COMPETITION
SHER
32
NSA PARAMOUNT
July 30 & 31, 1983
One of those oven-roasted days in
Southern California. The contest, sec-
und in the Summer World Series, was
held at Skatepark Paramount, some-
where near Los Angeles.
This portion of the series featured
freestyle and tight slalom, the oldest
events in skateboard history. For
many, vertical competition is the only
way to go. The visually exhilarating
spectacle of seeing a human fly through
the air, thrusted by the natural propul-
sion of the skateboard beneath his
feet, is undeniably breathtaking. There
is aig difference between vertical
and horizontal contact riding, and a
method of concentration unique to
both. Paramount is not equipped with
pools or any other substantial vertical
riding surface, so tight slalom and
freestyle were the order of the day.
THRASHER arrived on the scene
the second day of the contest, in time
for the finals. From what we heard,
there was some hot action happening
on the first day.
There were only a handful of com-
petitors for the slalom event. Two of
the entrants were a couple of English-
men, Mike Stride and Paul Price, who
are visiting the States for the summer.
The finals of the Slalom was a very
close match-up on many occasions.
Certain runs were questionable and
had to be repeated, in one case, too
many times.
The Amateur Slalom winners were,
Pete Finlan in third, Paul Price (the
English entrant) in second, and Steve
Steadham in first place. There were
sixteen entrants, one a female, Shir-
ley McLelland.
The pro Slalom finals melted down
to a duel between Jim Korten, Beau
Brown and Brian Martin. In fact, they
seemed to be the only three Pro en-
trants. The order of victory was as fol-
lows: Beau Brown third, Brian Martin
second, and Jim Korten first.
The slalom racers, for the most part,
had to be content with being their own
cheerleaders. Regrettably, there were
only a handful of spectators, including
a few photographers. Even the
number of slalomers was down to just
a scanty fistful of guys. Where have all
the slalomers gone? There used to be
so many. The future of slalom racing
looks cloudy. Hopefully, people will re-
discover the grace and precision de-
manded by this sport.
Kevin Harris Spins
The main factor, however, was the RESULTS
absence of Keith Butterfield among AMATEUR SLALOM
the contenders. Butterfield, who has
been virtually unbeatable in the Ams
for sometime, has moved up to skate 2
against the big boys in the pro divi-
3
sion, thus leaving top honors up for
grabs. The major contenders for that
spot were two San Jose locals, Ray
Gardea and Anthony Sedillo. The two
skaters were pushing it intensely try-
ing hard to impress the judges. In the
end, Ray Gardea won out with a siz- 10
zling performance as he outflashed
1
4
5
6
7
8
9
Steve Steadham
Paul Price
Pete Finlan
Mike Stride
Craig Stain
Bill Swartzbaugh
John Countee
Chris May
Crris Robison
Gary Sanderson
Anthony Sedillo
his counterpart Sedillo and won the AMATEUR FREESTYLE
Am freestyle. In this category, one
could undeniably see that things were
definitely progressing.
Ray Gardea
Bob Schmelzer Strongman, Mike Foster, Landing Precision.
Pete Finlan
Adrian Demain
1
2
3
When it was time for things to go
down in the Pro bracket, it appeared
4
to be anybody's ball game. With Rod-
ney Mullen away in Europe, first place
would be all the more easy. When it
boiled down to it, it was to be primarily
6
Jason Calalano
7
Don Sexton
8
9
After a long sweltering delay, the
"most 360's" event was held. Early
Days boarder Russ Howell was the
early leader in this event at approx-
mately 44 revolutions. But then Cana-
dian Kevin Harris stepped up and
commenced spinning. His first at-
tempt came close. But then the spin-
ning began again. At certain times it
appeared that he was about to stop,
as he slowed, almost imperceptibly.
down to a near halt. And then he'd
start up again, picking more and more
speed. When he finally came to a halt,
he had revolved 54 times and ended
up beating Russ Howell.
The Amateur Freestyle competition.
was strong at 31 entrants. The formi-
dable ranks of finalists consisted of
several up and coming young free-
stylers who happened to include two
exceptionally hot female skaters, Les-
lie Miller and Diane Veerman. They
put a strain on some of the best of the
amateurs, besting several of their per-
formances.
Primo Desiderio's expression shows the difficulty of the move.
a bout between Welinder, Holkneki, 10
Primo Desiderio, Kevin Harris and 11
Butterfield.
12
After countless new tricks and blaz- 13
ing routines, the placing became evi- 14
dent. Rookie Butterfield slid into fifth, 15
Per Holknekt fourth, Primo Desiderio 16.
third, Kevin Harris second and Per
Welinder won first.
It was an extremely hot day and the
contest-weary skaters gathered their
equipment and crawled back into ve-
hicles to make their way back home.
Fortunately, the lack of spectators did
not hamper the riders' enthusiasm.
That's the way skaters are.
PRO SLALOM
2
2
3
PRO FREESTYLE
1
2
3
4
Special thanks must be given to the
parents who certainly had other things
they could be doing. Their contribution
of free time helped make the contest 5
happen at all. If only they could have
had some influence with the weather-
man.
And so, the THRASHER staff
picked up their wilted selves and said,
"till the next time."
Anthony Sedillo.
6
Matt Richards
Dave Tucker
Gary Sanderson
Lynn Cooper
Dave Lee
Diane Veerman
Ernie Ocampo
Eric Sanderson
Leslie Ann Miller
James Korten
Brian Martin
Beau Brown
Per Welinder
Kevin Harris
Primo Desiderio
Per Holknekt
Keith Butterfield
Mike Foster
360's SPECIAL EVENT
3
Kevin Harris 54
Russ Howell 44
Per Welinder 25
Leslie Ann Miller
33