almost a demo in Denver:
The Zumiez Best Foot Forward Am Contest Series Results:
1. Julian Christianson.
2. Phil Hansen.
3. Matt Pennington.
Denver has one of the best skate scenes in the country; great spots and great skaters, so we knew this stop would be amazing. Every time the Zumiez Best Foot Forward tour stops in Denver, that winner always makes the top 3, and moves on to the HH Finals at X Games, so we’ll see how they do this year. A lot of familiar names showed up again, and youngsters Phil Hansen and Wyatt Milhollan just keep getting better and better with a bigger bag of tricks and big-man style. Phil got 2nd and barely beat out Matt Pennington who got 3rd and the New Era Originator of the Day by laying down some serious hammers, like a 360 hardflip, which has never been done on the tour. Two-time HH Finals winner, Julian Christianson continued his unbeaten streak in Denver with his switch, nollie, 270, flip and shuv variations all over the course. Julian is tough to beat, so we’ll see how he does on July 1st in Minneapolis.
Tags: Almost, almost skateboards, Chris Haslam, Cooper WIlt, Daewon Song, Justin Schulte, Lewis Marnell, Ray Maldonado, Ricky Webb, Rodney Mullen, zumiez, zumiez couch tour, zumiez couch tour 2010Bear with us, YouTube embedding is being funky today, but you can still click on the images and peep the vids on the ‘Tube.
This weeks YouTubes are dedicated to my main man out in Paris, Mister Chasone who sent me a link to Kein Rodriguez’ part in the newish Nozebone video and suggested that I do a skate shop video themed YouTube section. Skate shops are the life blood of skateboarding, please support your skater owned shops with your hard earned cash, they have your back way harder than mall chain stores and will put the money you give them back into making local videos or hooking up local kids instead of into the down payment on a red convertible sports car. Without further ado, kicking of with Chas’ man Kevin Rodriguez:
How gnarly was this part when it came out?! How gnarly would this part still be if it came out in ten year’s time?! This has to be one of the all time greatest video parts on the planet, from Coliseum skate shop, the always-face-melting PJ Ladd:
RDS skate supply has grown into something way bigger than just a shop, but I’m putting this one in there because I’m backing Ryan Smith hard and I remember this period when he was coming up and every month he had something sick come out in a magazine somewhere. The description says it all: “Hard hitting Canadians.”
FTC has dropped more memorable skate videos than any other shop; this is from their first video Finally filmed and edited by Aaron Meza, featuring some serious finesse from Mike Carroll.
Finishing off this week with two links from the same video, Dan Wolfe had such a massive influence on skateboarding with his sick filming and editing style and pinnacle East Coast videos, it seems only proper that he closes us out with a double whammy from back in the day. Have a good weekend and support skater owned shops:
Tags: Coliseum skate shop, dan wolfe, FTC Finally, Kevin ROdriguez, Mike Carroll, PJ Ladd, PJ Ladds wonderful horrible life, RDS, Ryan Smith, skate shop videos, Top 5 YouTubes Of The Week
Quiksilver Canada Tour Blog Day 2
Words & photos by Matt Ramirez
Day two in Montreal had something planned but it was cancelled, so that means we just get to skate and film. Two problems to start off the day—1, Reese is still MIA with a gnarly flu. And 2, Danny’s board is on the Quiksilver bus and the bus is nowhere to be found, or lost, or something. We’re still not sure. We waited in front of the hotel for a couple hours and decided to cab it to the first spot. Here’s a tip for traveling in Montreal: If the hotel calls you a cab, make sure you know exactly how many cabs they called and use them all. The hotel asked for too many cabs twice, and the one cab driver that comes up empty gets mad, really mad.
The first spot is at the top of Montreal. It’s all marble ground, ledges, and stairs and you can see the entire city. It’s also kind of crowded with tourists and the sun bounces of the marble ground into your face. It’s a cool spot, but some of the guys aren’t feelin’ it. Riley gets a couple shots on the ledge and we were over it. Jordan Hoffart and some of the guys wanted to stay at the spot, while a few of us decided to break out to skate around the city.
Back at the hotel, still no bus, and Danny still doesn’t have a board. So, Dario from Canada hooks us up with a zip zinger and we’re off. Skating around Montreal is fun, but it’s also like a real life game of Frogger. The drivers here are sketchy. They drive fast and have no patience for anyone, especially seven guys skating through traffic. Tory Goodall is a new Quiksilver Canada team rider and our guide through the city. He rolled his ankle the day before we showed up so we didn’t get to skate with him. But he’s a good guy and down to spend the day on a bike so we can find some stuff to skate. Leeper and Riley got some shots at the last spot and we were done. Kind of a frustrating day, but there’s good news back at the hotel. The bus finally showed up, Danny has a board, the Laker game is on at 9:00, and Reese Forbes is back on his feet. Tomorrow we have a shop signing and demo at big indoor park. Should be fun.
Bus stop. Omar, Leeper, Danny, and Riley waiting for the bus that never showed up.
We checked out a giant bee in our 2 hour wait. Dgar has new wallpaper for his phone
Spot 1 is on top of Montreal
Guys warmed up by jumping up on the wall
With no board, this as much as Danny was able to do all day
Most guys start off a new spot with a grind, Riley starts off a new spot with a front blunt
Cruising through Montreal can be sketchy, just stay on the bike road and you should be fine
Riley killed time on this little spot while we waiting for our tour guide
Ollie this rail, land on cracked uneven ground, and run into a wall? No one was into it
Found a good spot
Bill Strobeck gets Riley’s line
No offense Montreal, but your ground sucks. Leeper feels out the terrain before getting his shot
Here’s the reason Quiksilver Canada team rider Torrey Goodall is our tour guide
Torrey’s bummed
Tags: Bill Strobeck, Danny Garcia, Kyle Leeper, Matt Ramirez, Omar Hassan, quiksilver canada tour, Riley Hawk
