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IDAHO SKATES
Up here in Kimberly, Idaho, we
are having a great time, thrashing
our boards and ripping the verticals
in our pool; and pipe. We rip some
banks too.
There are five of us now and we
are recruiting more people. Some-
times we take a break from the fun of
vertical and we head for the horizon-
tal (streets).
We think your magazine is the
greatest and without it we would be
cut off from the rest of the skate-
board world. We started with two
people and are now pleased to say
that the other three are progressing
very fast. Thanks.
Kevin Pike and
Randy Lambert
Kimberly, ID
ALL YOU NEED IS A SKATE
AND A SONG
First off I must explain my peculiar
situation there was a time long ago
when skating was the one and only
thing on my mind. Me and my friends
would search out skatable drainage
ditches (and get arrested for tres-
passing) or drain people's pools
(love those vacations!!). Soon the
skate parks appeared and turned
outlaw street skating into a (almost)
recognized sport, along with that
recognition came the commercializ
ation, technological refinement and
eventual destruction of a great thing.
The high cost of good equipment
along with skatepark yearly mem-
bership fees and admission was all
too much for me. Eventually all my
boards broke (and so was 1). Years
have passed and times have
changed. Music is now my main in-
terest, but I always remember skal-
ing. I am very pleased to know that
my music has influenced modem
skating as much as my skating ex-
perience influenced my music. I
have recently acquired a new skate
and have been visiting all the spots
me and my friends discovered long
ago. It feels really weird to see these
places after so long, (especially sinc
the local shredsters have artistically
spray-painted my band's logo on all
vertical surfaces). I am also pleased
to see that ramp riding has taken
skateboarding out of the hands of
greedy skatepark owners and put it
back where it belongs-in your
hands!! Don't ever let it happen
again!!
Skate or Diel
Mike
singer-songwriter-guitarist
"Agent Orange"
BAD INFLUENCE
I live in Daly City and got into
boarding about three months ago. I
rode like a pussy for the first month,
but then I got a copy of one of your
mags. The more I read, the more de-
mented I got. I even got my best
friend to get a board. We thrash the
streets about every night and rip
down the local hills, we even rode
the Devil's Pit. We're thinking about
building the first halfpipe in Daly
City! You guys even gave us the
idea to ride through malls so we did
and got kicked out of Serramente
Shopping Center. Who cares!! See
what your mag has done to us!!
G FORCE
Heavy Metal Thrasher
Miro "Cas" Pierantoni
Daly City, CA
I would like to bring out a two-part
question which has bothered me for
some time.
The first part is, what happens if a
certain skate park closes in San
Diego? There're so many people
who take that place, and parks in
general, for granted it's ridiculous.
The second part of the question
is: how many locals will still skate if it
closes? Probably not many.
Well, we lost our park and we al-
ready had a ramp, so the park clos-
ing wasn't such a downfall for us like
it was to a lot of others. So, get a
back-up system or forget it because
if you take too many things for
granted you'll just get hurt in the end
and you will be the only one to
blame.
Later,
Tom Groholski
North Brunswick, NJ
COLUMBUS CREW
There're only a few die-hard skat-
ers left around the Columbus area.
Sops like Arcadia, the 161-Bank,
and local streets and curbs are
maximumly shredded by such nota-
ble and noticeable locals like Jim
Tisdale, Blaise "Blaze" Nesser, Che-
shire, Chef Cook, Chimp, Gwendo-
lyn, Giggles and myself.
Sanchez's sister and non-locals
totally blistered and blasted our
halfpipe to bits; so it's time to "bor-
row some more wood from various
places.
Hey, tell all the skatedogs that the
Concrete Oasis in Lancaster, Ohio,
has been leveled. It's a long trip! Oh,
yeah, who scored the plexiglass
halfpipe, we want to skate it. Call
mel
Ahhh!! It's time to kick back now
with a few spikes and Lowie darks.
Keep skating alive and THRASH-
ING!
John Members
Westerville, OH
CATCH UP
Here is one suggestion. Please
I have more trick instruction on sim-
pler maneuvers. My friends and I are
halfway done building a halfpipe.
We don't live in California, we need
help to catch up!!
Dean Lubensky
Lawrence, KS
You don't have to live in California
to skate bio. We're working on more
skate tip explanations; until then
take a look at the sequential bionics.
in this issue.
PLANNING FOR A
SKATE FUTURE
Thanks a lot for printing the article
on Missouri my friend in St. Louis
wrote. I freaked out when I heard
some pictures of me made it in
THRASHER since I couldn't get it
while in Tech-School for the Air
Force.
Well, everyone thought I was
gonna die and quit skating when I
joined the Air Force but I knew better
than that and things are working per-
fect to how I planned it out before I
came in. I figured I'd pick and easy
career field and try to get stationed
at a happening skate area and I got
lucky!! I'm stationed at Andrews
AFB, which is located 20 minutes
away from the massive Annandale
Ramp. As one valley girl type put it,
Tm like localin' out here now," what-
ever, but I know I'm among the most
intense skating here ever to be wit-
nessed. There're over 20 hardcore
locals who totally shred the ramp
with guys like Pat Clark, Puker and
Micro pulling bio backside airs and
Shawn Peddie type handplants.
There's a ditch in Springfield that I
can't believe was made to just hold
water, with smooth eight foot walls
and plenty of flat. There's also a mil-
lion give-or-take 990,000 stores that
carry skate equipment, almost every
mall has equipment to sell.
If you're a skater for life type like
me and think you'll never get any-
where but where you're at now, then
try what I did and join the Air Force.
It seemed so hypocritical to me at
first being into punk and all but the
four months I went through without
skating is now definitely worth it. I'd
send pictures of the scene here but !
heard Friedman already did so I
hope to be seeing something soon
from this place because it's defi-
nitely one of the most happening
places around.
New D.C. Local
Steve Bacon
ALREADY THERE
Skaters, a word to the wise, don't
expect to find any type of skate/
hardcore scene in the hills of west-
ern Penn.
I spend nine months a year going
to college in Clarion, PA. It sucks
bad!! I'm not going to start bitching
and moaning about how lame it is.
Any skaters in PA that know of hot
spots should get in touch with me.
There's a bio halfpipe near Harris-
burg that the Public Menace boys
built.
In the summer I spend my time at
A-town, otherwise known as the in-
famous Annandale Ramp. Being an
A-Team member I know there is no
compromise, only A-Town, right
Micro? The only 'true' skaters in the
poseur filled D.C. skate/H.C. scene
are the ECTT (East Coast Toke
Team), A-TEAM and O.C. Skaters.
Glen E. covered Annandale this
summer, rumors of an A-Town story/
cover. Suicidal Tendencies Rips.
Pat (P2) Crotty
Clarion, PA
P.S. When's the next contest Micro?
We're way ahead of you on the
A-ramp, check the cover! - Ted
PARK APPRECIATION
That old first generation skatepark
you refer to in "On Board" in the Au-
gust '83 issue is "Spinning Wheels
Skatepark."
I'm about an hour away from it. Me
and a couple other skaters fre-
quently visit it. It consists of two
snake runs emptying into bowls, a
little bowl, a totally unfunctional ce-
ment wall, and a poor excuse for a
pool (the kink sink) with no coping
and lots of cheap surf-graffiti, the
best part of going to the park is to
laugh at the ignorant rednecks that
run the place.
Really, skating the park is pretty
cool; you can get the mondo-high
airs out of the bowls. I would send
pics, but the only ones I have are in
color.
Hey, you guys from Philly, get in
touch. I left my address and number
at the park.
Dear Skate Friends,
Rick Charnoski
Allentown, PA
It is with deep regret and sadness
that I inform you of the tragic, un-
timely death of lain Urquhart, my
beloved husband and chairman of the
Scottish Skateboard Association, on
30th August 1983.
lain had been fighting bravely
against a terrible illness for almost a
year. He was a truly special person
who commanded respect and love
and I consider it my privilege to have
spent the time we had together with
him.
Skateboarding was a strong and
lasting interest to him and the sport is
deeply in his debt, not just in Scot-
land but worldwide. He, more than
anyone, set the foundation of rules
for all disciplines, judging and record
collating methods, which are used in
the USA now too. His brilliant action
photographs captured the excitement
of skateboarding. When I am more
composed, I hope to put together a
special issue of Skatewaves as a tri-
bute to him.
Skateline Magazine will no longer
appear, however, as it was lain's
brilliant combination of draughts-
man, artist, mathematician, photog-
rapher, and layout man that pro-
vided the muscle. There is just no
way I can do it alone. I intend how-
ever to press on and count on all
members, friends and supporters of
skateboarding to rally round, keep in
touch and work harder to ensure that
lain's work lives on in a strong and
vigorous sport which gave him so
much fun and satisfaction.
Rock 'n' Roll Skatepark will re-
main his biggest contribution to the
sport in Scotland and was used to its
finest effect for the wonderful demo
in '82 when up to 2,000 people flocked
to watch Caballero and McGill in ac-
tion there.
I hope you will remember lain with
pride and much affection and con-
tinue to send me all your skatenews,
views and action photographs for our
mini-mag.
Yours in sorrow at this terrible
time,
Dee Urquhart
The whole world of skateboarding has
lost a great man. We at THRASHER
offer our deepest condolences.-KT
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