I'm a skate fan from Milwaukee
and Evanston completing a ten-
week internship at a local news-
paper. I arrived here with the impre
ssion that Middle Georgia is a
culturally barren hole between
Miami and Atlanta-and for a while!
found that to be true. For weekend
fun in Macon you can choose
between Big Eddie and the Boys
down at Whiskey River nightclub or
a relaxing afternoon on the beach at
Lake Tobosofkee amidst little
Middle Georgians. (Hey y'all, are
the water wings back at the mobile
home?)
Anyway, you can imagine my
surprize when my editor woke me
up one Saturday morning and
apologetically told me to run out to
Warner Robins to cover "some kind
of skateboard contest." Turns out
this little backyard affair was the first
in the Georgia Ramp Amateur
Skateboard Series (G.R.A.S.S.),
and skaters came from all over the
Southeast. I had a great time
covering it for the paper, and made
a lot of new friends at the party
afterwards (although I wasn't sure
I'd make it out alive). A local
hardcore band named Vex played,
and there were lots of adolescent
Madonna-types slam dancing
Pretty hellish!
They came from all over the
Southeast to an unsuspecting
subdivision in Warner Robins,
Georgia. Who would have thought
that in the heart of Middle Georgia,
home of pit-barbeques, shopping
malls and black velvet Elvis', there
existed diehard skaters, so dedi-
cated that they organized the first
contest of the G.RA.S.S.? There is
life in the Georgia backwoods.
Twenty-one year old Russ Mulis
of Warner Robins and twenty four
year old Kevin Pruett of nearby
Macon oversaw this second annual
Robins Easter Ramp Jam which
took place on April 6. Twenty-four
skaters from Atlanta, South
Carolina, Florida and Knoxville,
Tenn., participated in the contest,
held on Mullins backyard ramp.
The event was sponsored by
Skateboard Specialists of Macon
and Skateboard Connection of
Atlanta
Kevin was sidelined this time
because of an injury so he was
obliged to sit on the roof to judge,
and talk with reporters. "I've got tom
ligaments in my knee, or I'd be
riding right now. It makes me mad
because all my friends are skating."
Above the roaring wheels and
whooshing double-axle acid drops,
inverts and rock walks, Kevin
watched. "You look for style. Each
one of them's got his own. You
watch to see if they pull all their
moves and don't fall much. Then
you see how radical they get, how
high their airs are and that they don't
get hurt...
Young skaters rode alongside the
seasoned veterans. It was a good-
natured learning experience for
beginners. "That's the thing about
skateboarding, one of the more
than 40 observers said. "Even if
you're not good, they clap for you.
They're all friends."
22
T.S.O.L, Butthole Surfers (the)
local paper took this name out, it's a
"family newspaper" they said, but
doesn't everyone in the family have
one?!), Subhumans and the Geor
gia Tech radio station tapes blasted
throughout, even though a lot of the
locals don't care much for hardcore.
These are guys who have skated
since they were born and kept the
sport going when the poseurs were
killing it.
"It got too commercialized' about
four years ago," Kevin said. "It just
got too popular. It just got too
gimmicky. He said the kids then
tired of it, "and the only ones around
were us hardcores. What's keeping
it alive are people like us that build
these backyard ramps." "Macon
area skaters are reduced to skating
in Pizza Hut parking lots because
there are no skateparks," he said.
There's a couple other ramps in
Macon but they're not like this."
Kevin and Russ put about $1,300
into their half-pipe.
Chris Lauer, 14, is a Warner
Robins-ite who started skating
about a year ago. "The first thing I
like about skateboarding is the size
of the skateboard. It's cool, it's really
neat." Lauer said the skaters came
so far because, "that's their life.
That's basically what they do.
That's all they do."
One of the hardcores is Tim
Humphreys, 25, one of the founders
of Skateboard Connection, the
mobile skateboard shop." He
bopped down in his ex-U.S. Postal
Service-now-painted-bright yellow
truck to peddle his wales and watch
the action. He's glad the Robins
contest is thriving. There has
definitely been a resurgence (in
skating). Before it was a new thing.
more underground. Now it's being
accepted by more classes and it's
more of a sport. Atlanta has a very
hot skateboarding scene." Tim and
his friend and business partner
Tommy Kay, built a ten and a half
foot high ramp at Tommy's house.
"We've had pros from around the
country session it," Tim said.
Another G.R.A.S.S. contest will be
held over the 4th of July weekend at
Ramp Ranch in Atlanta, Russ said.
Stephanie Zimmerman
Compressed mute air.
WAKE UP AND SMELL THE
PAVEMENT
The Seattle skies were unseason-
ably clear on this Sunday morning
for what was to be the biggest skate
event so far in the Northwest,
appropritely entitled, "Wake Up and
Smell The Pavement." Anticipation
had been building for weeks, and by
10:00 a.m. the parking lot was full
and the school playground was
jammed with skaters. Fallout Re-
cords And Skateboards organized
the contest and solicited hundreds
of dollars worth of prizes from
skate manufacturers and dis-
tributors for the winning skaters
There were four skill levels of
Streetstyle, so all it took to compete
was a buck, a board and lots of guts,
partly because this was the first
organized competition for most of
these skaters. The 250 plus people
in the audience made it even
tougher.
By the time the course and the PA
were set up, there were 30 skate
rats registered for the D division.
While DJ's Bruce Pavitt and Perry
Macintyre manned the turntables,
the contestants took to the course
10 at a time for three 15 minute
jams. These novices showed some
real wild style, and what they may
have lacked in skill was more than
make up for in bone crushing
determination, typified by 12 year
old Marshall Stack's death drops
from the top of the jungle gym.
When the dust finally settled, Kelly
Alm, from Vancouver B.C., had
shredded the field, Marcus Peterson
took second closely followed by
Carey Westerback
Next up was the C class. The field
was thinned a little during warm ups
by
virtue of some truly rad spills, but
37 skaters managed to survive long
enough to compete. Four jams were
required to accomodate the
crowded field. The throng of spec-
tators was treated to several near
collisions and the first display of
serious air. Eric Kindler came out on
top, followed by Lucas Hopperstadt
and Joel Mack
Following a short break to award
lower division prizes and allow
non-competitors to thrash it up, the
Fred Smith clears the ramp
while Sketch skates on
Doug Zykowsk
flippin' off the parking lot.
Matt Gallardo,
concentrated
tall scrape
S
freestylers took to the course. Each
of the 12 contestants were given 3
minutes to do a routine to the music
of their choice. The wildly enthusias-
tic crowd and the presence of a
local television news crew seemed i
to bring out the best in each skater.
The tension mounted throughout
the event, with each successive
skater attempting to outstyle the
others. As Minor Threat blared from
the loudspeakers, a major threat,
David Greigs, took to the asphalt.
This event marked David's return to
competition after a long lay-off and
he proved he still had his stuff,
wheelin' across the course on the
nose, on his hands and finishing up
with a dizzying display of balletic
spins. Last up was local favorite
Doug Zykowski, who blew away the
field with a dazzling array of flips,
hops and walks. When the scores
were tallied, Zykowski took first
place with a near perfect score,
followed by Greigs and Andre
Jones
It was an unusually hot day so
Jerry Matsu went around collecting
change and bought popcicles. He
then proceeded to throw them into
the eager crowd, needless to say,
mega body slamming.
By the time the B class skaters hit
the pavement, everybody was
primed for some choice streetstyle
action. The 19 skaters went all out.
enticed by the chance to win a
complete board set up and the
response of an appreciative audi-
ence. Boards and bodies were
flying as these shredders went
sailing off the ramps and sliding
down the curbs. Ron Soderstromi
blazed first, barely beating out the
aggro style of Ryan Monahan, Ryan
Ernst finished third in this close
competition.
Finally came the moment
everyone had been so anxiously
anticipating as 12 of the best in the
Northwest hit the course. They were
paired in head-to-head competition
in an elimination round. These
skaters challenged each other to
their limits in an effort to reach the
final jam consisting of the four
highest scorers in the elimination
round. As it turned out, five skaters
were included in the finals because
of a fourth place tie between Steve
Coutcher and Andy Caro. Tom
Peha emerged from the eliminations
clearly the crowd favorite and
maintained his momentum in the
finals with a spectacular display of
360 aerials and his steady lines
through the course. Matt Gallardo
wowed the crowd with his inverted
ramp action and Andy Caro im-
proved his standings with an impres
sive series of boneless ones off the
platform.
After the awards presentation
everybody was given an opportunity
to win a prize. A huge crush of
hungry skaters gathered around the
platform and a mad scramble
ensued as they scooped up the
hundreds of stickers, lappers,
copers and buttons that were
heaved into the crowd. A perfect
ending to a perfect day of totally
radical, non-stop action,
Larry Reid
BONES
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