PHOTOS, Don Pendleton
"In the shadow
of the big
white mountain"
bad he beefed. Talk was heard of going to the "Badlands
tomorrow to skate in the shadow of the Big White Mountain,
visible in the distance. Hope the legendary Pipeline is dry,
Another day, another freeway, and we're in the heart of the
"Badlands" at (where else) Upland Pipeline Skatepark.
"Hey, I think my arm's broke."
Lemme see... Yup, it's broke."
We must be here, I thought to myself as I presented the proper
membership, the right amount of safety equipment and enough
money to the kid behind the counter. I called the Alba home and
was told Steve and Micke are on their way. Meeting us at the
park, Scott Papa was on his way back to Arizona. So here we
were skating the Combi Pool that, as if it hasn't already been said
or written, is burly! Thanks to a cool guy named Spidey, I was
carving the park on a fresh set of "Blackharts." I noticed Salba
rode 'em too the last time I was here. Funny, they haven't made
them in years.
Afterwards, we bid "later" to our friend Scott, who had to drive
back to AZ just as Salba and Micke pulled up with a friend in a
pickup truck.
"If there wasn't a line through
the barbed wire you simply had to ollie it."
Down the line with the Alba's. Badlands style.
"Yeah holiday shopping, a nightmare I still vividly remember
from last year. "I thought to myself as mom walked a considera-
ble distance from our (lucky we got it) parking spot at the
hallowed shopping mall. After being instructed as to how I was
a terror the last time I went in, Ireplied. There's nowhere to sit
down in there. Fine-you just sit here then. Condemned
solitary in a car is a fough sentence for an eight year old, but it's
better than capitalism's version of "Christmas spirit"
A minute or an hour (it doesn't matter) later the 6 year old
spotted a big green iceplant (pickle-weed) bowl that usually
signifies a freeway of some type. On it, moving faster than the
other cars, a car slid smoothly into the fastest lane and sped off
in the shadow of a nearby mountain covered with fresh snow He
fantasized as to the destination of the journey skating Had to
be he might even have caught a glimpse of not-so-ordinary
stickers adoring the back of the fast moving car. If they were
indeed skaters, they had to be heading for a pool: the ultimate in
"natural terrain (since all skate spots are essentially man-made,
"natural" refers to terrain that was not built expressly for skating)
38
What else but a late-nite phone call brought the skaters
together. "Don, it's Steve. Scott's out here from Arizona." The
next day, after surfing, I grabbed my other friend Scott (from
H.B) and headed for the Pool Jeez people worship those
things this time of year I said outloud referring to the way
crowded shopping mall passing below our freeway
The Pool is at a closed pool showroom It's an 8 deep kidney
complete with death box, wide enough to work" and the shallow
end is grindable. The place had been a bust for a while which
kept things low, but cool. Steve Shelton (ex-Arizona Pipe rider
and Dead Cat local) lapped over grinds in every conceivable
spot: the hips, over the stairs, over the death box and the shallow
end Then, in typical Shelton fashion, he pushed into the same
line, but carve-grinding this time. With 8 or so people in the
shallow end, airs were starting to emerge from the deep. Scott
Papa (another pipe-rider featured on the JFA album and Dead
Cat local) was pulling some bio frontside airs Shelton beeted on
a backside carve-in (both trucks grinding) to the deep end. He
got up, made this real blank face and made the same move (it's
a move not a "trick") while everyone was still talking about how
Pezy
Dropping for speed, Tony Alva.