Nowadays, many of the skate spots are totally blown out, especially here in California. I won’t even get into full detail of how unskateable or blown out the spots are here. Basically, you roll up to a “known” spot only to find excess security and recent skate proofing that’s been done. If not, then you’re due for a ledge that has had its fair share of grinds and is chunkier than ground meat.

This leads me to the topic of creating a skate spot. Yes, it means having to actually put effort into making something. But in the end you will feel really good about yourself and depending on where you created it, you may have very well constructed a new spot you will never get kicked out of. You could pretty much make your own little ghetto skatepark if you wanted to. Pole jams, quarter pipes, manual pads, and even ledges are all new obstacles that you can create.

Many spots created by skateboarders have gone on to become famous spots in videos too. Pole jams can easily be created by simply digging a hole and sticking a metal pole inside of it. Cementing it would go along way and ensure its longevity as well. Or how about those barricades you see out on the freeway or abandoned in old cement yards? Those could be used to shape quarter pipes or other obstacles. And if you can get a hold of some old grey cement bricks and shape them up into a ledge then the possibilities are endless.

You can buy the wet cement at your local Home Depot or hardware store. I mean, you could go with building your obstacles out of wood but they are so much easier to steal that way and on top of that the weather gets to them within the first couple of hits. So try it out, get inventive and put your mind to work. The possibilities are endless.

Pro skateboarder Ali Boulala has been sentenced to jail for four years with a non-parole period of two years and has been disqualified from driving in Victoria for three years. All this was bestowed onto him for his relation to the death of skateboarder Shane Cross. Shane was a passenger on Ali’s motorcycle when the accident occurred.

Of what I remember previously, Shane’s parents originally didn’t want to press charges on Boulala, due to the their son’s friendship. But either way, it looks like the authorities have laid penalties upon Ali Boulala.

This whole incident really hits hard for us skateboarders; I mean sure, we all knew both of them were party animals, but did we really expect an accident like this to occur? I sure didn’t. Honestly, when I heard Shane Cross had passed away I thought it was a joke. It really hit hard to find that he wasn’t here on earth with us anymore. He was such a gnarly skateboarder and had so much more talent to show the world. And Ali Boulala was already a fortified legend in skateboarding. His innovation,charisma, and presence were one of a kind. I have read articles stating that he may never skateboard again due to the trauma taken to his head from the incident.

I think not being able to skateboard and knowing you had played some part in the relation to a good friends death is punishment alone. You could only imagine what burden he has to live with for the rest of his life. We all know Ali didn’t mean for any of this to happen. Both Shane and him were super good friends and unfortunately these events occurred. Now he must face time behind bars, without friends, without family, without skateboarding. Hang in there Ali, keep your spirits up. And Shane Cross rest in peace my skateboard friend. We are all shredding for you Shane!!!

The new scheduled stops for the éS Game of S.K.A.T.E. have recently been announced. Contests like these are great because everyone can get involved as the éS game of skate is and always has been free to play. This means you can basically enter and have fun because you’re playing with nothing to lose. Don’t you just love that? Plus, it gives you a shot to try out all the tricks you have been practicing all year long when going up against fellow skateboarders.

Last years championship finals were intense. It was a show worthy of the wait and it’s always awesome to see two perfect match-ups going head to head. Landing tricks back to back, hearing the crowd get into it… It truly is amazing.

I really wish they would do more stops on the tour though and hopefully that’s the direction they’re moving. I strongly encourage local shops that want to get more involved with local riders to throw these kinds of events as well. They work wonders for bringing the skate community together and because they’re so inexpensive to put on, they don’t have to be hosted by some major skate brand. Anything that gives all skateboarders a chance to participate is rad in my book.

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Recently, I viewed a video of Ryan Sheckler attempting the mega ramp for his first time. Other than Pat Duffy, he is said to be the only other street skateboarder to have attempted the Mega Ramp. Rumors have gone around about various other street skateboarders sparking interest in launching off the monstrous launch ramp.

You can write out a short list of all the individuals that have successful skated the mega ramp and it’s always the same individuals facing off against each other in the X-Games. But is all this due for a change? You bet it is. I recently viewed a show about Camp Woodward and they were teaching kids how to skate a mini mega ramp. It was mind blowing to see all these young kids dropping in and hucking themselves in the air.

A mega ramp revolution has come upon us here in America! People want to see athletes continue going big, bigger, and ever bigger. And when I say people, I mean the average Joe who’s never even stepped on a skateboard. Dudes flying 50 feet in the air are the ‘in thing’ right now. Everyone thinks it’s crazy and of course people love stunts where there’s a huge element of risk. I have had people in there early 40’s who have never skated in there life ask me about Jake Brown and the fall he took. Or Danny Way’s backflip over the gap off the mega ramp.

The mega ramp is the in thing right now which is strange because less than a decade ago it didn’t even exist. I myself will probably never skate a mega ramp, I could only imagine how gnarly it looks to even just drop in, let alone airing across the massive gap to the ridiculously huge quarter pipe. The mega ramp will be one of those events that will always attract people no matter what. We all have to accept the fact that skateboarding is actually a “cool” thing to do now. I have heard some skateboarders even call-out Mega Ramp skateboarding and say it’s not skateboarding at all. But we all know it’s just as much a part of skating as everything else. And we got to hand it to the mega ramp rippers; they got balls to do what they do. There’s no doubt about that.

Spring Break Yo’Self 2008 went down in San Diego this past weekend and none other than SD local himself, Brandon Turner took home 1st place victory.

Brandon has been in the game for a long time now and although he may not be a household name yet, his skateboarding certainly speaks for itself. You see, back in the late ‘90’s, Brandon aka “Lil B” was an upcoming Am for the world renown Shortys skateboards. He had standout parts in Shortys video “Fulfill the Dream” and later a pro debut part in “Guilty”. These were both vital videos in my personal skateboard upbringing. I remember both of these videos super well and most notably his mind blowing Switch Hardflip down the infamous Carlsbad Gap sticks out in my mind.

I am super stoked that Brandon is back in the spotlight again. He absolutely tore down the course at Spring Break Yo’Self this year. Nollie double flip over the chain to bank? Are you kidding me? I’ve skated the actual chain to bank and I am pretty sure Jeff King made this obstacle to its precise measurement. To do that trick over the chain down the bank is insane. The bank is so much steeper than you would think just from looking at it. His Nollie Noseslide on the side bank was huge as well and was probably scary as hell. Not to mention, he was the only one of the contestants to throw something down on that obstacle.

His win was highly well deserved and couldn’t have been done at a better time or place. The crowd was huge and the energy was amazing. Congratulations to Brandon Turner on the win and you will be hearing a lot more from this guy in the time to come. Don’t call it a comeback; “Lil B” has skills.

In recent skate news, young ripper David Gonzalez has turned pro for Flip Skateboards. If I am not mistaken David is only 16 years old. He hails from Medellin, Columbia and absolutely kills it on a skateboard. There are some who argue that he is too young to be turning pro, but if his peers at Flip are confident enough to bestow him with this honor - who are we to argue?

He has two huge video parts that will be dropping in the near future; his Globe United by Fate section as well as his long anticipated Extremely Sorry appearance. He is one of the new generation of foreign rippers that have been taking the skateboard industry by storm. Shredding on every terrain you can think of, he is an all-around versatile skateboarding fiend.

About the only notable fact I could question as far as his pro rank status goes would be the lack of video footage prior to being sponsored. To date, Gonzalez hasn’t really released a full video part. On average, even the young pros today like Sheckler, Tony Tave, and Garret Hill have had significant video parts during there Am years. I almost feel like maybe there should be a line drawn just before one can turn pro. To be a professional, there is more to it than just possessing an amazing skill on a board. He is undoubtedly gnarly enough to be a professional skateboarder. The question is - did he truly earn it?

The X-Games have decided to keep the skateboarding vert competitions around for at least one more summer. What was a widely criticized decision, ESPN had originally announced they were killing off the vert skate events from the Summer X-Games and that prompted me to write that they’ve officially jumped the shark.

While I still think the X-Games have been on a decline, it’s pretty refreshing that they have listened to their audience and changed their minds. They had a poll up on their site asking if the decision to drop the vert event was a good idea. The people spoke and 80% said it was a bad decision. I can’t help but think this decision to reinstate the vert comps was also influenced by the athletes of the games.

Even tough ESPN went back on their original decision, it says a lot about them to drop this event in the first place. I think it’s pretty obvious at this point where their intentions lie and they’re willing to sell us out in a second for the almighty dollar. I guess that shouldn’t really come as a surprise, afterall they’re owned by ABC and we both know ABC doesn’t care about much besides their bottom-line.

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If you have stayed in the Phoenix Am loop you know Ryan Decenzo won. This is the same kid that took the Tampa Am as well. So that’s two major contest victories in a 2 month span for Ryan! His run was flawless, as was the run of second place runner up Chazz Ortiz.

Skateboarding is getting crazier and crazier, and the progression doesn’t seem to slowing down whatsoever. For example, the Best Trick competition at the Phoenix Am was ridiculous. The winning trick by Robbie Brockell was absolutely insane. If I get it right, I believe it was a 360 Ollie bigger flip. I have seen people calling it a big flip, but if I am not mistaken it does a 540 flip. I don’t think anyone there argued with calling him the winner. I don’t even recall seeing that trick done before, let alone down a ten stair. With his victory in Best Trick, Robbie took home just as much cash for doing one trick as Ryan Decenzo was awarded for winning the entire Phoenix Am.

This solidified my previous post about how gnarly Phoenix Am was truly going to be. I knew it was going to be insane, but this year was more so than the rest. Basically, Skateboarding is breaking all boundaries of what was thought to be possible. Young up and coming rippers are starting to throw down tricks that were once only seen in video games. I can only imagine what will happen next.

Ruben’s post about the X-Games killing vert skateboarding today really caught my attention. Why? Simply because I associate much of the Summer X-Games with vert skateboarding and I think this is a huge mistake by ESPN. Just about every time I’ve watched the games on TV, they’ve almost always had vert skate on. And I enjoyed watching it, even though the only time I ever tried dropping in on a vert ramp I ate shit.

Some of my best Summer X memories consist of vert highlights, most notably Tony’s 900 that none of us will soon forget. I can’t help but think I’m not alone with my Summer X/vert connection. I’m willing to bet a large number of people who either are or aren’t heavily involved in action sports see it as their signature sport.

I’m sure ESPN has good reasons for making this move, financial being the top. But I can’t help but think this rubs many of us the wrong way and is (in my opinion) a huge slap in the face to athletes like Tony Hawk. Because of old media decisions like this, the games have slowly been getting worse over the years and now they’ve just completely jumped the shark.

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On April 3rd, ESPN announced the “death” of the Vert competition in the upcoming X-Games. They are getting rid of it entirely and replacing it with a superpark style competition.

First off, since when did we start using the term known as “superpark”? And secondly, Vert has always come and gone but when I think of the X-Games I think of the Vert competition right away. I am pretty sure many other skateboarders and spectators do as well. Afterall, it seems to be a highly-featured event every year.

The signature moment in X-Games skateboarding, as well as for the X-Games in general was Tony Hawks 900. This of course was done on the Vert ramp. It’s cool that they have the street competition now, but I feel like no matter what they do its always never going to really be a “street” competition. And if I am not mistaken, don’t motocross and countless other categories have over 3 events in the X-Games?

It would be a real bummer if skateboarding was downgraded and left with only the Mega Ramp and “superpark” event. I personally have never dropped in on a full sized vert ramp but I could only imagine what it must be like. I have an immense amount of respect for the vert skateboarders who are out doing their thing. I really enjoy watching them throw it down on the massive vert ramp.

On top of that, there are tons of skateboarding street competitions but not that many for the vert guys. The X-Games to me was the contest that all vert skateboarders look forward to winning. And yes, X-Games style vert ramps seem limited almost solely to California when it comes to availability. But you have to remember that the X-Games have almost always taken place in California. I’m a street skateboarder and have always skated street. Here I am telling you that we need the Vert competition badly. Don’t let it be pulled away from us. They’re our brothers just as much as the dudes you skate street with. Help vote to keep the Vert competition around!

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