Skatopia, Friday the 13th: A Day in Hell Article at Skatepark of Tampa

Skatopia, Friday the 13th: A Day in Hell

Posted on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 by Ely

By Ely Phillips

So the story goes the girl who drove this car backed into another car and some dudes got pissed, so they smashed her back window with a rock. The next morning the guys whose car was backed into by the Ford told some kids that it was a rental car and they could beat it to a pulp because the insurance would cover it and then they took off! Well, turns out it was not insured, nor was it even a rental car, but in fact it was the girl’s father’s commuter car. Lesson learned here: Do not bring your parent’s car to Skatopia!
Brendan straight killed the “punisher,” and the proof lies in the pudding with this frontside air!
This dude came raging down the hill on this mountain board and flew right past me and then proceeded to eat $h!t. His hat was somethin’ else as well!
Worshipping false metal idols! All praise the divine bovine!
Bruce takes out was once-a-nice-car and converted it into what is now the most ragin’ Caddy’ of all time!
Elmo found himself in the bowels of the “punisher.”
This dude and his buddies ripped a car apart and burned it piece by piece. It was the first gnarly thing I saw that night, but it would definitely not be the last!
This guy was going to drop in from the top of this fire ramp but pussed out. What a wimp.
Upside down giant tinfoil crosses = nu-metal kookage.
Flamethrowers will livin’ up just about any party. Here it just made people lose their minds.
The sign says “Enter at your own risk!!!” It is very true.
Home to two stages, the “punisher” bowl, a full pipe, an entire outdoor bowl section, the food shack, and I think home to someone that lives under the “punisher,” too. It’s basically the most epic thing ever made out of wood, screws, and coping.
As the limo burned, an ATV came flying through the field and took a turn going way too fast and flipped tossing the girl who was sitting shotgun. This is a about mid flip just after the girl was tossed. It was surreal watching it all go down, but fortunately everyone walked away from this one.
Bruce came barging up the hill in this limo and then crashed it straight into the burnt carcasses of two other cars. Then he set the limo on fire and partied on top of it. How rad is that?!?!
As if this place wasn’t crazy enough, nitrous balloons were given out for your enjoyment.
Mid-day rest session at the “punisher” in preparation for more hell raising that the night will bring.
Mike Barnes aka Darkness was trying to set up the bonfire, but this dude wasn’t helping anyone. It was 4:37 pm and the party was already over for this guy. Thanks for nothin’.
So I was shooting photos of people playing with fire when all of the sudden two dudes started beating the shit out of each other. So I walk over and shoot this photo after the fight broke up and then the dude got way bummed and tried coming after me. Luckily nothing happened, but at this moment this kid was totally sucking at life!
The crowd looked on at all of the chaos going on down in the valley where limos burned and ATVs tossed people out of them. Happy Friday the 13th!
Bruce Martin for President!
When you think of a place where there is a lot of fire, explosions, constant loud metal music, scandalous women, brews, drugs, and a wild dogs running around everywhere, it kind of sounds like a place south of heaven. Many thoughts entered my head when I was told to go to Skatopia for Friday the 13th.

Will I die? What if I get shot? I hope know one steals my $h!t! I had heard plenty of gnarly things about Skatopia and I am here to tell you that everything I heard was in fact true! Many wished me good luck and to "not die" while I was there, which was certainly comforting. What the hell did I get myself into this time?

I arrived mid-day on the 13th and all appeared somewhat normal, but after passing under the arch of anarchy that read "Skatopia," $h!t hit the fan and my view of normality left me at the gate! Fireworks flew from all directions. In between sips of brews fights erupted. And anything that could possibly catch fire was set on fire! The explosions, be it fireworks or whatever else that could explode, did at all hours of the day and night with only about an hour of ceasefire. Beat to hell spray-painted cars sped around with people yelling out of them and at them, all while random objects flew at these party cars. At night the fireworks raged on while sessions in the “punisher” bowl got heated.

Bruce Martin killed it along with his son Brendan, who had gnarly frontside and backside airs. Watching father and son rip the bowl a new one was quite an epic scene.

There are really no words that can fully describe Skatopia on Friday the 13th, so with this short summary I lead you to the photos that recount all of the mayhem, destruction, and other forms of debauchery I witnessed along the way.

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