THE SITE: Del Mar Skate Ranch THE TIME: August 27, 28, 29 THE OCCASION: The Rusty Harris Series Finals
THE REASON: For the sake of competition.
-Newtron photo
I used to live near Del Mar as a kid. Mom
and Dad used to take me and my little
brother there. We'd frolic in the surf and dig
up sandcrabs (so we could take them
home, let them die and stink up the
garage). I saw the other local types
around, surfers, etc. I knew I'd never fit in
that crowd 'cause I couldn't arch my
shoulders that far back and I couldn't point
my nose high enough into the air. That was
over ten years ago. Today their faces are
different, but their actions are the same..
The kids are following directly in their
parents footsteps with the same sense of
passiveness, abhoration and consumation
of granola, Just talking to the locals in this
region reveals their heavy conservative-
ness and a staunch support for Reagan.
I'm glad I left Southern California with all its
Ozone boys, airheads, and Valley girls.
There IS a world outside of Southern Cal.
Now I'm back, but it's only for a visit.
Throughout the summer of 1982, the
Rusty Harris Series has kept competitive
skateboarding alive and as strong as ever
in the eyes of those who are most
concerned.
The series was instated in the memory
of Rusty Harris, late skate photographer.
Rusty left this world Jan. 3, at the first
pro-contest of the year in Pomona.
The first contest of the series was held at
Upland. The weekend festivities coincided
with the Pipeline's fifth anniversary. The
events consisted of banked slalom, pool,
and longest carve. Micke Alba was the
winner of the pool event, proving him the
master of the Combi-Pool.
The second contest of the series was
held at Whittier. Events were freestyle,
pool, highest air, and longest rock 'n'
roll sides. Rodney Mullen won the
freestyle and Billy Ruff won the pool.
Skatepark Paramount, one of the older
parks, played host to the third contest of
the series. This leg of the series was the
only one not to feature any vertical events.
Instead, tight slalom and freestyle were
offered. Rodney took the high honors in
the freestyle and Steve Evans claimed
first place in the tight slalom.
This weekend was in for three days of
intense skate competition. The events
featured at this contest were banked
slalom, head to head tight slalom, freestyle,
and pool riding. The special attraction
events were going to be, most 360's
and highest air.
Friday, upon arrival on the "red-eye"
flight at Lindberg Field, San Diego, the sun
greeted us in an unholy burst of sunshine.
The night before, one of my confidants and
I partied till the flight was due to depart. For
the next 20 hours, sleep was to become
completely non-existent, absent, impossi-
ble...choose one.
top
Fifth placer, Christian Hosol, blazed in his carefree gnarly style. Layback strobe.
opposite page
Dad Hawk looks on as son Tony spins this Caballerial. The little Hawk defied the best to take
this contest lock, stock...-Friedman sequence
I have followed this series from the
beginning and have witnessed some of the
most bizarre acts of skating that I've ever
had the opportunity to witness. Getting
participants from almost every facet of
skating together at one time and in one
place for a meeting of the masters, it was
said that there were nearly eighty entrants
for this weekend.
Freestyle has rocked itself out into its
own limelight once again. With the help of
Rodney Mullen, easily the best flatland
artist in the world as we know it today. This
aspect of skateboarding has penetrated all
previously achieved boundaries to
intricacies never before realized:
In the pool arena, record proportions
were being pushed more and more. Just
about every team had a man in the top
spots. Names like Ruff, Hosoi, Hawk, Alba,
Kasai and Blender. It seemed like long-
gone are the days of the Elgueras, Olsons,
Ortons, and Salbas. But a few of the older
"gen" skaters kicked the dust off their
decks, donned their gear and gave
competition another try. Kiwi, Frank Blood,
Bert Lamar, Paul Hoffman, and Fred
Flavell are a few who dared over the
course of this series.
For many different reasons, everybody
was looking forward to this final contest.
Some to see who would be the overall
champion, some just to see this series
over with, and others to see all of the
Wenches, Wilmas and Betties that were to
be out in full (halter top & short-short)
force. Sorry to say, I was one of the latter
observers of W.W.&B.'s.
For the past week or so, the competitors
were wreaking their own brand of havoc in
the skatepark's surrounding areas. The
Mike and Bob Bros. stunt driving team,
made more than a few late-night perfor-
mances. Mike was attempting the incredi-
ble feat of rolling his car on the BMX track,
next door to the park. If successful, he
would be awarded the perpetual "case of
beer." He never succeeded, so he never
got the beer.
Micke Alba, one of the top contenders
for this last ordeal, injured his leg and had
to withdraw from competition. By the time I
got there, he was carousing it up, trying to
get sympathy from unknowing Betties.
Mid-Friday saw Malba out in the ocean
with Fausto and friends. They were playing
the natural-tourist role. Also in the waters
was the local shark. Fausto's comment:
"Micke's eyelids peeled back when what
he thought was a discarded pair of
trousers, turned out to be a shark. People
just don't swim that fast naturally."
These were only the beginnings of what
was to become an eventful weekend of
turmoil and fun.
On Friday was the qualifying for the
freestyle and slalom events. Practice in the
pool went by heats during alotted practice
sessions. As far as the riding level went, it
was at an ultimate high as riders took to the
air in an assault on the sky. Riders spent
time perfecting their runs, but still they
were careful so as not to reveal the lines for
their competition runs.
Riders came from all over the continent
to compete in this major event of nineteen
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