Catalina Island
Revisited
Story and Photos: Mike Folmer, Chuck Walstead
The Monte Carlo of the West Coast," Avalon Bay situated 26 miles off
Long Beach, lures tourists from all over the world with its European
type atmosphere.
The
CATALING
LASSIC
PRO SKATEBOARD CONTEST
THRU THE STREETS OF AVALON, SANTA CATALINA
DOWNHILL
DUEL SLALOM
FREESTYLE EXHIBITION
INFORMATION (74) 496 0611
OCTOBER
15-16
Island local remembers T.A. skimming the gnarly
wall," while deferring her stick for closer inspection
Left: The original poster for the
Catalina Classic, circa 1977.
PLACE-Avalon, Catalina Island, California.
Our boat, "Mad Mony," pulled
into our mooring on an overcast Friday morning.
From our boat we could make out a steep downhill
section above the town of Avalon. We went ashore
for breakfast to start our day with a full stomach.
After breakfast we surveyed the town for skateable
terrain. Curbs and steep downhills seemed to
be the most accessible. As we proceeded to skate
down the familiar boardwalk of Catalina we were
greeted by the well-known sign, "No Skateboarding
Beyond This Point." Making note of a police car on
the corner, we decided to head for the hills.
We hiked up a nearby hill which was fairly smooth,
except for an occasional pothole. At the middle
section of the hill there was a banked curb that led to
a straight drop into a resident's backyard. The skate
down was what we expected all the roads to be like,
fast and with good level run-offs at the bottom where
they leveled off into the town. After several exploratory
runs we headed back to our boat for some grub and
skateboard tuning. After lunch we packed our dinghy
with skate and camera equipment and headed for
shore. At the gas dock we rang up K.T. at THRASHER
headquarters for info on the skate action on Catalina.
K.T. informed us of the availability of a pool which was
empty and skateable and further impressed upon us
that we take some runs on the hill that was used for
the Catalina Classic.