Right: The soul female
skater in the event, Karen
Zapata, boosts a benchmark
boneless. Below: "Pardon
me sir, but this is my line."
62
ONTES
slide on the front fender of the Dodge, ollie
kickflips and 540° ground slides. Tommy
Guerrero was his usual consistant self, with
high method airs, wall walks on the car and
a "whiplash" (360 dropoff) from the platform
ramp. His ability to stay on the board probably
helped out a lot on his second place snag.
Caballero took top honors with one-footed
360 airs, slide and rolls, Backside Japan airs,
boneless to tail spin on curb and annoying
near-identical runs every time. Gonzo, re-
flecting the mood of the event, stalled at
streetplant and kicked his board into the
crowd.
One thing about street skating contests is
it's not always so easy to see the potential
of the course. That potential is realized when
the skaters ride it and act on their imagina-
tion. Unlike ramps, where there is definition
and geometry and the laws of physics can
be applied in a logical way, street skating
has invisible lines. These lines are always
there, needing to be realized in the minds of
the skaters. Every spectator visualizes their
own ultimate moves for the course and hopes
to see a skater attempt it sometime during
the day.
When the boundaries of an event are gov-
erned by imagination and restrictions are
heaped on, it becomes more contrived and
begins to take itself more seriously. When
skateboarding starts taking itself seriously
we see it wilt. Street skating will endure, but
street skating contests just might not. The
catch-all classification of streetstyle basically
makes rules impossible, but some organiza-
tion is still needed if it's going to be turned
into a big event. If you're going to promise a
pro contest, it's a good idea to try and keep
up with the momentum created. This year's
Sacto fiasco was full of good intentions and
great skating, but the organizers should have
thought a bit more of the skaters and spec-
tators and at least put up a bit of shade.
With no due respect to those who think
they can impartially judge street style, it is
not possible. Once again trying to assign
limits or standards as classifications can only
impede the activity. I saw one judge at this
contest put out a score, check the other
judges score and change his to match. It
was easy to see that anyone who's known
for consistant skating ability automatically
got a few extra points tacked on. Things that
should be taken into account in judging a
street event are: 1) Imagination...the ability
to find the invisible lines amidst the chaos
of the course. 2) Course difficulty...every
course is different and using the different
aspects rather than only the ramps should
be taken into account. 3) Style... Fuck style.
Everyone has their own, and if their reliance
ondry, un-imaginative tricks is evident, points
should be taken away. And, 4) Improvisation
the skater's ability to adapt to changes in
the course. The course should be changed
during the event to add more variety and
STREET MAY 18th, 1986
AMATEUR
1. RICKY WINDSOR
2. ERIC DRESSEN
3. ERIC ZEPEDA
4. JULIAN STRANGER
5. STEVE SAIZ
6 STEVE ROTOR
7. STEVE YEARSLEY
B. CHRIS COOK
PROFESSIONAL
1. STEVE CABALLERO
2. TOMMY GUERRERO
3. NATAS KAUPAS
4. NEIL BLENDER
5. JEFF KENDALL
6. CHRISTIAN HOSOI
7 JESSE MARTINEZ
8. JOHNEE KOP
improvisation, doing away with calculated,
repetitive routines. In my book, Natas or Neil
should have won, not for highest airs or most
turns, etc., but since they never really did
the same tricks twice, came up with tricks
no one else even had variations on, and
used every part of the course.
Despite the few obvious organization prob-
lems, the contest turned out well and Go
Skate deserves big thanks for putting up the
money (they lost about $2,000 on this event)
and making everything happen. Plans are
underway for a video release of this event.
Contact Go Skate if you're interested.
Street skating, whether in contest form or public
access, is now influencing skating in the 80's as
much as vertical developments did in the 70's.
Maneuvers once unthinkable are quickly becoming
the norm amongst the vanguard. Natas Kaupas
ups the ante every time he steps on a board with
his self-sure approach. Charger slide 'n roll.