Concrete Wave Fall 2010 Issue

Vol.9 No.2 FALL 2010

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12 CONCRETE WAVE FALL 2010

24 EDITORIAL

28 LETTERS

32 NOTEWORTHY

36 OLD MAN ARMY SPOTLIGHT

40 FREESTYLE RETURNS TO EARTH

42 THE ‘FISH REPORT

44 ARTIST PROFILE

46 DREGS OF THE EARTH

52 PHOTO SECTION

92 IGSA REPORT

CONTENTS

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Vol. 9 No. 2 FALL 2010

PUBLISHER/EDITOR Michael Brooke • [email protected]

SENIOR EDITOR Blair Watson

ART DIRECTOR Mark Tzerelshtein • MarkintoshDesign.com

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Buddy Carr

DOWNHILL EDITOR Jon Caften

PHOTO EDITORS Jon Huey | Dan Bourqui

QUIVERS EDITOR Dave Hackett

IGSA WORLD CUP EDITOR Marcus Rietema

SLALOM/FREESTYLE Richy and MariaEDITORS Carrasco

STREET EDITOR/WRITER Marcus Bandy | [email protected]

CORRESPONDENTS Jim Kuiack

INTERN Sydney Goldberg

LATIN AMERICA, SPAIN Diana Gracida | Pablo CastroAND PORTUGAL

AUSTRALIA David Pang | William Fonseca | Nick Sable

I.T. DEPT. HEAD Rick Tetz of CalStreets.com

COPY EDITOR Jonathan Harms

HEAD OFFICE 1136-3 Center StreetSuite 293Thornhill, Ontario L4J 3M8ph: 905.738.0804

SKATESHOP DISTRIBUTION Indaba GroupPO Box 1895, Carlsbad, CA [email protected]: 760.722.4111

CONTRIBUTORS (In order of appearance): Jeff Nass, Dan Bourqui, Hugh Holland,

Pep Williams, Brandon Gasaway, JaNika, J. Bo, Jim Iseri, Deville Nunes, Dave McCann,

Hector Valle, Bernie Garcia, OMA, Steve Aycock, Terry Synnott, 440, Jack Keeler,

JR Hernandez, Jenna Synnott, George Peterson, Rima Suqi, Kurt Hurley, Dave Dahm,

Kimathi Smith, Chris Vanderyajt, Alex Lyngass, Kirk Ciaglaski, Jon Steele

concretewavemagazine.comConcrete Wave is published by North of La Jolla Inc.

Subscriptions (5 issues) are US$26 FIRST CLASS or CAN$26 (US$38 outside NorthAmerica). Address change? Mag not arriving? Email us... don’t go postal. We can sort it out.

[email protected]. 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 [email protected] before you submit anything. We are looking

for a variety of stories and images as long as they are skate related.

COVER: For cover credits see Editorial page.

OPENING SPREAD Shane Borland. Photo: Deville Nunes

Distributed by

ph: 416.754.3900 f: 416.754.4900Printed in CanadaISSN 1708-3338

Canada Post Publication. Agreement number 40671108

TM

WELCOME TO THE FINE PRINT: As I write this, Concrete Wave is halfway through the VansWarped Tour. Thanks to the tremendous support of our sponsors, we were able to launch Devin Horn-beek on the road for all 43 dates. Our Passport Program drove traffic to the not-for-profit area. Folks whoparticipated in the program wound up winning their share of more than $150,000 worth of prizes. Nextyear we plan to make the program even better. I want to personally thank Devin for his unwavering ded-ication. He is one amazing guy. The Warped Tour can be grueling, but Devin handles it all with ease.We are fortunate to have him. We are also very fortunate to be working with some of the best folks inthe entertainment business. Allison Skiff and Sarah Baer of 4Fini and Kevin Lyman, the co-founder ofWarped Tour, have been tremendous to work with. Their support and encouragement have been simplyincredible. I could fill hundreds of pages about my experiences with the Warped Tour. Suffice it to say,it gets people stoked about music. They wind up having a great time and get a huge bang for their buck!That’s a great business model. So, where does that leave skateboarding? Well, as I have alluded to onmany occasions, the act of skateboarding is still healthy. The business side, however, is mixed. Thereare pockets of great success and pockets of real weakness. Skateboarding always reinvents itself, andwe are and will be there to document that change. Allow me one final indulgence here at the Fine Print.I would be remiss if I didn’t thank Buddy and Traci Carr of Indaba Distribution for putting up with an on-slaught of product (Warped Tour prizes) that filled their warehouse down in Oceanside. Their patiencewith me over the years has been severely tested, and I fear it might be tested yet again. You see, I’vejust learned that Skullcandy has shipped a pallet of headphones to give away at the Crossroads showin August down in San Diego. Devin, I am going to need your clone!

FALL 2010 CONCRETE WAVE 19

EDITORIAL


elcome to our first-ever Photo Annual. I sense we’relong overdue for this type of issue, and I’m sure you’llenjoy the wide variety of photographs. Every year we

publish four covers for the buyer’s guide, but I felt that amountwould not be sufficient for this issue. So I came up with the ideaof publishing eight unique covers. Originally I was going to usethe headline “Eight is Enough” for this editorial. Then I real-ized that eight might not be enough and that next year I mighthave to exceed this amount. (My printer, however, might haveother thoughts!) So for now, I’ll just say that we’re proud to coversuch a wide range of skateboarding and skaters.

Concrete Wave is extremely fortunate to work with some of thebest photographers in action sports. We truly appreciate their ef-forts and dedication. We’re not sure where some of the imagesfound on these pages will wind up. Some might appear on schoollockers, on the walls of skate shops or on refrigerator doors. Orpages might just stay together, perfectly bound for a future gen-eration of skaters. But no matter what happens, know that wehave it covered!

Enjoy the issue,Michael Brooke, Publisher/Editor

WWEHAVECOVERED

ITAJ KohnPhoto: J. Bo

Justin OrtizPhoto: JaNika

Brian KubisPhoto: Brandon Gasaway

Jay AdamsPhoto: Pep Williams

Jay AdamsPhoto: Pep Williams

Solo. Photo: Hugh HollandKenter Canyon Elementary, October 1976

Bruno PassosPhoto: Dan Bourqui

Levi HuffmanPhoto: Jeff Nass

28 CONCRETE WAVE FALL 2010 CONCRETEWAVEMAGAZINE.COM

RIVERBED EDEd Economy, notorious “Riverbed Ed.” My earliestmemory of Ed was at the San Gabriel riverbed. Edused to do flyaways at us, grab our boards and letthem go down the wall into the water, and of coursewe would have to go chasing after them. Ed did thisto me twice. On the third time I grabbed his boardand let it go into the water. I mustered up the forti-tude to do this. I said to him, “How does it feel? Yadid it to me twice!” He looked at me in total disgustand went chasing after his board. The next time Isaw Ed (I must have gained his respect) he asked,“Hey! How’s it going?” I said, “Fine. Let’s skate!”After that Ed helped me out with my lines in theriverbed and I became a better skater thanks to him.We became mutual acquaintances, probably out ofrespect for each other. I just wanted to say to Ed,“Thanks for helping me to be a better skater, andthanks for the fond memories.”

Brad S.Grand Junction, Colo.

GOLDEN AGE REDUXI have never seen the Cars. I have seen ElvisCostello when Huey Lewis and the News (minusHuey) was his backup band. (That would be Clover– Ed.) I do not know about the rest of the universe,but here in New Jersey the longboard world is onfast forward. The Rutgers Longboard Club had apush race. We expected 30 people. More than 100showed. The race was won by none other than KingSolomon from Bustin. Original Skateboards cannotmake boards fast enough. My friends that own skateshops are losing money because they cannot keepthe big sticks in stock. Yes, we are losing shops thatcater to street skating alone, and yes, sales are slowon the bricks-and-mortar level. [But] overall thelongboard population is growing, fueled by old guyslike me and young guys with families. People likemyself that were around for the golden age that arenot interested in landing a flight of stairs (not thatwe could), and younger guys who can, but who aremoving out of their 20s and have to show up forwork in the morning are not wanting to give uppushing wood. Thanks for all your hard work atConcrete Wave. It is appreciated…

Andy T.

THE EYES HAVE IT – Letter of the MonthTurning 50 makes you look at things a little bit dif-ferently. I got married five years ago to a fantasticwoman and we’ve had two children since then. Amortgage, job, responsibilities to your family,health problems with my parents, thinking aboutyour kids’ future: Life at times looks intimidating.

About the time I met my wife I had gotten backinto skateboarding after 25 years off the board. Ihooked up with the Downhillbillies in N.C. and theskating fire was stoked once again. I attended sev-eral of their jams and worked the registration tableat the Dixie Cups that followed. I spent a lot of myfree time skating cones and getting ready for races.My wife is a saint and put up with me talking aboutskating, timed me when I practiced and picked upafter me when I was working on my boards.

Something always seemed to get in the waywhen it came time to race, though. Sometimes itwas an injury, sometimes it was a financial thing,sometimes there just wasn’t vacation time left atwork. The urge to skate calmed and fell to thewayside. I would receive my issue of ConcreteWave and would longingly look at the pictures ofthe races I’d love to be at. But the desire I had forracing had always been supplanted by somethingstronger: the love for my wife and kids.

I never was the skate punk that many weregrowing up in the ’70s. Skateboarding was my lifethen, and I spent three years in the ditches of El Paso,Tex. I didn’t want to do anything else but drive out toa ditch with my friends and spend all day skating it. Icame from a military family, so I was pretty straitlacedand law-abiding. I did get chased by the MPs severaltimes for skating where I shouldn’t, but that wasabout the extent of my lawlessness. I sometimes feltlike an outcast among the skaters because I wasn’t asocial outcast like they were.

I enjoy my life even if I only get to skate everynow and then. I look at all the new equipment inConcrete Wave and think about how cool it wouldbe to have the latest slalom or ditch setup. But dia-pers are more important than new wheels right now.

My 3-year-old son Charley loves anything withwheels on it. He has a ton of Hot Wheels and bigtrucks. But he will throw down all those toys whenI break out his skateboard. We walked around

Woody’s Halfpipe Board Shop in Atlanta a monthago and he pointed at almost every board in thereand said “Charley’s skateboard!” My sessions withhim right now consist of us pushing around our 30’x 40’ garage. To me they are the best skate sessionsI’ve ever had and would rather do that than any race.When I look at his face when we’re skating I see meso many years ago. He’s got that look in his eyes…

Gary S.

YOUNG AGAINI’ve been singing CW’s praises for some time now(actually, since I picked up my first issue), but now Ihave a new reason to extend a sincere thanks. A fewweeks ago I picked up the latest issue, brought ithome and set it on the counter with intentions ofcracking it open once I had finished packing for myrecent work hitch on the north slope of Alaska.While stuffing the last of my work gear in my bags Iknocked the issue off the counter, only to have it fallopen to the article “Which Came First, the DrainageDitch or the Skatepark?” My first thought was,“Hmmm, that background sure looks familiar.” Sureenough, it was the Franklin Mountains of El Paso,my home growing up – not to mention the home ofall the streets I learned to skate on as a 9-year-old.Then I saw a ghost from that same childhood, in thename Paul Zimmerman, co-author of the article.After finishing the article and discovering that myfriend was still skating and heading up the El PasoSkateboard Association, I knew things had come fullcircle – thanks to Concrete Wave! I contacted Paul,reminded him of our teenage exploits on boards andwas given a treasure trove of memories in return.Paul and I discussed common friends and riding ter-rain, including two skateparks and a ramp or two weshredded in the late ’70s, and his website even hadpictures that I have been searching for and ones thatI never knew existed! Needless to say, I was over-whelmed and am still smiling weeks later. Evenbetter, I was finally able to show my kids where it allbegan for me…and where it’s headed for them.Thank you so much for the memories, Michael. Ihaven’t felt this young in a long time!

Stoked at 46,David V.

Anchorage, Alaska

Venice Beach skatepark. Photo: Dave McCann

Letter of the month receives a prize pack from Original Skateboards


The 30” Rocket with Fiberskin deck is especiallyfast and tight-turning because the pre-cured ceramicfiber outer skins on the five-ply maple core return en-ergy back to every pump. Besides increasing yourspeed, it helps dampen road vibration and increasewheel grip.

Fractals are graphic representations of equations,giving us a tangible glimpse into the mystery of math-ematics. The 33” Fraktal reveals a myriad of ridingpossibilities with its classic pool mold and super-widetemplate. It’s the shortboard with soft wheels we’ve allmade, but with the power of the pump from our trucks.

The 1970s were an era of ambitious develop-ments in high-performance surf and skate equip-ment, and Carver feels a similar progression is onceagain blossoming. In honor of that time, they’vemade the 35” Diamond, featuring a candy applegreen metal-flake graphic on a just-right mid-sizedtemplate based on a classic single-fin surfboard.carverskateboards.com

SECTOR 9Sector 9 introduces StealthSlide Technology - PatentPending. After much discus-sion with their downhill teamSector 9 decided that it washigh time that function meetfashion. With cuffs thatdouble as slide gear, theirlatest line of apparel has theability to go from hanging outto drifting corners and back again in seconds. Oneteam rider involved in the testing, Louis Pilloni, hasalready let it be known that he'll be ditching his slidegloves. sector9.com

BUDDY CARR SKATEBOARDS

In Italian, L’ESIGENZA DELLA VELOCITÀsimply means “The Need for Speed.” The latestmodel from Buddy Carr Skateboards once again fea-tures graphics by Antonio Carusone. Features in-clude a flush-fit drop-mount truck system anddual-core wheels with sanded riding surfacemounted onto Paris 180mm trucks. The Velo is 10”wide by 38” long with a solid 28” wheelbase forhigh-speed stability. buddycarrskateboards.com

LADIES OF LONGBOARDINGWe know many of you willbe intrigued by this cal-endar, and it’s for a greatcause. For more info visit ladies-of-longboarding.com.

ZIP ZAP APPConcrete Wave’s iPhoneApp – Zip Zap is slowlybut surely gaining a fol-lowing. The free app al-lows you to find aspecific skate brand viazip code (or postal code,if you live in Canada!).Just visit the App store.Skate shops, if youhaven’t registered yet,please visit concrete-wavemagazine.com andfollow the instructions.

LOCALS ONLYOne afternoon in 1975, ayoung photographernamed Hugh Hollanddrove up Laurel CanyonBoulevard in Los Angelesand encountered skate-boarders carving up thedrainage ditches along theside of the canyon. Imme-diately transfixed by theirgrace and athleticism, heknew he had found an amazing subject. For the nextthree years Holland never tired of documenting skate-boarders surfing the streets of California and beyond.“Locals Only” is published by AMMO Books. ISBN-13: 978-1-9344-2947-1. ammobooks.com

CHIEF COAST 2 COAST

Chief Coast 2 Coast is a 3,000 mile cross-countryskateboard trek in honor of Shayne Carlson’s father,William “Chief” Carlson, who died in Afghanistan in2003, and to all service members who sacrifice fortheir country. To donate visit chiefcoast2coast.org.All donations go to the O.A.S.I.S. Foundation and theSpecial Operations Warrior Foundation. Picturedabove are Chief Coast 2 Coast members ErinRhodes, Shayne "OC" Carlson, Kris Wahl and AlexSquadrito, in Springerville, Ariz.

EARTHWINGWith every deckthat Earthwingdrops, a wheelfrom Superballs isdesigned to workwith it. The newFloaters are de-signed primarilyfor the Supermodel 38” and 40” twin drop-through.The urethane is a racing formula designed to grip,with a fast rolling speed and actually rebounding

ARBORThe Arbor Collective is proud todeliver the new Bamboo Hybridskateboard as part of the Con-crete Series featuring the art-work of renowned artist DaveKinsey. His blend of urbanlandscape and the human con-dition creates a striking imageon one of Arbor’s best-sellingdecks. arborcollective.com

KHIROKhiro Bob hasbeen workingon this projectfor well over ayear and hassaid it is thet o u g h e s tproject he hastackled so far. The Khiro team is comprised ofskaters riding a wide variety of terrain. Naturallythese riders are always modifying their equipmentand setups to tackle any environment that pres-ents itself. The Khiro Ultimate Custom Kit ensuresthat skaters have exactly the right equipment theyneed. khiroskateboardproducts.com

TUNNEL

Adding to their skateboard line, Tunnel is proud to re-lease the Tunnel “Old School” longboard, a skateboardperfect for conquering hills or cruising the sidewalk.The 9.5” x 38” deck combines old-school styling withmodern performance. tunnelskateboards.com

CARVER

Carver, designers of an extraordinary tight-turningtruck, have released eight new boards for 2010.Here is a sampling of four.

The 29” Swallow has a unique combination of beingboth short and wide. The shorter wheelbase makespumping this board on the flats just effortless, but theextra width and concave gives you the comfort of acruiser, with the versatility of a fully functional kicktail.

NOTEWORTHYP r o d u c t s , P e o p l e , E v e n t s


faster through rough spots. Mixing the best grippy racing thane with a rounded-lipped, offset freeriding shape creates a wheel that grips, slides and bombs, anddoes all of that quietly and willingly. earthwingskateboards.com

NEW SAN JOSE, PUERTO RICO SKATEPARKBy Hector VallePhotos by Bernie Garcia

A new “world class” skatepark has just been completed in the small rural com-munity of San Jose, Puerto Rico. This park was originally conceptualized back in1976, thanks to a visionary by the name of Paquito Amador, who built the very firstscale model (Maquette) of the “concrete skatepark to be,” replete with bowls, snakeruns and vertical terrain, well ahead of its time. The Birdstown Team (Jimmy Roca,Clemente Barreto, Arnaldo Garcia and others) began raising funds and organizingactivities the same year to bring attention to the project at local and state level totarget federal funds in order to develop the project.

The bid to build theskatepark was won byrenowned world-wideskatepark builderStephan Hauser (fromPlaced to Ride Inc.),who took considerablepersonal interest in theproject and did theseemingly impossiblewith the scarce fundsthat were left aftertearing down the olda b o v e - g r o u n dskatepark. Stephan did an outstanding job, transforming the plans to polishedconcrete and making the dream a reality. The park was completed in the springof 2010, and riders from all over could not wait for it to open. The view of the At-lantic Ocean from the park is simply stunning, and the cool trade winds keepriders and spectators comfortable. Camping areas are available nearby, and someof the best surfing beaches in the northwest area of Puerto Rico are within 15minutes. Visit surfcamppr.net or ptrpr.com or call (787) 955-5069.

Devin Hornbeek, Tour Man-ager for the Vans WarpedTour/Concrete Wave Pass-port Program, hands out aprize to The Blue Guy inMontreal. Look for a full re-port on the tour in our No-vember issue.

CORRECTIONS:Mile High Mark’s website was incorrectly listed in the Readers’ Choice Awards.It is milehighskates.com.

NOTEWORTHYP r o d u c t s , P e o p l e , E v e n t s

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The face of the Charleston scene is changing... it’s growing. The old-schoolscene is melding with the younger crowd. It’s natural, there’s no angst.The traditional is being reinforced and strengthened while the new crew

looks on with respect for where the older rollers have been. We’re all learningfrom each other and we like it.

Talented builders/artists are creating the coolest DIY seen anywhere:wood and concrete and steel mated into structures that make you need tofeel the board under your feet. New spots are everywhere and more arein the works.

Out-of-towners are rolling in with cameras and hookups. They’re reporting what they see andit’s getting attention. We’re booming!

The local crowd is tight and getting tighter. It’s a great time to be here. Every day is somethingnew and summer is getting hotter. Parties, bowl jams and epic sessions are the norm, not the ex-ception. Look for more OMA stories and spotlights at oldmanarmy.com. ¶

Jon Horne relaxing at the Blue Tile Lounge.

Ed Peck, backside grind at the Bieringville BowlEd Peck, backside grind at the Bieringville Bowl.

Bob Hart enjoying the cool breeze at the Blue Tile Lounge.

Matt Allen casting one out at the fishing hole.

on Charleston, S.C.SPOTLIGHT

TEXT AND PHOTOSBY STEVE AYCOCK



www.golongboarding.ca

S&J Sales Co. Ltd.Skateboard Distribution since 1985. • 905-420-5001 east • 604-244-2361 west • [email protected]

Abec11

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Jessup Grip Tape

Kebbek

Khiro

Loaded

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Paris Truck Co.

Pimp Grip

Randal Trucks

Retro

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Tracker Trucks



Skate spots are few and far between out inthe Iraqi desert. But that didn’t stopfreestyler Keith Butterfield from fash-

ioning his own private skate spot out of two metalAir Force pallets during a recent deployment.

A freestyle pro during the early ’80s, Keithstarted skating again a few years ago andquickly picked up where he left off.When hewas deployed to Iraq for seven months in 2008,Keith, a company first sergeant in the U.S.Marines, brought his freestyle deck along.

A far cry from the hustle and bustle of theSanta Cruz boardwalk he grew up skating, the8-foot-by-8-foot platforms out in the desertnonetheless provided Keith with the necessaryspace to skate during his time off from super-vising a company of U.S. Marine engineers,overseeing everything from their pay, healthcare, equipment, training and safety.

Keith’s situation illustrates one of the greatthings about freestyle: It can be done just aboutanywhere – the basketball courts up the street, aparking lot in the business park, the garage of yourhouse or on an open section of your local skatepark.

Flatland freestyle exists as a niche in skate-boarding. Boards tend to be smaller than typicalpopsicle boards (although some prefer standardstreet shapes) and wheels slightly wider. Thetricks incorporate all edges of the board. Andthe dedicated freestyle skater tends to skatealone to perfect his or her craft. In some ways,this solitude fosters a breeding ground for cre-ativity as isolated skaters look inward for inspi-ration and develop their own approach.

But contests play a big role in helping bringskaters together, and in September one of thebiggest flatland freestyle events in modern his-tory is set to take place in Philadelphia. Morethan 100 freestyle skaters representing morethan 10 countries are expected to turn out forthe 2010 World Championships of FreestyleSkateboarding on Sept. 18 and 19 at the RizzoRinks. The contest, which will include pro, am-ateur, women’s and masters’ divisions, also fea-tures a $5,000 pro purse generously put up bytitle sponsor Powell Skateboards.

But didn’t freestyle die way back in 1990?Those skating freestyle remember that time

well. It really was the dark ages for freestyle.Manufacturers ceased production of freestyleequipment, freestyle pros lost their sponsors,and the few remaining freestyle skaters eitherswitched to using street decks or resorted tocutting their own boards.

The change afoot in freestyle could be seenby anyone skating at both the 1990 and 1991NSA amateur championships in Tucker, Ga.The 1990 sponsored freestyle division featured

30-plus skaters and a high level of skating fromthe likes of top amateurs like Henry Candioti,Rob Rodrigues, Matt Wood, Ben Mullen, MikeKinney and Dan Gallagher. But by the fol-lowing year, equipment proved harder to get,sponsors dropped their freestyle riders, and thefreestyle field dwindled to 11 skaters, and thatincluded a few comedians from the vert divisionsuch as Colin McKay and Bill Weiss.

During the fall of 2001, freestyle awoke fromits 10-year hibernation when Bill Robertson,Bob Staton and Stefan “Lillis” Åkesson

FREESTYLER E T U R N S T O E A R T H2010 World Freestyle Championships Expected to Draw International FieldBY TERRY SYNNOTT

Japan’s Moichi Suzuki. Photo: 440

coordinated the first new-era freestyle contestin a warehouse in San Francisco.

Since that time, new companies catering tofreestyle have emerged, and new and veteranskaters have breathed new life into it. The In-ternet continues to provide the lifeline foreveryone to stay in touch, organize events,share videos and learn they are not alone, evenif they are skating by themselves in Clearwater,Fla., or Skokloster, Sweden.

But in a time of Maloof Money Cups,Mountain Dew Tours and the X Games, flat-land freestyle skating stands as a truly inde-pendent, grass-roots pursuit. Even many theformer freestylers who rule much of today’sskateboard industry still won’t touch it.

Lance Littlefield, a ’70s-generation poolskater from Newport, R.I., calls freestyle the

punkest type of skating. “Even other skatershate it,” he said.

Yet freestyle continues to gain new practi-tioners. Some find their way to the scene viaYouTube or the Rodney Mullen tricks of TonyHawk’s Pro Skater video game and learn morethrough a few of the dedicated forums and net-working sites.

Then others like Bert Mathieson remain un-derground, skating regularly and pushing thelevel of skating upward, all the while unaware ofmuch of the happenings with other freestyleskaters. A naturopathic doctor in New Hamp-shire, Bert skated the early ’80s on an oldfreestyle model by Hammer, a regional brandlong out of business even at that time. Now 47,Bert continues to learn new tricks and do movesothers can’t do such as double handstand kick-flips, fakie handstand tic-tacs and rolling Englishhandstands to regular handstand shove-its out.

On the opposite end of the spectrum isKilian Martin, the Spanish freestyle phenomwho spent the better part of last year skating inCalifornia and most recently stirring up the In-ternet world with his Brett Novak-producedvideo offerings.

Then there are the current world champion,Günter Mokulys, and Mike Heller, skating fortourists and money on the streets of Berlin andthe Venice Beach boardwalk, respectively.

Kevin Harris, the famed Bones Brigader andowner of Ultimate Skateboard Distribution inCanada, brings some star power to modern-dayfreestyle. Kevin remains an amazing skater andall-around nice guy who has never wavered inhis love of freestyle, traveling all the way toTokyo for last year’s world championships.

Some of the younger skaters like DarranNolan, Joe Flemke and Sebastian Heupel areraising the bar with their technical mastery,while legends like Richy Carrasco and RussHowell continue to master spin tricks likefew others.

Philadelphia skater AJ Kohn, the organizerof the upcoming world championships, and JJO’Donnell consistently organize events, per-form demos and work to incorporate freestyle-inspired tricks in all of their skating. AJ alsoruns Gear for Groms, a nonprofit inner-cityafter-school skateboarding program for stu-dents in his home city.

Japan and Brazil remain some of the mostactive hotbeds of freestyle activity, with scenesmade up of new and veteran skaters. Per Can-guru and Rene Murabayashi Shigueto lead theBrazilian scene, while Masahiro and ToshiakiFujii and Moichi Suzuki are at the forefront ofJapanese freestyle.

The European scenes are being shaped byveterans like Stefan Åkesson, Yoyo Schulz andChristian Heise as well as newer freestylers likeMario Steinemann and Stefan Albert.

Several freestyle-friendly companies and on-line shops exist to serve those looking forequipment. They include Sk8Kings, Decom-posed, Never Enough, Reverse Freestyle, LittleWheels, One Skateboards and Mode Skate-boards. Other manufacturers such as Powell,Tracker Trucks, Oust Bearings, Khiro Skate-board Products and Vision Street Wear supportriders with gear.

These are all good signs for the state offreestyle.

The Philadelphia contest site also will fea-ture a trade show area for companies, skateshops and affiliate organizations. All proceedsfrom the rental of booth space will go to sup-port the Franklin’s Paine Skatepark Fund tofund the creation of free public skate areas inthe greater Philadelphia area.

For more information on the 2010 WorldChampionships of Freestyle Skateboarding,check out phillyfreestyle.com. ¶

Terry Synnott is a U.S.-based freestyle skateboarderand owner of Mode Skateboards. He also skates in ashow for Cirque du Soleil at Madison SquareGarden in New York City.


Keith Butterfield. Photo: Jack Keeler

Bill Robertson. Photo: JR Hernandez

Terry Synnott. Photo: Jenna Synnott

It’s hot, like it’s supposed to be in late summer, and it’snight-skating season. Best way to beat back the doldrumsfrom hot weather and testy little bastards in security guardsuits is to get all aboriginal on ’em. Use the golden light ofdusk and the cool nights to rip, shred and otherwise skatethe hell out of wherever you’re at.

Enough of that fluffy crap, we got things to tell you about. Asyou subscriber types are just gettin’ to read the best part ofthe whole trip this month, theASR is getting underway down inSan Diego. That’s right: theskate industry, shop owners andabout four thousand bikinimodels sharing 22 swimsuit de-signs are clogging up the goodbars and parking garages whilstthey plan out who’s gonna makea million on designer shoelacesand – for some of ‘em, check outthe one part of this fiesta wherethere’s stuff going down. It’s the“Crossroads” core skate showthat got despoiled by longboardsin the Element booth, actuallongboarders and a cadre of crazed “electric skaters” thattried their best to mow down innocent children back in Feb-ruary. Back with more action, more skating and more of youkooky longboarders than ever, this is still the bet for action at“the show.” If you’re not there, flush the toilet, go online andcheck it on the ‘Fish for whatever we can report before we’rebanned, kneecapped by the fauxcore or both.

So the ‘Fish Report has some catch o’ the day for ya sinceour last one. As you can read elsewhere in CW, the Col-orado Kid ripped it at MFOS, edged out K-Rimes and addedanother trophy on the rack back in July. Zak Maytum wentout after the race and bought another old red Mustang tocelebrate in true hillbilly manner. That’s the new school,but when the Slalom Nats went down it was old-school

speed and pros like Barker, Pappas & Lynn Kramer joinedby insaniacs like Joe McLaren and Cat Young on top of theirpodiums after. A week after that, IGSA’s World Champi-onships in Almatrieb. Kevin Reimer smoked the DH final totake the Worlds for the second year in a row and BrianneDavies ruled women’s speedboarding again! Check the‘Fish and IGSAworldcup.com to follow the rest the WorldCup tour.

Worth doing: How about theCathlamet DH Corral, about 90miles out of PDX? 3 days of DH,Push, Slide and Slalom, Aug 27-29. Full-on beer gardens, rockbands and more. On that note,why not just hit Middleton, CT’sPub Run the first Weds. of Sep-tember? Show up, meet someskaters, roll into town and sudsit. Streetluge, speedboard and in-line? Yeah, it’s IGSA’s AustrianNats in Oberwang, Sept. 11-12and you know they’ve got beer…Last taste: The infamousBroadway Bomb is in NYC this Oc-

tober. This thing is off the hook with skaters from around theworld now. Join the Earthwing crew and rip the ultimateurban outlaw skate!

Feed the Quiver! Did you score the Fresh ‘Fish wheels, ourGunmetal Silver trucks, or the Abec 11 Oops freeride wheels?Aside from any and every shop that matters scorin’ you thedeals on the ‘Fish, we’ve been ripping out the exclusive dealson gear, too. Just gotta act fast when they hit! What’s on inSeptember? I dunno yet! Check the site for all the details onevents, gear, where to skate, how to hypnotize cops to let youskate hills, board-building and about a thousand other waysto fill the time you’re not skating. Post your vids and slap afew more of those ‘Fish stickers at the skatepark. Now, flipthe mag shut, get outside and skate something new!

Late SummerDazed

A shot out of Matt Arderne’s winning ‘Fish vid, now on Evolutions 6.


Pintail

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ARTIST PROFILE

“I channel a lot of destructive energy into my art. Ilove to scar, break and burn the wood. I’ll carve witha chainsaw, ax, chisels, fire…anything.” If thatsounds a bit destructive, that’s because it is. “Itstems right from punk rock and wanting to expressmyself in a basic and direct way. Breaking thingscan be so satisfying, and if you channel that into apiece of art, you can get a constructive, creative re-sult. But that’s just the first part. After that, layersof color and polish are added and parts are rejoinedwith stitching and steel. The forms, colors and tex-tures are carefully and deliberately considered untilthe work comes together.”

George grew up in Bishop, Calif. in the early’80s. He currently lives and works in the moun-tains of western North Carolina. He’s a self-taught, working-class artist and family man.

Influenced by artists like Andy Goldsworthyand David Nash, George gives wood sculpting hisown twist. His most recent series, “Lingo,” in-volves two things close to his heart: skate-boarding and environmental conservation. “Thisis my first series to use all recycled wood,” hesays. “I’ve been skating for 30-plus years, so it’sreally cool to be able to incorporate this motif intomy work and celebrate the skateboard as themodern icon it is.” George is always on the prowlfor used decks, to the point where he’ll even buythem and pay for shipping (which might explainthe starving-artist thing). “I love getting packagesof old boards,” he says. “Some of them have thefunniest s**t written on them; most of them arebeat to hell.” If you want to send him yours, e-mail [email protected]. Check out hiswork at circlefactory.com. ¶

George PetersonBY RIMA SUQI



Biker SherlockPhoto: David Dahm

FALL2010 CONCRETE WAVE 47

All of us love to skateboard. That’s probably why youare reading this right now. The new boards and theyoung guns are pushing the envelope and have a lot

of talent and great ideas, but few really know where or whythe growth of longboarding originated in the ’90s. Fewknow how Dennis Telfer and the boys at Sector 9 took achance and acted on a great idea and how that idea affectedus all. Most of you don’t know how that great idea affecteda splinter group of friends with long hair and crazy nick-names, and how that group created the most decorateddownhill team in X Games history. I don’t think manypeople would dispute that Biker Sherlock and all those XGames and Gravity Games races that he won put downhillracing back on the map. However, Biker is just part of thefollowing story, in which none of the names have beenchanged to protect the innocent.

THE ’70S/’80SWhen you look back at things, it’s funny how chance en-counters and decisions based upon interests carve out yourpath in life. Friends you make along the way will influenceyou and sometimes have a lot to do with who you are. Mybest friend Jono Moore and I lived to surf and skate. Wewere also into music, and the band we followed was calledthe Dixie Dregs. This story is not about them, but they arean interesting part of it. We were the Florida boys alongwith Chris Coursen, Mullet, Nicko and the McDougallbrothers. The main thing we all had in common was we allwanted to surf good waves. California, the mecca of surfing,was calling us like Christians to Jerusalem to go and findour destinies. We all talked about going there, but Chrisand Jono were the first to make the escape.

At the same time in California there was a tight-knitgroup of guys that pretty much did the same things as we

did: surf, skate, party andlisten to the Dixie Dregs.These guys were in the skatemagazines: Brad Strandlund,Wally Inouye, Bill Caster,Chris Strople, Sonny Millerand Tom Boyle. We looked upto them while trying to learnfrom them. They had madefriends with Chris Coursen atDel Mar Skate Ranch, andone fateful night whilehanging out at the infamousBrown House overlooking theocean just to the north ofCardiff Reef, the connectionwas made. The Dixie Dregswere playing on the stereo and Coursen said, “You have tomeet my friend Jono. He’s in Northern California now, andhe lives for the Dregs’ music.” A phone call was made, andthree days later Jono showed up to party, surf and skate withthese guys. They became instant friends, with Dregsrecordings providing background music to the nonstop funand frivolity these characters enjoyed.

A couple of years later, in the early ’80s, the Dixie Dregshad scheduled another tour through California. Brad calledJono in Northern California and told him he should comedown and join the boys at the San Diego show. Afterwardthey decided to follow the band up the coast and see everyshow in California. They ended up three hours north ofSan Francisco in the town where Jono had set up residence.Blown away by the insane surf, they hung out in Nor Calfor several days before blasting back to the Brown House toresume their routine of surfing and skating together as a

Of The EarthTHE DREGS LONGBOARD COMPANY STORYBY KURT HURLEY


group. The Brown House was across from Pipes, a surf spotnorth of Cardiff Reef. It served as the meeting spot for theguys during this period. This time was significant becausefollowing the band and hanging out at the Brown Housebrought the two tribes together.

But things were changing in the skateboarding world.Street skating was becoming the new style due to all theskateparks closing. The once popular pool riders Brad,Wally and Strople were no longer getting the attention inthe magazines like they used to. Wally by this time had al-ready been putting “TEAM DREGS” on the group’s surf-boards and skateboards. The boyz had other sponsors thatwere paying them, but it was understood who was and wasnot a “Dreg.” Brad admits, “We kind of saw ourselves as theguys that really didn’t fit in anymore. We were the leftoversfrom the late ’70s era, so we were the Dregs…We were theguys who set the table for the next generation of pool riderslike Hawk and the Bones Brigade. That’s what we went withall through the ’80s: ‘TEAM DREGS.’” Soon the boyzweren’t getting paid to skate anymore, but we always re-mained a team of friends. We would go out partying everynight, having fun chasing the ladies, while during the day wesurfed and skated like fiends!

It’s hard to measure the impact Team Dregs had on skate-boarding in the ’70s and ’80s, but here are the key points.The Del Mar Skate Ranch was an important part of theDregs team story, and Wally, Strople and Curtis Hesselgravewere in on the design of the park. Ed Economy was workingthere and became a very visible Dregs member too. All theboys ripped Del Mar until the park closed in 1987.It shouldalso be noted that Brad was skating on longboards on vertconsiderably ahead of his time. Del Mar is widely consideredone of the greatest skateparks of all time. Wally, Strople andBrad were also chosen as part of the advisory design group forthe famous combi pool at Upland skatepark that was laterrecreated and is currently in the Vans park in Anaheim. Wallyprobably had the most influence on the final shape of that fa-

mous pool. Many of us were getting shots in magazines of allkinds during these years. Wally Inouye was also the mostphotographed skater in the history of SkateBoarder magazine.

THE ’90SThis next part is crucial because it brings about the formationof the Dregs Skateboard Company. Although controversial,it is factual. I would like to start out by saying that what youare about to read may seem negative in regard to RogerHickey. Please know that Roger and Biker are friends andhave been for some time. It is the interaction between thesetwo rather controversial characters that has actually influencedthe downhill skateboarding community. Roger and Bikerare largely responsible for where downhilling is today.

There is no doubt that the Dregs OG crew couldhave just ended up as a great group of friends with acommon mantra, but as it turns out the boys wouldbe injected with some new blood from a very un-likely place. In the early part of the decade a groupof friends in La Jolla were coming up with a greatidea to market long skateboards. Dennis Telfer,Steve Lake and Dave Klimkiewicz, the boys whoare now well known as Sector 9, were makinglongboards out of a house and turning people onto the ride. This house, as it turns out, is alsowhere Watson Laminates had started – those guyswere surfers too! It was definitely a different vibecompared to the street skating evolution that washappening everywhere.

One of the first boards they made was given toa New Jersey transplant by the name of MichaelSherlock, whom they all knew as “Biker”. Bikerwas a little doubtful as to how it would ride atfirst because he was really a vert rider who claimsthe Bones Brigade as his early influence. But itdidn’t take him long to see that they were on tosomething with the free surf feel of the long-boards. After one ride down the hill he washooked. With the La Jolla hills as the backdrop thevibe of longboards grew and grew, and peoplestarted to notice. A few existing skateboard compa-nies were also starting to take notice, but in generalmost skate companies were laughing at the wholeidea, especially at the trade shows.

For the most part the Dregs crew were pretty sim-ilar in a lot of ways. We’re pretty much a bunch ofmellow surfers and skaters from Florida and California.But Biker was a bit different; let’s face it, he was fromJersey. A longhaired daredevil who didn’t (and doesn’t)take s**t from anybody, he surfs big waves, skates parks andpools, rides motorcycles and even races off-road trucks. His dadwas a TV executive, who in his years of retirement has beenknown to cruise big waves on the back of a jet ski.

Around this time there were some downhill races goingon under the flag of FIGR (Federation of InternationalGravity Racers). Roger Hickey was the race director and hadgotten the attention of Jerry Madrid as well as the Sector 9crew. Jerry had been talking to OG Dreg Brad Strandlund

Team Dregs atMammoth Mountainin May 1999.Photo: David Hackett


about these races and the possibility that longboarding wasgetting bigger. Around the same time Biker, who was ridingfor Sector 9, was turned on to the races by Dennis. Heshowed up with a board, old Independent 215s, no helmetand no leathers. Biker had never been in a race before, soafter riding the hill a few times he decided to videotapeeverything the racers were doing, including their style, butespecially their tuck. The next day Biker took second placebehind Roger just by changing his tuck and duct-taping uphis windbreaker for aerodynamic purposes. There is nodoubt that he was noticed.

After a surfing trip to Indonesia, Biker returned to theFIGR races. By this time the Sector 9 guys were losing in-terest in the Roger Hickey show. They thought Roger wastrying to create some Formula One car-racing image. Bikerwasn’t digging the vibe either, but just as he was about to bailhe ran into Brad Strandlund and struck up a conversationwith him.

Biker had recognized Brad from skateboard magazinesand was stoked to meet him; After checking out what Bikerwas riding, Brad and Randal Fuller of Randal Trucks in-stantly took Biker’s board and changed his whole setup. Theyspent the whole day together and after a few runs realizedthat Biker had a lot of talent. Later they introduced him toRon Amos from UFO, Tom Mason, Mike Colabella and RatSult. Honestly, if it weren’t for meeting these guys Bikerwould have left and never come back; he was definitely notinto the vibe at the FIGR race. Reluctantly, and with reallyvery little experience, Biker made the finals that day. TomMason lent Biker his leathers to go up against Roger Hickey,Beau Brown and Perry Fisser, all of whom had boards,leathers, helmets and experience. At the start of the race thethree instantly boxed Biker in. Elbows were flying, and Bikerwasn’t having it. Being a scrapper himself, Biker clawed hisway into second place, and that’s how he finished. Soon,Biker would be disqualified for pushing past the line, whichhe felt he didn’t do. Ironically, this incident would haveeverything to do with the formation of Dregs Skateboards.

Biker went home that night and later got a call fromMichael Bream, who was running Gravity Longboards out ofhis house at that time. Hickey was riding for Gravity at theself-proclaimed World Championship, but Michael wasn’thappy about something he had heard and thought that Bikershould know about it. It seems Michael had secretly video-taped Roger describing his plan to make sure Biker did not geton the podium. After seeing the video, Biker called up Brad.Brad knew where Roger lived but convinced Biker to go tothe next race and get even that way, which turned out to be agood idea. A week later Brad called Biker and invited him togo street luging at Templin Mountain Road. Although Bikerthought luging was lame, after one run down the hill he wasthe fastest there. Nobody could figure out why. Brad askedRon Amos from UFO how Biker could be so fast. Ron, whowas considered the guru, couldn’t figure it out. Brad had afeeling that Biker could be special, and after dinner that nightthey planned their assault on the X Games.

The plan was to go to the X Games and win the street lugeto get publicity for one reason and one reason only: to put

downhill skateboarding on the map. They did not care aboutstreet luge. The only thing they needed was money for equip-ment, so they contacted a friend who said he would pay Bikerto wear his company name (a bong cleaner called Grunge Off)on his leathers. He got a luge, leathers, helmet and money totravel. By this time Perry Fisser and his wife had started E.D.I(Extreme Downhill International) because they thought it wascontroversial that Roger was running the FIGR races andwinning them. The new Dregs boys had decided to go to thenext E.D.I. race and cause a little mayhem. The Dregs hap-pened to have their pit area right next to Roger Hickey. Theywere purposely blasting their music super loud when Rogerasked them to turn it down. Biker said “No f**king way!”Word of what Biker said spread like wildfire through all thepits, and it was on. The Dregs started chanting, “Team Dregs!When in doubt take ’em out,” and they were wearing shirtsthat said “Team Dregs – No Regard for Personal Safety.”Roger was so flustered he went right up to Biker and bet him

Biker Sherlock is comfortable ridingall types of terrain.Photo: David Dahm


$1,000 that he could beat him. So they raced, and there was a lot of action. Both guys

were bumping and positioning, and when the dust settledBiker had finished first. After the race Biker started to walkback up the hill when he saw Roger coming at him. A brawlensued, and by the time it was over the only thing that wasfor sure was that Biker had won the race. He then also wonthe street luge race. The foundation had been set for thebeginning of a new era in downhill racing.

Biker had to go to North Carolina to qualify for the XGames. After successfully placing there, little did he knowthat he was on his way to a very life-changing time. The XGames proved to be a victory. The publicity that followedwas a perfect fit for the young Dregs team rider. This allseemed to be good timing for Biker to do something withall this notoriety. His dad was pushing him to do somethingother than running his bong company, and that’s when Bradsaid, “We are going to start a skateboard company.” (Ofcourse it would be called Dregs.) Brad’s idea was to get allthe boys together and have the best team, and with all this at-tention they would put downhill skateboarding on the map.

The team consisted of Cali boys Brad Strandlund, WallyInouye, Jarret “Dr. GoFast” Ewanek, Waldo Autry, RatSult, Darren “The Pharmacist” Kessing and Dane VanBommel; Jersey boys Todd “The Dragon” Lehr, “JohnnyDread” Gwiazdowski, Scott Dominick, Billy Quinn, BenLewis (Otis), Joe DeGenarro and Biker; Florida boys: Jono“The King O’ Fun” Moore, Kurt “Hurricane” Hurley,Hunter Joslin, and last but not least a spunky chick namedPamela “Pinky” Zoolalian. For the next six years DregsSkateboards were being seen on every podium at every race.Biker was in magazines, TV ads and movies and couldn’tgo anywhere without being noticed. The long-hairedmotley crew that was Dregs were being courted for bev-erage sponsorships, action figure companies and even videogame companies. But the coolest and most unforgettablepart was that we were all friends. We all traveled the world

together having a blast, and it was radical in every way. It wasn’t all fun and games after a while, though, for

Biker, who was now running the E.D.I. events and racing inthem. In a lot of ways he had become what Roger was: acontroversial race director. Finally in 2002 at the NBCGravity Games, Biker, visibly stressed from a decision thathad to be made, decided he was through. His mom askedhim if he was having fun anymore racing and runningevents, and his answer was no. He was done. E.D.I. disap-peared coincidentally with ESPN and NBC droppingdownhill racing for a more compact stadium format.

DREGS THIS CENTURYBiker and Team Dregs have accomplished exactly what theyhad set out to do. Although it may have seemed self-servingat times, Biker was giving the networks exactly what theywere asking for, a controversial, radical winner – and win-ning is what he did. Now that is all behind him, andeveryone in the industry has been reaping the benefits ofthose X Games and Gravity Games downhill races. AnotherDregs accomplishment was discovering a great hill in thestate of Washington known as Maryhill. Biker, Kurtis Headand the Dregs rode and organized the first three Maryhillraces ever at the now-famous venue.

Few outside could know how the Dregs drew inspirationfrom within and prospered as a result of having such a col-orful and talented team. But, as in life, all is not a rosegarden. Every rider was in awe of Jarret Ewanek, the geniusof the team; we all lost a great friend when he died in early2009. Another setback came when Jono “The King O’ Fun”Moore had a stroke. Happily, he is making his comeback aswe speak. Joe DeGenarro had a freak skateboarding acci-dent in 2001that scared us all because he suffered majorhead injuries that have left him largely incapacitated. Thenin 2007 Biker’s wife, Amy, broke her back riding her dirtbike in the desert, which put a serious strain on Biker’s at-tention to running the company. She is recovering slowly,and focus has returned to Dregs.

The last few years have been stressful, but through thickand thin we have stayed true to Dregs, our families andfriends. We now have a lot of little Dregs riding skateboardsthat are following in our footsteps. Thankfully, DregsLongboards and the new “Luv Yo Mutha” wheels are sellingquite well. New designs are constantly being put to the testin the La Jolla hills, and as a result the next chapter will playout with Team Dregs being an innovative player in the in-dustry once again, as well as a great source of informationfor this next generation. Team Dregs is racing again, withthe goal of teaching and promoting this crazy love we havefor skateboarding. The Dregs Family members are stilldrawn to the sea and still surf consistently. We all know thatonce you are a Dreg you will always be a Dreg. We’re Dregsof the Earth, and that suits us just fine. ¶

The Dregs family of riders would like to thank all the shops anddistributors who represent us, the boys at Sector 9, the Labedafamily, Jim at Watson Laminates, and last but not least the DixieDregs for all their inspiration.

Biker contemplateshis next move. Photo: David Dahm


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Kyle Holland, James Kelly riding switch, and Charlie Tidd.Photo: Jon Huey

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Photo: Hugh HollandExcerpted from Locals OnlyCopyright: ©2010 ammobooks.com


Photo: Hugh HollandExcerpted from Locals OnlyCopyright: ©2010 ammobooks.com


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BY MARCUS RIETEMA

The Maryhill Festival of Speed, held inGoldendale, Wash. June 30-July 4, wasthe season opener of the 2010 IGSA

World Cup Series. With the new season thereis always a lot of optimism and excitement asthe racers see how their off-season trainingand equipment changes will pan out. From thefirst practice session it was obvious the racewould be a tough battle.

After two qualifying runs, the top contendershad emerged. Kevin Reimer broke MischoErban’s year-old track record of 3:07.193 with atime of 3:06.424. Zak Maytum qualified second,Zen Shikaze third, Patrick Switzer fourth andCalvin Staub fifth. Top contenders Scoot Smith,Mischo Erban, James Kelly and Nate Langwere all sitting inside the top 10.

After running a “Repacharge Race” on Sat-urday and then a full 96-man bracket onSunday, the two semifinal heats were set. Thefirst was comprised of Reimer, Switzer, Kelly,Andrew Mercado, Calvin Staub and AndrewChapman. Reimer, Switzer and Kelly were thetop three finishers and earned a place in thefinal. The second semifinal included Maytum,Scoot, Lang, Shikaze, Joel Putrah and top junior

racer Alex Tongue. Maytum, Scoot and Putrahgrabbed the top three positions to make theirway to the finals.

In the final it was Reimer, Maytum, Switzer,Scoot, Putrah and Kelly. Maytum took the leadwith Reimer stalking him all the way down.Switzer moved into third with Scoot in fourth.As they went into Seismic Cowzer Corner,Reimer swung wide on the entrance to makehis move on Maytum. At that moment Reimerdropped a wheel off the edge of the track. Hisboard went into a series of wild, side-to-side,fishtail slides. Miraculously he held on and wasable to regain control. Unfortunately for

Reimer, his momentum wasgone and his chance to passMaytum was lost. As this washappening Scoot was trying tomake a move on Switzer forfourth just behind them. Scootdove to the inside and the tworiders bumped. Since both ofthem were on the ragged edgeof control, the contact sentSwitzer out of control, and hemade heavy impact with thestraw bales. Fortunately hewas uninjured.

By the time the ridersreached the finish line, the race

had already been settled. Maytum earned his firstWorld Cup win. Reimer was fortunate to salvagesecond place after dominating the event all week.Scoot finished took the final podium position afterhis incident with Switzer. The race was a hugesuccess once again and everyone is alreadylooking forward to next year. ¶

Maryhill Festival of SpeedFinal Results1. Zak Maytum, United States 2. Kevin Reimer, Canada3. Scoot Smith, Canada 4. Joel Putrah, United States5. James Kelly, United States6. Patrick Switzer, Canada

Kevin Reimer, Zak Maytum and Patrick Switzer running in a pack. Photo: Marcus Rietema

Scoot Smith had a solid run to third. Photo: Marcus Rietema

MARYHILLFESTIVAL OF SPEED

Zak Maytum was stoked towin his first World Cup on

the 4th of July. Photo:Dawn Moisanen


After winning most of the spring Canadianraces and then dominating the MaryhillFestival of Speed, where only a rare mis-

take in the finals kept him from the win, KevinReimer came into the Almabtrieb IGSA WorldChampionships with confidence. The race washeld July 14-17 in Hungerszell, Germany.

Reimer took the first step toward becomingthe first back-to-back IGSA Downhill Skate-boarding World Champion since Martin Siegristwith a dominating performance in the first runof qualifying. He turned in a scorching run torecord a time of 2:48.894 on the 3.5 km (2.2 mi)course. His time was more than two secondsfaster than James Kelly, who was second.

In the second qualifying run, Reimer con-tinued his domination by lowering his own trackrecord with a time of 2:47.838. His run lefteveryone in attendance astonished. Douglas“Dalua” da Silva moved into second with a2:49.093. Patrick Switzer qualified third with a2:49.469, James Kelly was fourth with a2:50.906 and Jackson Shapiera rounded out thetop five with a 2:51.906. By qualifying more thantwo seconds faster than Dalua, Reimer wentinto the finals as the clear favorite.

BY MARCUS RIETEMA

Christoph Batt and Scoot race to the line in the consolation final.Photo: Liz Kinnish

Reimer, Switzer, Lundberg and Shapiera braking heavily in the final.Photo: Pierre Gamby

REIMER DOMINATESTHE WORLDS


As Saturday’s race got under way, nearly allthe top-seeded riders made it through to thequarterfinal round. That was when we began tosee the first upsets. Reigning World Cup SeriesChampion Mischo Erban crashed out in hisquarterfinal matchup against JacksonShapiera, James Kelly and Ali Nas fromNorway. Louis Pilloni also crashed out in hisquarterfinal match against Erik Lundberg,Dalua and Alex Dietz. Number six qualifierRamón Königshausen was eliminated in thequarters against Patrick Switzer, Scoot Smithand Spencer Smith.

The first semifinal pitted Reimer againstKelly, Shapiera and Christoph Batt. The secondfeatured Switzer, Silva, Lundberg and ScootSmith. Reimer won his heat easily with Kelly,Shapiera and Batt battling for second. As theycrossed the line it was Shapiera getting thetransfer spot into the final. Kelly was third and

Batt fourth. The second heat had the big upsetwith number two qualifier Dalua crashing andfinishing fourth. Switzer won the heat andLundberg was second to complete thematchups for the final. 2008 World ChampionSmith was third.

The consolation final was run first to deter-mine fifth through eighth places. Batt pulled offthe surprise victory, with Scoot finishingsecond, Silva third and Kelly fourth. The bigrider from Switzerland has been steadily im-proving over the past two seasons and definitelyproved himself by beating three of the world’stop racers in the Consi.

Reimer was simply in a race of his own allweekend. In the final, Reimer, Shapiera,Switzer and Lundberg lined up. They were allclose together down most of the course. As thefour riders came to the end of the long straight,it was an amazing sight to see the four of them

less than two meters apart from first to fourthat 100 km/h! As they braked for Risch Corner,Reimer was in the lead, Switzer second,Shapiera third and Lundberg fourth. At thispoint Reimer braked less and was able to carrymore speed through the corner. He took off likea rocket and left the other three riders battlingfor second. Shapiera dove inside of Switzer andmoved to second. As they came to the line itwas Reimer way out in front by about 10 me-ters. Shapiera, Switzer and Lundberg had agreat battle to the line with Shapiera takingsecond and Switzer third.

Kevin Reimer is without a doubt the mostdominant downhill skateboarder in the worldtoday. He finished second at Maryhill despiteputting a wheel off and fishtailing down the

course in that final. Had he not made that mis-take, he most likely would have been victoriousthere as well. At the Almabtrieb World Cham-pionships he literally left all of his rivals racingfor second.

Almabtrieb World ChampionshipsOpen Downhill SkateboardingFinal Results1. Kevin Reimer, Canada2. Jackson Shapiera, Australia3. Patrick Switzer, Canada4. Erik Lundberg, Sweden5. Christoph Batt, Switzerland6. Scoot Smith, Canada

Brianne Davies mixed it up with the men in Open and won her thirdWomen’s World Championship in a row. Photo: Matthias Lang

Reimer leads Shapiera and Switzer going into Risch Corner in the final.Photo: Pierre Gamby

The 2010 World Championshippodium. Photo: Marcus Rietema


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SKATEBOARDSHOPS LIST

ARIZONASidewalk Surfer2602 N. Scottsdale Road Scottsdale [email protected] • www.sidewalksurfer.comCALIFORNIAIFYI Inc 1083 Bedmar Street Carson Board Gallery 3333 Newport Boulevard Newport Beach 714.902.3769Cellular Skate 6787 Carnelian Street Alta Loma909.941.1004Mike McGills Skate Shop335 First Street Suite #S Encinitas 760.943.7730Mike’s Bike Shop 5507 West Pico Blvd. Los Angeles 323.935.4338Viva Skateboards 1709 Howard Road Madera559.664.8997Bill’s Wheels Skateshop1240 Soquel Avenue Santa Cruz 831.469.0904Purple Skunk Purpleskunk.com5820 Geary Blvd. San Francisco 415.668.7905CCMF/Toyland 1260 Palm Street San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 805-801-6653 [email protected] Trading Post 622 Upham Street San Luis Obispo 805.801.6653 [email protected] Old School Skate and Surf1001 Broadway Sonoma 707.938.5500 skatesos.comCellular Skate 287 Mountain Ave Upland Tel: 909.981.8856 [email protected] and Sons1415 Ocean Front Walk Venice Beach mauiandsons.comCOLORADOAll Board Sports 1750 30th Street Boulder 303.415.1600Diabolical Boardshop 4255 S.Broadway, EnglewoodCONNECTICUTSkate Pusher 57 McIntosh Drive Bristol 860.593.4550Skate Valencia 68 Leonard Street, Bristol 203.524.4675GEORGIAFeral 190 Park Avenue, Athens 706.369.1084Skate Madness 13800 Hwy. 9 N., Ste. D 145Alpharetta 770.410.3456 skatemadness.com Woody’s Halfpipe6135 Peachtree Parkway Suite # 603 Norcross LOUSIANABoard Lords Mall of Louisiana, 6401 Bluebonnet Blvd.Suite # 2044, Baton Rouge, 225.769.1222 MASSACHUSETTSBoardroom 6 Armory Street Northhampton413.586.8857MICHIGANOllies Skate Shop 120 ½ E Maumee Adrian517.265.2031

MINNESOTAOld School Skaters 1119 NW 2nd Street Faribault612.578.3326 www.oldschoolskaters.net MISSOURIGenesis Skateboarding 13 NW Barry Rd. #147 KansasCity 816.456.1307 genesisskateboarding.comMONTANAWheaton’s 214 1st Avenue West Kalispell 406.257.5808 wheatonscycle.comBlackTop Surfshop 176 5th Avenue West North Kalispell406-752-6006NEW JERSEYBlack Diamond Skatepark 400 Route 38 Unit 1610 MoorestownNEW MEXICOKoa Nalu Surf Shop 8254 Menaul Blvd NEAlbuquerque 505-332-SURF koanalu.comTimeship Raicing 825 Early Street Suite H Sante Fe505.474.0074 timeshipracing.comNORTH CAROLINASoul Ride Skatepark 6049 Victory Lane Concord704.454.7433 soulrideskates.comWe’re Board Inc Skatepark and Shop 1423 North ChurchStreet, Ste 104 Burlington NC 27217OHIOOld Skool Skateboards19E College Avenue, Westerville [email protected] Uprise 1110 NW Van Buren Ave, Corvallis 541.754.4257 541.480.4254 thelongboardstore.comThe Longboard Store 1238 SW Wheeler Place Bend 541.480.4254 thelongboardstore.comDaddies Board Shop 7126 NE Sandy Blvd., Portland503.281.5123 daddiesboardshop.com Gorge Performance 7400 Southwest Macadam AvenuePortland 503.246.6646The Mountain Shop 628 NE Broadway PortlandRip City Skate 1510 NE 37th Ave. Portland PENNSYLVANIARayzor Tattoos 4 South Front Street SteeltownRHODE ISLANDSeven.Ply 3 Canal Street Westerly 401.348.0656TENNESSEEPlanet Sk8 7024 East Church Street Suite 2 Brentwood 615.377.1947Sk8sations Skate Shop 3032 N.John B.Dennis Hwy.Kingsport 423.245.0994 [email protected] 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

WASHINGTONGravity Sports 126 Rainier Ave South Renton 425.255.1874Mountain Goat Outfitters 12 W. Sprague Avenue SpokaneMotion Boardshop 17230 Bothell Way NE Lake Forest Park206.372.5268 motionboardshop.comALBERTAAvenue Skateparks9030.118 Avenue NW Edmonton 780.477.2149Easy Rider 4211.106 St., #153 Edmonton 780.413.4554Pipeline Surf Co 780.421.1575Comasports 10B-200 Barclay Parade SW 403.233.8841powerinmotion.caBRITISH COLUMBIAArea 51 191 Station Street Duncan 250.746.8869 a51.caRaven Skate Shop 411 Campbell Street Tofino250.725.1280 ravenskateshop.caSalton Rides Saltfall Island, BC 250.537.4984 [email protected] Longboards 4385B Boban Dr. Nanaimo250.751. 7625ONTARIOHammer Skate Shop 2225 Queen Street East Toronto,416.698.0005Hogtown 401 King Street West, Toronto 416.598.4192McPhails 98 King Street North, Waterloo 519.886.4340QUEBECDLX/Deluxe 2480, chemin Ste.Foy Ste.Foy 418.653.0783 dlxdeluxe.comOVERSEASNew Zealand — Serenity Island Surf & Skate Café 202a Wainui road [email protected] serenityisland.comBoardshop Australia boardshop.com.au 04 15883371 [email protected] Sk8 5/244 Ross river Road AitkenvaleQueensland 4814 AustraliaUK — Octanesport.comSkateboardsofchoice.co.ukBath, United Kingdom. Tel: + 44 1249 715811Germany — seasondistribution.com, concretewave.deHackbrett Longskates Im Wechselfeld 12 St. [email protected] Gustavstrasse 49 90762 Furth longboarders.de [email protected]: 0911 9772500France: Hawaiisurf.com

Clover Skateboard shop 1-21-3-1201 Befu Jyounan Fukuoka 8140104 JapanY & T Fussa Fussa2348 Fussa Fussa.City,Tokyo 1970011Ultimate Boards 3/1043 Great North Road PointChevalier, Auckland 1022. New Zealand ultimateboards.co.nzSkate of the NationUnit 6 GYY building # 1 Tomas Morato1100 Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippineswww.Skateofthenation.comNetherlandsSickboards Fuutlan 45 Delft [email protected] dh Alameda Picaflores 245 San Borja Lima 41 PeruIndiana Sports GmbH Elbestrasse 14 Wald, 8636 Switzer-land Contact: Christof PellerClover Skateboard Shop 1-21-3-1201 Befu JyounanFukuoka 8140104 JapanSkate of the Nation Unit 6 GYY building# 1 Tomas Morato, 1100 Quezon CityMetro Manila, Philippines; www.Skateofthenation.comBestboards 24 Danao StreetRivera Village Bajada Davao City Philippines

ON.LINE RETAILERSAllboardsports.comBlackholeboards.comBordz.netCascadiaLongboards.com Coldwarskateboards.comDaddiesboardshop.comDenverskateshop.comEdsbearings.com (pleasure tools)Ffashop.comFuegolongboards.comGenesisskateboarding.comLongboardskater.comLatterdayskates.comLongboardshop.deLongboardstore.comLongboardskater.comMilehighskates.comMotionboardshop.comOldschoolskates.netPressuredroplongboards.comRoadkillskates.comSk8supply.comSocalskateshop.comSolidskate.comTACTISSK8.COMTailtap.comVSLboardshop.com



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Concrete Wave Fall 2010 Issue