Tsawwassen Sun Fest Contest 2017

Written By: Hippie Mike

Crutches or not, the annual Tsawwassen Sun Fest Contest was scheduled to go down and as usual, it was an awesome day. The sun was out, it wasn’t too hot, and most importantly I was out of my bed.

Lots of little dudes in the Mini and Beginner categories who made this their first competition. One of the reasons I still try and run so many contests in the Lower Mainland is to get more young kids stoked on skateboarding and then watch these guys go out there and give it everything they’ve got. When you watch Advanced, or even Intermediate, there’s not so many surprises, just a lot of really awesome tricks. But when you’re watching kids 10 & under you have no idea what to expect next, Ethan Metelli proved it in his first run in Mini when he started blasting huge wally airs off all the bank to ledges, this kid is tiny and it was sick to see him fly. All the Mini’s skated great and Kaelen and Ethan were on a mission to win, but no one could stop Devon Hearts that day and he took home 1st place.

The Beginners were just as fun to watch, sitting in a wheelchair with my leg up on a cooler I had original Protest rider Cisco Gooding take over the microphone and I just sat and watched the show. Ryder Mulherin and his buddy James Bateman showed up from Salt Spring Island right when Beginner was about to start, and both of them were on fire using the whole park and landing pretty much everything they tried. Dave McGough, aka Turbo Dave, also ripped it up, blasting huge all over the park. Ryder took it, with Dave right on his tail.

Intermediates stepped it up a few notches and started throwing down on the rails, ledges and over the gaps. The order the top 5 were in when they went into the finals was not the same as when they finished. Ex-Protest rider Andy Anderson manned the microphone for Intermediates which gave them some extra stoke I think. Franklin Ruvalcaba took 1st place over his buddy Austin Doquiatan and Gabe Cruz was coming in hot in 3rd place. Any one of these 3 could have won but Franklins rail skills helped him stay on top.

The ladies got out there and showed there stuff all in one big jam session. Carrie Williams stuck to the flat banks with lots of shovit and 180 tricks, while Jayna Clarke was popping tricks off the ledges. Summer Lang mainly just cruised around but had a blast doing it. Carrie won, as usual.

The Advanced line up was looking pretty dangerous where every competitor had the potential of taking home first place but the real question was simply, Can anyone beat local boy Ryan LePore? The finals jam consisted of Ryan, Andy Anderson, Eve Feaver, Jesse Faber and Merrick Orr, all people who know how to win a comptetion. Merrick broke his board on the first trick and grabbed any board he could find to keep going, it didn’t seem to slow him down as he kickflipped over the biggest bank in the park, frontside feebled the big rail, and gapped from the quarterpipe to the nipple. Eve was going full speed ahead the full 10 minutes blasting huge everywhere and finishing off with an airwalk down the 3-block. Jesse Faber showed off his ledge skills, while Andy Anderson made up 15 tricks and blew everyone’s mind, but the question was could anyone beat Ryan Lepore?, and the answer was simply No. It was a great contest and always fun for everyone to watch.

Thanks to DJ Layback for providing the background tunes, Dennis and Strato for supplying the sound equipment, Cisco and Andy for helping out on the Mic, Platinum Pro-Claim Restoration & J’s Waterproofing for their financial donations, and thanks to everyone who came out and helped me have a fun day.

Same time next year, see you then….

Results from Finals Jams:

Mini: 1. Devon Hearts; 2. Ethan Metelli; 3. Kaelen Faux; 4. Nicloas Mahar; 5.Kieran Hearts; 6. Silas Fitton

Beginner: 1. Ryder Mulherin; 2. Dave McGough; 3. James Bateman; 4. Cooper Fitton; 5. Gus Jackson

Intermediate: 1. Franklin Ruvalcaba; 2. Austin Doquiatan; 3. Gabe Cruz; 4. Frakie Nivala; 5. Flash Gordon

Girls: 1. Carrie Williams; 2. Jayna Clarke; 3. Summer lang

Advanced: 1. Ryan Lepore $100; 2. Andy Anderson $60; 3. Merrick Orr $40; 4. Eve Feaver; 5. Jesse Faber

Pitt Meadows Day Best Trick

Written By: Hippie Mike

Another great event to get people stoked to skateboard, this time it was Pitt Meadows who gave me a call to run a contest at the skate park during their annual festival for Pitt Meadows Day. Everyone knows this park is always packed with kids, including tons of scooters, but it was all good and it was a great show.

Because of the other ceremonies happening in the rest of the park we started later in the afternoon and had a shorter event so it was based on being just a Best Trick Contest. Starting out with the little dudes in Mini and Beginner we chose 2 obstacles, the mini bowl and spine & the 3 stair, and let them rip it up for 5 minutes on each obstacle. Then every kid got to do a 1 minute run in the park to themselves. This one was combined score of all 3 sessions where 9 year old Presley Huska and 7 year old Kaelen Faux came through on top. Presley shredded and won all 3 sessions anyway, this kid was on fire.

Intermediates chose the 7 stair, the across and down rail, and then had a full run each as well. Colton McMorris won on the rail with a boardslide up and across first try, Colton Fuller won down the stairs with a Double 3 flip, and Aaron Williamson and Lucas Ericson tied in the Best Run. All these guys were ripping it up and Todd Schlacter even puked after his run, nice one Todd.

Advanced came in hot with some serious players, the obstacles were the same rail as intermediate, the mini bowl and spine, the big step up, and then a 2 minute run each in the entire park. Jesse Holland was on fire like usual and won 2 of the 4 events with a 3 flip lipslide on the rail and a frontside 360 to rock fakie on the quarterpipe in the bowl. He almost won the step up too but Matt McCauley barely got in there at the last possible second with a huge Laser flip to take the prize. The runs were all good and my money was on either Jonathan Reichert, Jesse Holland or Eve Feaver. All of them used the whole park and had great flow with lots of speed but 45 year old Eve Feaver won the crowd and took it home.

Great day in sunny Pitt Meadows, see you all again next year.

Marcio Torres joins Isamu Yamamoto on the Podium – World Round Up 2017

Written By: Hippie Mike

What an insane competition, this was the 6th year for the World Round Up Freestyle Championships and by far this year was the most competitive. The ranks seemed to change each day in both Amateur and Pro divisions with people bouncing up and down each day in the standings. The only rider who was consistently in the top 3 was Isamu Yamamoto as he led the Pros all weekend long. But don’t think it was a runaway with Mike Osterman, Guenter Mokulys and others coming hot on his trail. It literally came down to the Finals and if Mike Osterman hadn’t missed the one trick he missed the results may have been different but either way your champion in Pro was 14 year old Isamu Yamamoto from Japan. This kid is a machine, he is committed to Freestyle and he is damn good at it. Everyone loves to watch Isamu and be ready to see and hear his name in the world for years to come.

The big surprise though was actually in the Amateur division as the Japanese kids were all over the place in qualifiers and Semi-finals. 8 year old Yuzuki Kawasaki was in the lead going into finals and he finished 3rd overall, almost unbelievable that an 8 year old can compete with adults but if you were there you would believe it for sure. 11 year old Ikkei Nagao blew everyone away in the Finals with non stop action and speed, even finished off both runs with fakie 720 bigspins but it wasn’t quite enough to take the win. Brazilian Breakdance master Marcio Torres was on fire and his choreographed routines got the upperhand in the scores. This guy showed up last year at the Round Up and has only been skateboarding for about 3 years. Like all the freestylers from Brazil he learned fast and got really good. 1st Place in a major battle, something to definitely be proud of.

Until next year, these are the Best in the World

Check out the winning runs

https://youtu.be/Wn1cA4AbxDw

Japan is Here to Win – World Round Up 2017 Semi-Finals

By: Hippie Mike

Another amazing roster at the World Round Up Freestyle Skateboard Championships, 65 competitors with 15 countries represented, but the country to watch is definitely Japan. So many competitors this year came from Japan and they are all skating amazing. But 2 stand out in the crowd, 14 year old Isamu Yamamoto who placed 2nd in Pro division last year and 8 year old Yuzuki Kawasaki who is making his first Canadian appearance in the Amateur division, yes that’s right I said 8 years old.

Today was just the semi-finals but these guys proved they are here to win, we can’t wait to see what they do in the Finals happening Sunday May 20th.

Check the video to see what you missed

https://youtu.be/Ew_-aSo6I4Y

Written By: Kevin Harris

The Richmond Skate Ranch started in 1986 and came about because that year was the Expo 86 contest with the big vert ramp that my Dad designed out of steel . We needed a place to put it so it didn’t go to waste after Expo was over and I felt that Vancouver needed an indoor skate park so we decided to build the Skate Ranch. People came from everywhere to skate the Ranch but it was the locals that made it what it was. I did not know it at the time but it turned in to a place where it was so much more than just an indoor skate park . The talent that came out of the ranch was amazing. The Locals were there everyday, and it was a place where long lasting Friendships were made, as well as some of the best skateboarders to come out of Canada. The Ranch was a 2nd home to so many of those kids and I am stoked that I was able to provide that for almost a decade at in an era where skateboarding went through some serious down time. At the end of the 80’s skateboarding really died out and it was places like the Ranch that kept that hype alive, and kept the group of skaters stoked to keep on pushing. Believe it or not we are in a low point for skateboarding again right now and we need to keep working with the people who are out there pushing the sport towards success and trying to keep the hype going in the next generations by getting more young people on skateboards having fun as a group and meeting their future friends. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to join forces with Protest Movement and Hippie Mike. It is so important to have people like Hippie Mike who hold events every year and help grow skateboarding by keeping skaters looking forward to his events and to show the younger kids how much fun skateboarding can be. Mike has been putting on contests through out the lower mainland for 15 years and continues to do so and I wanted to help out his contest series with a % being donated from the sales of Richmond Skate Ranch memorabilia. This being the 30th year anniversary of when the Ranch began operating Ryan Ellan and I came up with a bunch of cool designs for “Legends Never Die” T-shirts, Hats, and a limited edition Deck. So Ryan and I joined up with Mike and Protest Movement and gave them exclusive rights to sell the items we wanted to create and a chunk of that money will be donated towards the operating costs of this year’s Hippie Mike’s Super Tour. Mike wasn’t in BC when the Skate Ranch existed but he was was skateboarding in that era, and the presence he brings to the canadian skate scene today with all his generousity falls hand in hand with what the Ranch was all about. Together we can create more hype for skateboarding and help the industry out by getting more and more new kids on board for life.

So please help out skateboarding by grabbing yourself some gear that not only celebrates a place that paved the way for Canadian Skateboarders but also celebrates the future of skateboard legends to come…

Grab your RSR Memorabilia at

www.protest-movement.org

Did you Know?

• In BC, there are currently an estimated 56,000 people with Autism
• There are 8,500 children and youth diagnosed in the province
• Provincial waitlists for diagnosis can run 9 to 12 months
• Estimates of a standard ABA Autism Intervention Program can cost around $60,000 per year

The Pacific Autism Family Network (PAFN) is a centre of excellence and network of supports for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their families across the province of British Columbia. The PAFN’s core purpose is to be a Knowledge Centre: Bringing together state of the art resources for research, information, learning, assessment, treatment and support; and building capacity to address the lifespan needs of individuals with ASD and related disorders. The PAFN builds upon existing lifespan services while at the same time addressing the need for support and services across the province.

The PAFN is the first organization of its kind dedicated to knowledge creation and knowledge translation targeting applied models that can easily be shared and disseminated to families on the ground. It is a place that will attract a whole new generation of thinkers and researchers who will bring to life innovative, practical, and effective clinical programs.

Autism is emerging as one of the most pressing issues of our times. The Pacific Autism Family Network is a great organization that wants to raise the awareness that Autism is on the rise and help treat those in need.

Killa B decided to work with Protest Movement once again on Round 2 of his Killa B “I Am Me” Campaign where $5 from every Killa B/PAFN Hat sold in the month of April (Autism Awareness Month) will be donated directly to Pacific Autism Family Network.

Help us to make a difference by purchasing your Hat today

http://protest-movement.org/product/killa-b-i-am-me-snapback-hat/

To learn more about PAFN or to make a donation directly to them please check out their website  http://pacificautismfamily.com/