An abandon gymnasium provides an ultimate
freestyle areña for two adventurous skaters.
PHOTO BY THATCHER
In many cities winter's onslaught
doesn't necessarily mean that there won't
be skatable weather or dry pavement for
months at a time. But skating is affected
in other more indirect ways. Streets and
sidewalks become littered with fallen
leaves and branches, creating natural
obstacles and dangerous surfaces.
Drainage ditches, high, dry and skatable
during summer, began the winter function
of diverting water runoff. Pipes and
reservoirs become clogged with rocks and
other debris. Even empty pools must be
drained of their collected fluids before
each session. The only solution
sometimes is to go indoors, underground
or undercover where a whole new
dimension in skateboarding is being dis-
covered.
RUG
RATS
The first topic of discussion involves
those skaters who reside in heavy
weather areas where snowstorms can
leave one stranded inside the home for
weeks at a time. If you have to stay
indoors you might as well skate indoors.
For beginners and a lot of skaters who
were bred on vertical or park skating.
these indoor hours could be spent honing
up on some basic freestyle skills.
Freestyle skating in the '80s does not
require a lot of space to operate in. Most
of your basic trickery can be performed
right in your own bedroom or the garage.
Freestyle wizard, Rodney Mullen, spends
many practice hours on the smooth
concrete of his garage, rain or shine. Our
coverboy, Steve Rocco, works out his
routines in the seclusion of his bedroom,
or just about any place else that features
a few square feet of flat surface.
A good way for any aspiring freestylist,
especially the skater with limited on board
experience, to learn the basic fundamen
tals is to practice on a rug. The reduced
rolling capability of a skateboard on a rug-
covered surface allows you to attempt the
standard maneuvers (walk the dog.
kickflips, fingerfips) without suffering the
proverbial bar of soap' treatment. If your
room or garage has a bare floor, or you
don't want to ruin Mom's white shag in the
living room, you can usually find a yard or
two of rug remnants in the trash bin
behind the local carpet store.
SKATORIUMS
On his way to becoming the winningest
skateboard racer of all time, John Hutson
used to set up cones in the high school
gymnasium near his home in Santa Cruz
and with a few pushes would practice his
pump-snap method of slalom skateboard-
ing. The slippery surface of the varnished
hardwood floor provided an extra chal-
lenge.
A gymnasium or other large, enclosed
structure can provide you with a dry place
to skate while allowing you to practice
Function follows form. David "2" utilizes
massive L.A. freeway architecture to skate and
stay dry.
PHOTO BY STECYK
wheelies, slalom or whatever. Try setting
up an indoor short track oval using cones
and stage races with your friends. We've
been hearing about a sort of skateboard
hockey being played in underground
parking garages and the like. Using a
hard plastic ball and only skateboards as
scoring tools, two teams pair off and go
for opposing goals.
A large indoor arena could even house,
dare I say it, a half-pipe ramp. Imagine
school rallies and assemblies in the gym
featuring half-pipe and freestyle demos.
SKATERS
UNDERCOVER
More than likely you may already
know of an area to check out for some dry
skating during wet weather. Multiple-
storied parking garages can provide you
with some downhill thrills during the
heaviest of storms. Underneath bridges
and freeway overpasses you can
sometimes find a banked wall that is dry
and skatable.
Kevin Thatcher