Tag Archives: culture

Unofficial Skatepark Tour

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Fun little spot on a hot summer day in sunny southern California.
The last spot after riding 4 or 5 skate parks and one other backyard pool.

This photo was from The Unofficial Sk8park Tour we did back in the summer of 2009 here in the greater Los Angeles and Orange County areas. We had a blast checking out all the new skateboard parks at the time and generally getting baked in the hot summer sun all for the sake of fun. We came across a couple backyard pools, a steep rectangle at a vacant house and a right hand kidney at someone’s home that had carve-able shallow stairs. In the end we hit more than 25 parks over a series of weeks, often riding 3-5 a day. It was a challenge to document even with 3 or 4 photographers because it was more about having fun and skating as opposed to shooting pictures.

Plans for the Unofficial Sk8park Tour 2012 are being kicked around since there are new skate parks to be ridden.  More than a few.  Looking forward to another skateboarding adventure!  Stay tuned.

Images courtesy of Aaron Melendrez Photography and Jeremy Wray

Las Vegas Pool Skating

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Paul, making it look too easy…


Mark Partain / Paul Smith / Randy Colvin / Spitfire Pool / Las Vegas. Footage shot by Manimal and Fishegg.

The Spitfire pool, an insane right hand kidney I only got to ride half of (the shallow half). Got there too late, it was already filled with dirt to just under the tiles in the deep end. I was able to rig a shallow stair session out of scaffolding and somehow made it and that footage is around somewhere. Wish I had got to ride the whole thing, its looks so fun!

Image courtesy of Paul Smith

Vagabond Pool Video

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One of the best skateboarding spots ever.  It was like the pool skating gods where channeling straight through the plaster and into the locals.  The skating that happened within the confines of that vacant motel were legendary.  The effects of the Vagabond have continuously been felt in pool skateboarding for over a decade.  What’s happened up there has pushed skateboarding well into the future in terms of athletic progression and skate park design.  Fresno is a pool skateboarding mecca and the people behind the madness are commendable for all the hard work and craziness they’ve had to deal with to make that place what it is….

Pool Skate Surfing Research in Oceanside, California

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Pool Surfing Research in Oceanside, California on January 5, 2012

The swell was supposed to come up today before really kicking in for the weekend.  It kinda looked normal, nothing too crazy.  Size picked up towards dusk, but not that much.  The general public does not have a clue, they only get spoon fed infotainment from the mainstream propaganda outlets…in fact, the surf has been pumping for the last month or so, there just hasn’t been any news coverage.  When I get up in a few hours our beloved coastline should be getting battered by some double and triple over head pounding surf.  I wonder if its gonna be ride-able?  I’m excited to see.  I’ll take some pics, shoot some video and see how things stack up.  A secret spot deep in the cuts of Long Beach may break, we’ll have to check first thing in the a.m., cross your fingers!!!

Check back for some proof.

If its too gnarly and walled out or just maxed out crazy, I’ll just go skateboarding.  It would be nice to find a little nook with some ride-able waves!!!  Conditions becoming too gnarly is something skateboarding does not deal with too often.  Imagine the bowl getting too gnarly to ride and having to chill until it mellows out.  Its tough to imagine skating in those terms.

Image courtesy of Carvegrind-poolskateboarding.com copyright 2012