theirs, so things are
tense.
I checked out our
local reservoir re-
cently and walked in
spots where people
used to go boating.
Nope, this ain't any
place for you if you
happen to be a fish.
But if you're a wiley
skateboarder, you
just might be able to
take advantage of
the plethora of dry
cement that lies downhill from the emptying reservoirs.
Even on a good year, Santa Barbara only gets ten to
twenty inches of rain. The result is heavily irrigated land
and ditch-o-mania. Get ahold of some topographical
maps of your area. Find out where the local water
source is, find out what lies downhill from it, and look
around for places where water used to flow. You're
bound to find a ditch or two this way. Chances are, any
one who lives in suburbia has a ditch of some sort near-
by. People have to pipe in water somehow. Just look
around the 'hood and ye may be enlightened. Full-pipes
have even been known to just pop up out of the ground.
If a peaceful session is what you're craving, the
drought may be the answer to your problems. I have
heard pre-drought tales of people staring at ditches and
wishing they were dry. These days, spots like this are so
commonplace they are not only taken for granted but
often ignored. The abundance of backyard ramps and
indoor skateparks have left most of these spots virtually
forgotten. No, the transitions aren't always perfect and
these concrete canals rarely have metal coping; howev-
er, if you want to discover the roots of skateboarding,
go where water should be but isn't.
I was poking around a local library
in search of drainage maps, aerial
photos or anything else that would
help my cause, and I managed to
come across a report called "The Sur-
vey of Water Conservation in the
Fifty States" (catchy title), in which
these two guys, Brent Blackwelder
and Peter Carlson, threw down a lit
tle five-step plan in case of a
drought. The second stage of this
drought contingency plan, among
other things, forbids the refilling of
pools that are drained. It also shuts
down any non-recycling fountains
and ponds. We happen to be on
stage two alert right now. Big fines
awalt water wasters.
60 THRASHER MAGADE
For the industrious
skateboarder, the
stage two drought
alert means a con-
stantly refreshed
supply of new ter-
rain. Actually, when
it comes down to it,
skaters are promot-
ing water conserva-
tion by encouraging
the draining of all
unnecessarily filled
bowls, fountains and
pools.
If people aren't draining their pools purely for the sake
of saving water, local fires caused by the drought are
also leaving tons of abandoned concrete. Tales of barg-
ing through blockades of screaming police into burn
areas before the embers even stop smoking are not
uncommon in these parts.
Pools, ponds and ditches ain't the only dry cement
'round these parts, either. Even the sidewalk-scrapin'
street rat can benefit from this situation. Everywhere
from San Diego to S.F., slippery planters, curbs and rail-
slides are popping up where once there was only a
bunch of water-sucking ivy spilling onto the sidewalk.
As far as backyard ramps, your tarping and shellacking
worries are over. If there are no elements to protect the
ramp from, there's no time wasted on finding new and
improved ways to keep it dry. Bubbling Masonite need
never be replaced and the money normally spent on
ramp upkeep can now go toward a new deck, food, rent
or something.
Despite all of this, the simple fact is, we need rain. The
scary part about this whole situation is that the land in
California just isn't built to handle water anymore. Even
if our reservoirs were filled up again,
the result would be flooding and
chaos. The lack of vegetation around
here would turn dirt hills into mud-
slides. Whatever skate spots weren't
just plain washed away would be
buried under seven feet of mud. And
Iwe all know what a bitch it is to
clean that stuff out of a pool.
Yup, as skaters, we've done it
again. We've taken a situation most
people can't handle and we've twist-
ed it until it works to our advantage.
Still, I'll conserve all the liquid I can
and do a rain dance too because it
sure would be nice to take showers
again. -Vaj Potenza
Opposite Page, Top: Drought buster Tony Farmer rocks the cobble stones with a frontside slash at Marley's Pool. Photo: Needham.
Opposite Page, Bottom: When the ditch is dry as a bone, it's ride time. Rodney Cassel frontside lipslides an empty Los Angeles
water channel. Photo: Needham. This Page: Some cats have reduced the dry heaves to an art form. Mark Partain (above) gets lip
trippy over the death box at the No Jack City Pool. Dave Reul, on the other hand, careens through a corner and over a love seat
on a frontside carve grind (below). Photo: M.Fo.