Bus in Vancouver Before a 5:30am Flight
It's 3am in Vancouver and I'm waiting for a cab to the airport for a 5:30am flight. Just a few hours earlier, we attempted to drag Clements out for the DC King of Vancouver After Party and a cruise on the Coors Light party bus. What a party tornado on that thing. I managed to have just a few beers before sneaking out of the party to get a few short hours of sleep. Good bye, Vancouver. See you in three weeks for Damn Am.
Looks like the Kiddie Course isn't going to be done until tomorrow. Here's some photos from our first session on the main course and some random bar antics at Skateboard Industry Night in St. Pete: A New Course and a New Bar Scene.
You can get a fisheye's view of the completed street course on the SPoT Facebook Page. If you're a fan of SPoT on Facebook, you already know that we sometimes do special sales and give out coupon codes there. Maybe there might be a special just for Facebook fans next week? Who knows? Maybe. The kiddie course isn't done yet. Photos from that coming up in a bit.
On the Win an All Expense Paid Trip to Tampa survey thing, I should have added, "Stay away from the Skatpeark of Tampa Party Team" as one of the options to prevent your skateboard career from derailing. When you come to Tampa, it's easy to get spinning in the party tornado, especially when 200 of your homies are all in the Ybor hotels or the Ho Jo. If the sauce is not your scene or you're trying not to make it your scene, a nice hotel for a decent price just a few minutes up the highway from SPoT is Days Inn. If you're just looking for a lower price room, a cab ride from there to the tornado in Ybor is probably about $15 or so. There's also another Days Inn on Dale Mabry that's across the street from Mons Venus. They don't serve booze there, just boobies. Boobies never hurt anyone's career. Anyway, you have some time left to enter the Tampa trip giveaway which comes with a hotel room and $500 spending cash, among other things. Since you're not skating, we will see you at all the parties that you get passes to.
I went out to shoot photos of the Kiddie Course construction and spotted Kris Markovich hanging out. Here's what things look like as of now. Gotta go, I have a conference call with 25 people from Fuel TV. 25 people??? Yep, mindblowing. It's about the live HD webcast for Tampa Am. They should put this phone conference on live webcast.
If your company has products on our site, you're welcome to a free ad in our banner pool. On your company's product page, only the ad from your company will show up. On all other pages like articles, photos, and skater profiles, your ad will display randomly from the pool of ads. The size is 970x100 and no animation is allowed. You can update it as often as you want. Email them to me at rob@skateparkoftampa.com. Below are some samples from a few companies that have sent some in already.
The main street course is done and skateable today. The kiddie course should be done late tomorrow or Saturday. Check out some construction progress: Street Course Construction and Completion 2009.
If you're in St. Pete tomorrow night, join us at Durty Nelly's for an event that The Finest Skate Shop is putting on called Skateboard Industry Night, appropriately abbreviated as SIN.
The winners for the Globe Cruiser completes have been picked. I know at least one of them is a local - Yonis came out on top. See you on the Booze Cruise this Friday. The first $600 worth of sauce is all on me. The trucks on these boards are called "Slant" as in my eyes. Sick.
What song is this in this Tampa Am promo video? That one dude, you know, the guy who will be at Tampa Am 2009 on December 3 at SPoT then
on Friday, December 4, doing a show in Ybor for our 17-Year Anniversary Party at Czar. Yeah, him. Oh, and there could be a little bit of ripping skating going on.
Today the staff at SPoT got started on putting together all the skateboard parts collected in the Shop all year long. Through your discarded skate stuff and contributions from your favorite skate companies, we build as many completes as we can and give them away to as many kids as we can find in the underprivileged neighborhoods in our area. We call this charity Boards for Bros. Check out a few photos from what we did today: Boards for Bros November 2009 Assembly.
If you haven't entered the Globe Cruiser Board giveaway yet, you have one more day for that. Tomorrow, all the emails go into a spreadsheet and get sorted random. The top two get a Globe Cruiser complete. On Friday night for the Booze Cruise, the first $600 of sauce is paid for by eBay shoe nerds who bought some of my old Dunks.
One commenter suggested we change the website every year like we do the street course. As soon as we get one of me for every construction dude out there, we can make that happen. Check out some street course construction that just started. In case you don't know, we have completely changed the street course every single year since 1993 when this place was born. This is the first year we've had a slab of granite, however.
Stalker Steve took some nice chill shots at the Harvest Jam this weekend. The skate ones are sort of like the bennihanna of photography, not that mine were any good either. I know we both can do better than that. Check them out: Stalker Steve at the Harvest Jam 2009.
A known hater on the Skatepark of Tampa Facebook page also has photos from the Harvest Jam. Thanks Kirk Hallinan. I'm putting you on the next cover of Frontside Grind Magazine.
