Sunday, July 31, 2011

The Emerson Contest – July 30th, 2011

There is a right way to do a contest, and a wrong way to do a contest. If you want to know the right way to do a contest, ask Craig Lockwood. What Craig has created-with the help and support of some friends and the local industry guys-is something totally free to enter, totally fun to participate in, and totally rad in every way.

The concept behind the Emerson contest was as simple as you can get. It consisted of a few six-man heats, with one skater per heat heading toward the next round. Each round was a jam format, which means that there are 6 guys skating at once. It was hands down one of my favorite contests of all time. No bad vibes, no trouble, just a good time all around.

Thanks are certainly in order, so first off I’d like to say thanks to everyone who came. Most importantly. Thanks to Craig, who put the event together, and thanks to all of the sponsors of the event, including Duval Boards and Jordon Fink for the prizes, Martin Ramos from Kona Skatepark for helping out the announcers, Clyde Singleton for showing up and spicing up the commentary, and all the other personalities that were a part of this weekend’s event. Thanks to the guys from Moonshine Skateboards for showing up to grill hot dogs and burgers for everyone, totally free! We all owe you huge thanks for that. I can certainly appreciate their special brand of white lightning.
(inset - David Jordan)

You can check out more photos of the faces seen at the event here. Once again, thanks to everyone for a hugely successful event, and I love you all. (scroll down for more photos)


1st place - "Stackhouse" Marcus J.


Nick Blanco


Craig Clements



You can check out the rest of the photos on my flickr set here.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Skatepark Guide: Treaty Park / Robert-Laryn Skate Park in St. Augustine, FL


Treaty Park in St. Augustine is a rather large complex, containing multiple tennis courts, racquetball courts, baseball fields, a dog park, and most importantly the Robert-Laryn Skate Park. Built by Team Pain, this large transition-based park is great for experienced skateboarders, but also has a few things for the beginners and the intermediate skaters, too.


The park is mostly a bowled-edged tranny pit, with significant transitions on most sides, and fun a fun box/pyramid in the middle of the park. Since being built, the park has added handrails along the back edge, and a smaller beginner bowl near the entrance of the park.

Some of the main features of the park include a step up on the far side of the park with hubbas, a deep vert bowl in a left-hand kidney shape, and the beginner bowl. Some of the transitions show some wear beneath the coping, but it's nothing that should effect skaters with experience riding transition. I really don't have too much else to say about the park that can't be described with the pictures here.

The cost to skate the park is $1, which is payed at the skateshop at the entrance of the park. The shop itself seems to be pretty comprehensive, with multiple types of boards and accessories. I'm not sure whether helmets are required to skate the park, though I did see a couple of kids skating without them.

All in all, Treaty Park seems to be a pretty well rounded and fun place to skate. You can check the gallery of photos of the park here




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